BOOK REVIEW: With The Heart of a Ghost by Lim Sunwoo

What are ghosts, really? Are they the souls of the dearly departed, a warning from the great beyond, a manifestation of our subconscious desires and fears - or something entirely unexplainable?

In this mesmerising collection of eight newly translated short stories, we meet brand new ghost stories with lives (or deaths) of their own. They're full of wonder and whimsy, playing with the concepts of ghosts to explore different aspects of life from self-reflection, loss, love and identity. Each story has it's own style, but the same contemplative, warm voice flows through every one.

These tales are strange, with beautifully vivid writing and lyrical, poetic wording that were a pleasure to read. Sunwoo paints each story in rich detail, whether the setting is ordinary or extraordinary, keeping each tale short but their core ideas still shining through without having to interpret or think too hard (although you may anyway)

Some of the tales bordered on the longer side of what you'd expect from a short story collection - with the eight covering 200 pages - some felt like I wanted them to be snappier but I still loved the strange middle land that these worlds inhabit, offering a bit of world building, some carefully curated details without a full narrative.

A ghost who looks just like the narrator reflects her feelings back to her in a bun shop; mutant jellyfish take over the world and if you touch one you become one yourself; a heartbroken man becomes a tree in his ex’s apartment; the ghost of a wannabe K-pop star stuck in a vacuum cleaner wants out; Jugyeong helps a man hibernate by burying him up to his neck; Huiae, in deep conflict with her husband, reconnects with her strange old friend; Jo has lost his best friend–a gecko–but won't give up the search; and Suyeong plots revenge on a wild dog that killed her cats by channeling her inner cat.

A strange little book with a lot of charm, this is a great addition to your bookshelf if you love a casual existential crisis.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

With the heart of a ghost will be available from Feb 10th 2026 with untamed press. I received a reviewers copy of this title.

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