Yolk by Mary H. K. Choi
Rating: 
Read before: No
Ownership: Bought myself.
As you may know, I am not huge on contemporary and I tend to be very picky, but Mary H. K. Choi is an instant buy author for me after Emergency Contact, and I have to say that Yolk doesn’t disappoint at all. I think the best way of describing her books is that they are the perfect new adult contemporary.
In Yolk we’re exploring family relationships, particularly of sisters, June and Jayne, who have grown to not interact much until June gets diagnosed with cancer and reaches out to Jayne. But where June has the “perfect” life and a good job, good place and money, Jayne is still barely managing to live on her own, pay rent, keep a job and go to school. But as the sisters clash on trying to come to terms first with the fact June has cancer and this means certain things they may not want to talk about or even share with their parents, then on how their lives are anything but perfect and the grass isn’t greener on the other side.
And going back to the new adult contemporary term, this is a book about figuring out what comes next. It isn’t a “and then I went to college, graduated and landed the perfect job, married the perfect person and life is wonderful”. Yolk has all the not so fun parts of learning to live on your own, and of sometimes just not managing to do things. And that faking it til you make it doesn’t always work.
On top of that, I had been in a reading slump for ages and Yolk broke the slump, I also liked that as much as it has romance as part fo the story, romance isn’t the be all and end all of the story. It doesn’t get all tied neatly in a bow with a perfect relationship and a happily ever after, instead it leaves it a “this could be, but we don’t know and there is nothing instant about it, we have to be intentional” and I liked that, that some of the romance is more intentional and more about admitting the mistakes or coming to terms with your own internal issues that colour what you do or why. Honestly, June and Jayne are such great characters for exploring so much growth and also lack of it at some places, but it was a great read, full of reality and yet also with a lovely feel at the end. I had just so mcuh to feel and hold inside as the book came to an end.
I recommend it this book if you want to find a new adult book in contemporary, like romance and contemporary books that are less formulaic and exploring new territory. But if you liked Emergency Contact or similar books, then definitely read Yolk.