4.5 starsThis book really got to me. Silvia Park has that rare gift of crafting a speculative story that feels completely real, grounded in the everyday, with all its ordinary and sometimes ridiculous details. Luminous is a character-driven novel, and the character work is outstanding. Everyone is complex, flawed, and relatable, inspiring different reactions depending on whose perspective you're seeing them through.Set in a near-future, unified Korea where humanoid robots are commonplace, the no...

What truly defines humanity? Where does authenticity reside? In love, grief, or our connections and relationships? Memory itself? *Luminous* poses poignant questions and paints a stark picture of a post-human world. Though occasionally meandering and unevenly paced, this novel remains captivating.You have to be an optimist in today’s savage world*Luminous* is a compelling debut from Silvia Park, envisioning a reunified Korea where humanoid robots are commonplace. In some ways, it echoes Little E...

Stephen is supreme, everyone shut up! I loved that freak; he's my favorite one-year-old. Silvia Park's *Luminous* just blew my mind. If you're looking for a great book review, look no further. This book is *it*.

Silvia Park's *Luminous* explores some interesting themes about robots, technology, and what truly defines our humanity, and I especially appreciated that it was set in Korea. I can definitely see the appeal, particularly its commentary on sibling relationships and how differently we can react, even when raised in similar environments. However, the writing felt too flat and emotionally distant for me to fully invest in the story. There were moments where the prose really shone, but they were too...

I give up. I stuck with it as long as I could. I love reading Korean authors. Growing up, I didn't have access to many, and as a Korean myself, it would have been amazing to see that we could be successful in creative fields, not just the traditionally respected ones like medicine, engineering, law, or the clergy. But alas, while there are definitely moments of excitement for me in "Luminous" by Silvia Park, there just aren't enough to sustain me through the rest of its 260 pages. As far as book...

It feels like there have been way too many sci-fi books about humanoid robots with artificial general intelligence set in the near future, because it just isn’t going to happen any time soon. The human form is very difficult to reproduce mechanically, while current AI is a long way from having human-like general intelligence (even if it's quite good at faking it). But, despite that proviso, I enjoyed Silvia Park's novel featuring... humanoid robots with artificial intelligence in the nearish fut...

Finished ReadingWhich was more deadly, real or not real? The real knew no restraint. p14 Pre-Read notesThis is another arc that drew me right in with the cover. That gorgeous mosaic tiger and all the color really spoke to me. Having read the first third of Luminous now, I understand all the brightness and variation on the cover.Final Review Review summary and recommendations I'm a little surprised how much I liked this book, but I wrote the words "I love" so many times in this review. The stor...

In a future, supposedly unified Korea, robots are integrated into society as servants, companions, and even substitute children. We explore this world through three characters: Jun, a detective in the 'Robot Crimes' division; his sister Morgan, a programmer for the robot-making corporation Imagine Friends; and Ruijie, a disabled girl who befriends an unusual robot she meets in a junkyard. Linking them all is Yoyo, Jun and Morgan’s missing-presumed-dead robot sibling. There’s a lot going on in *L...

So close to a 5-star read! Silvia Park's *Luminous* nearly had me, but the writing felt a little uneven at times. Still, the story itself is fantastic and well worth checking out. If you're looking for great book recommendations, put *Luminous* on your list!

This book, Luminous by Silvia Park, throws everything at you: speculative fiction elements, childhood trauma, murder, estrangement, a forbidden romance, and even a robot sibling. It's a wild ride. It also juggles multiple perspectives, which, I'll admit, I'm usually not a fan of. There are very few books where having several points of view feels truly necessary, varied, and equally compelling. Luminous didn't quite hit all three marks for me. There's a lot happening in Luminous, which is both ...