Resurrection and family grief
Book review: And the River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun
And the River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun
Published: October 7, 2025 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
Buy this book: Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Bookshop.org
Synopsis:
She has always known the rules – never resurrect anything larger than the palm of her hand, but that was before her sister died. A chilling, compulsive exploration of sisterhood, loss, and revenge.
When her older sister is found mysteriously drowned in the river that cuts through their small coastal town, Soojin Han disregards every rule and uses her ancestral magic to bring Mirae back from the dead. At first, the sisters are overjoyed, reveling in late-night escapades and the miracle of being together again, but Mirae grows tired of hiding from the world. She becomes restless and hungry . . .
Driven by an insatiable desire to finish what she started in life, to unravel the truth that crushed her family so many years ago, Mirae is out for revenge.
When their town is engulfed by increasingly destructive rain and a series of harrowing, unusual deaths, Soojin is forced to reckon with the fact that perhaps the sister she brought back isn’t the one she knew.
Rating:
Review:
Initially I was intrigued by the premise of this book. A girl torn by the grief of losing her sister uses magic to resurrect her, breaking all the rules as she does. But after reading it, this book is so much more than that.
Soojin has lived with the possibility of resurrection for her entire life. Her family has been resurrecting their pet rat since her mother was a child. But she had never done it successfully. Now, both her mother and her sister and dead and she can’t live with the grief. Soojin’s grief was palpable through the entire book. From the very first sentence you can feel the pain of this family. It was written in such an exquisite way and such a rare find in a young adult book. Out of sheer desperation she tries to resurrect her sister. And miraculously she succeeds, surprising even herself.
Unfortunately it’s very clear early on that something is off about Mirae. Her close friend tries to warn her but she is just so overjoyed at having her sister back that she can’t see it at first. She hopes that it’s just Mirae adjusting to being alive again. But, eventually she has to confront the truth that she may have done her sister a disservice. Mirae can’t rest until she seeks out the vengeance that she feels owed.
The slow reveal of the full context of Mirae and her mother’s deaths was tragic and haunting. I found myself more heartbroken for this family with every page. The addition of Mark and Soojin’s father were vital and added a lot of raw emotion to the story.
This book is one of the best books I’ve ever read. Please read it, it’s beautiful and will stick with you for long after you’ve closed the pages. However, don’t listen to the audiobook. The narrator can’t seem to pronounce the simplest of words and pronounces the character’s name at least four different ways. Better in print for sure.