Well the Covid-19 pandemic is certainly creeping into everything now - but very justifiably here as it gives the opportunity for some interesting plot points and discussions. We meet Jack Jr as he awakes from a two-year coma after an accident. Mistaking male nurse Emil for his fiancé Ren, he wonders why everyone's masked up and you can only see their eyes - because yes, it's part-way through the lockdowns, things open enough for the family sushi restaurant to be open but having been bad enough for it to have lost a lot of money. Will Jack Jr resume his old life, distant from his family, on the other side of the river with his marketing job and re-find Ren, or will he stay this side in New Jersey and take on the responsibility of the restaurant? That sounds a bit stereotyped but doesn't feel it in the reading, as the family is sufficiently differentiated - mum and dad are divorced but still work together, there's Jack Jr's excellent nephew Juno (even though he expects him to be able to help with his chemistry project because he's gay and therefore concentrated at school), and there are some excellent side-stories that aren't about a standard immigrant experience, and there's a tentative and touching love story. Lots of medical details early on and fish buying and prep stuff are copable with and it's a frank and funny read as well as an involving one. Highly recommended.

Blog review 4 April 2025: https://www.librofulltime.wordpress.com

I think this is as close to a pandemic-novel that I’ll ever be happy to read, and I’m okay with that! Imagine you went into a coma at the end of 2019, and when you woke up two years later, the world and people around you had changed more than you could ever have expected.

In the right hands, the concept makes for a great light-hearted, heart-warming story about family, which is exactly what Jinwoo Chung provides. We can sense from the start that there is more to Jack Jr’s strained relationship with his family than meets the eye, and as we get to know all of the family better we slowly start to learn what happened in the years running up to the pandemic.

Something I really appreciated is that this book doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. Jack Jr has to accept that there are some questions about his own past that he will never know the answer to, and similarly we as readers are left with an open-ended realisation. This felt very fitting with the general tone and themes of the book, which embraces the fallout of years of uncertainty in everyday life.

This was a really enjoyable read, and I look forward to reading more from Jinwoo Chung!

I received a free copy for review.

This book was soo good and was such an insane storyline (what would you do if you wake up after 2 years and everything has changed so drastically since you went into a coma). When JJ wakes up after his coma the relief/appreciation of waking up after so long (with no memory of the accident that put him in a coma in the first place) is ambushed by the fact that everything has changed so drastically it is hard to comprehend (his partner has left him and married someone else, he has lost his job, he no longer has his car, the world has just gone through the Covid pandemic and his estranged parents are back in his life).
I loved this book, the premise was wild but also really insightful and made me take a long look at my own life (regrets and desires) and really shows the mortality of us all and how quickly everything can be taken away. Although there was banter throughout, the book ticks all the boxes for me that I love in healing translated fiction where there is so much to read between the lines of the actually plot and I can't wait to read more by Chong.

An unwilling second chance when unexpectedly losing everything you worked for. And where is Ren? A good portion of this book pulled my heart out. Ten years of little contact with his family, building a life away from them, and Jack ends up back in the chaos that is a loving family because of a two-year coma. And he misses what he had. Sure, he loves them and the cute nurse would be nice, but that doesn't change anything. Until everything changing, sinks in.

Is it reassuring or scary to fall back into a life you worked to escape? It is even worse when you find yourself enjoying it. This is a bittersweet tale with a hopeful ending.

Really enjoyed this read, perfect for cosying up on the sofa during the holidays.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me for my honest review.

I Leave It Up to You is a novel about a man who wakes up from a coma and returns to working in his estranged family's sushi restaurant, finding family and love along the way. Jack Jr was in a coma for two years, during which a global pandemic happened, his parents got older, his little nephew became a teenager, and his family's restaurant struggled. When he wakes up unexpectedly, he has to rebuild his life from scratch, with his job long gone, his soon-to-be-husband now married to someone else, and his only place to sleep being his childhood bedroom. With bonds to heal, a restaurant to fall back in love with, and a new love interest to get to know, Jack Jr has a lot to deal with.

I've wanted to read Jinwoo Chong's previous book for a while now and not had the chance, so when I saw this one available on Netgalley, I needed to read it. This book is filled with a lot of heart and is your classic romcom setup of a character having to return to their hometown in order to rediscover what makes them happy, only with the twist that it is due to a two year long coma. Though the book is somewhat of a romcom (with some ridiculous elements like a video suddenly going viral on TikTok), it is really most about various characters feeling able to go after their passions, and how family can be complicated. I saw it described as 'messy', which is such a compliment in this case: both the protagonist and the supporting characters have a lot going on and it all comes together to show that you make the best of things.

If you're looking for a queer version of the kind of romcom about returning home to rebuild your life, then I Leave It Up to You is a fun, heartwarming take on that story that has more of a focus on the protagonist and all of his relationships than just on romance.

I Leave It Up to You by Jinwoo Chong is a well-developed story about relationship dynamics in a family and reconnections.