Counterattacks at Thirty
A Novel
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Counterattacks at Thirty
Buy Now for $23.99
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Narrated by:
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Jo Yuan
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By:
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Won-pyung Sohn
About this listen
From the bestselling author of Almond, The Devil Wears Prada meets The Office in this witty, humane, and ultimately transformative story of a group of young workers who rebel against the status quo.
Jihye is an ordinary woman who has never been extraordinary. In her administrative job at the Academy, she silently tolerates office politics and the absurdities of Korean bureaucracy. Forever only one misplaced email away from career catastrophe, she effectively becomes a master of the silent eye-roll and the tactical coffee run. But all her efforts to endure her superiors and the semi-hostile work environment they create are upended when a new intern, Gyuok Lee, arrives.
Like a pacifist version of V in V for Vendetta, Gyuok recruits a trio of office allies to carry out plans for minor revenge. Together, these four “rebels” commit tiny protests against those in more powerful positions through spraying graffiti, throwing eggs, and writing anonymous exposés. But as their attacks increase, the initial joy they felt at the release becomes something more and Jihye and the others will discover the beauty of friendship and the extraordinary power of unity against adversity.
©2025 Won-pyung Sohn (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishersi wondered at first if the completely Korean setting and mindset would make the author stick to peculiarly culturally Korean answers to the questions it asks, but that was just the beginning—the author goes far beyond cultural thought and into questioning the ways as well as the whys of the need for change. she also goes into the question of how to change the world without the mindset that it’s just one answer: the main group of characters all find different ways, in the end, to effect their selves, their spheres, their culture, and then, maybe, the world.
this is a gorgeous book and i’ll be thinking about it for a while to come. i have no doubt that it’ll be a movie before long.
my favourite kind of revolution: small acts of considered disobedience and counter-culturalism
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