Synopsis:
With unparalleled psychological precision, master of crime and suspense fiction You-Jeong Jeong weaves a domestic nightmare centered on Yuna Shin: wife, mother, sister—and covert narcissist.
Everyone in Yuna’s life is desperate to keep her happy: her partners, parents, and terrified six-year-old daughter. Even when she’s not blaming or hitting, the threat of her mood keeps her family from bonding, touching, or even speaking long enough to realize she’s playing them against each other. But when little Jiyoo’s feverish memories of loons hint at a troubling crime, Yuna’s estranged sister and guilt-ridden husband begin to reconstruct her movements, the unexplained tragedies in Yuna’s history, and the lies she’s told for years. For the first time, Yuna’s traumatized family members will have to confront the truth of her depravity and learn that no one—no matter how young—is safe from her wrath.
After all, Yuna believes that happiness requires subtraction. And she wants nothing less than perfect happiness.
My Edition:
E-ARC provided by Net Galley
My Thoughts:
I love a good, creepy psychological/domestic thriller, and Perfect Happiness delivers. This was my first time reading You-Jeong Jeong (who is apparently known as South Korea’s answer to Stephen King), but it will not be my last. That is a certainty. I’m either going to find more of her translated work or learn to read Korean. I don’t care. With that being said, I kind of hope her other translated work (there should be at least two more if memory serves) is handled by Sean Lin Halbert, the translator for Perfect Happiness. He seems to have done a phenomenal job. It can be hard to translate between languages which use entirely different sentence structures, levels of formality, etc. like English and Korean do, not to mention cultural differences which could further complicate things. I think Halbert handles it incredibly well. There were no points in the story where the arrangement of English words felt off. His translation appears to flawlessly bridge the space between the two languages.
About the story itself, I have to say that I find Yuna utterly terrifying – and I think a big reason for that is Jeong’s decision to not give her a narrative voice. So all we know about Yuna Shin is what we see of her through the eyes of the people she terrorizes – her husband, ex-husband, young daughter, and estranged sister. The idea is not to have you empathize with a violent narcissist, it is to have you experience second-hand the reality of dealing with someone who is manipulative, self-absorbed, and abusive. Yuna will have her perfect happiness no matter what she has to do to achieve it (it reminds me of Peacemaker and how he says “I cherish peace with all of my heart. I don’t care how many men, women and children I need to kill to get it.”). Jeong also does a fantastic job of covertly identifying some of the patterns and cycles of abuse.
I have one complaint though it is a small one: like many others apparently, I felt a little let down by the character Jinu. He had so many opportunities to do something, and to put an end to things before they went further, but he chose not to. Although unlike others who have said they felt similarly, I will say that I believe this story beat made some amount of sense. I don’t like it per se, but Jinu’s reaction seems far from implausible. As we see with Yuna, some people will do troubling things to protect their own peace or sense of safety. I believe that the author intended to show Jinu doing just that. Like, I want to slap the hell out of him, but I also find his reaction to be realistic, if a bit upsetting.
Rating:
Perfect Happiness will have you on the edge of your seat. The resolution will not disappoint.
Also, if you didn’t already feel creeped out by some of the alarming sounds loons make, you probably will by the time you finish reading.
Perfect Happiness
By: You-Jeong Jeong
Translated by: Sean Lin Halbert
Creature Publishing
Expected Publication: September 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781951971335
Paperback, E-book, Audio
358 Pages
