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Book Reviewed by:
Michelle Anya Anjirbag
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In a world of constant winter, only the citizens of the climate-controlled city of Snowglobe can escape the bitter cold—but this perfect society is hiding dark and dangerous secrets within its frozen heart. A groundbreaking Korean novel translated into English for the first time!
Enclosed under a vast dome, Snowglobe is the last place on Earth that's warm. Outside Snowglobe is a frozen wasteland, and every day, citizens face the icy world to get to their jobs at the power plant, where they produce the energy Snowglobe needs. Their only solace comes in the form of twenty-four-hour television programming streamed directly from the domed city.
The residents of Snowglobe have everything: fame, fortune, and above all, safety from the desolation outside their walls. In exchange, their lives are broadcast to the less fortunate outside, who watch eagerly, hoping for the chance to one day become actors themselves.
Chobahm lives for the time she spends watching the shows produced inside Snowglobe. Her favorite? Goh Around, starring Goh Haeri, Snowglobe's biggest star—and, it turns out, the key to getting Chobahm her dream life.
Because Haeri is dead, and Chobahm has been chosen to take her place. Only, life inside Snowglobe is nothing like what you see on television. Reality is a lie, and truth seems to be forever out of reach.
Translated for the first time into English from the original Korean, Snowglobe is a groundbreaking exploration of personal identity, and the future of the world as we know it. It is the winner of the Changbi X Kakaopage Young Adult Novel Award.
The Age of Snowglobe
In the living room, Grandma is sunk in her chair in front of her favorite TV show, a heavy quilt draped over her lap. I look down at the weather ticker scrolling away along the bottom of the screen.
-50°F
That's a three-degree drop from yesterday. A snow-cloud icon trails the temperature, suggesting flurries throughout the day, and Grandma pushes herself out of the chair, shuffling to the electric space heater with the kettle in hand. My brother, Ongi, appears in the living room, wearing his standard morning look: a toothbrush in his mouth and a scowl on his face.
"I wish I were still in school!" he whines, because schools close in temperatures below -50°F.
"Just brush your teeth, please," I respond flatly, which comes out garbled as I'm still brushing mine, and turn back to the TV. As usual, Grandma has it on Channel 60, the station that airs Goh Around round the clock.
"No! Hear me out," Ongi persists, stepping in front of me and ratcheting up the grievance ...
In Snowglobe, Park presents a fascinating dystopian setting that taps into today's climate anxieties, and also imagines the kind of society that might grow out of contemporary celebrity culture, fandom, and the demands of reality entertainment. It asks us to interrogate what happens to the celebrities, the people who fans demand put their whole lives on display, and who lose all privacy just because they are famous. It also makes readers question just what exactly is real in reality television, challenging its audience in the best ways, through a haunting world where nothing, and no one, is what they seem to be. This climate dystopia YA thriller will leave readers completely hooked, and anxious for the second book in the planned duology, eager to see what happens next to Chobahm and the rest of the inhabitants of Snowglobe...continued
Full Review
(564 words)
(Reviewed by Michelle Anya Anjirbag).
Amélie Wen Zhao, New York Times bestselling author of Song of Silver, Flame Like Night
Utterly unputdownable, Snowglobe is an out-of-this-world dystopian thrill ride. Soyoung Park has created an addictive, twisty tale perfect for fans looking for the next Squid Game or Parasite. David Yoon, New York Times bestselling author of Frankly in Love
A thrillingly and ingeniously conceived allegory about where we are, and where we're headed.
For those living in the dystopian world of Soyoung Park's Snowglobe, the main source of entertainment is reality television shot within a climate-controlled dome. The lives of the actors on these shows are on 24-hour display to be consumed obsessively by the fans in the icy world beyond the dome's barrier. Every detail of the stars' lives is known to their fans; every major and minor moment displayed on screen, with limited or no privacy available to them. Such is the price of their comfort. Part of the reason Chobahm can even step into the life of her favorite star Goh Haeri is because she knows Haeri's life intimately – the entire thing has been broadcast, and rewatched over and over again by many. The relationships that ...
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