Flashlight - Susan Choi - A Short Summary and Review
Flashlight - Susan Choi - A Short Summary and Review
By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures
A Rite of Fancy Bucket List Book Adventure
A Short Summary:
Flashlight by Susan Choi follows the search for answers after Serk’s disappearance. What begins as a mystery gradually becomes something stranger and more unsettling, moving through memory, family history, grief, and the lingering shadows of political violence.
The novel is not a straightforward disappearance story. Instead, it circles around absence, identity, and the ways people try, and often fail, to understand one another. Through its dark and wandering structure, Flashlight becomes a story about loss, impatience, displacement, and the unresolved questions that shape a family.
My Favorite Quote from the Book:
Questions to ponder while reading:
My Review:
Flashlight by Susan Choi is a strange, surreal, and meandering novel. It is dark, prickly, and often uncomfortable, with a story that resists easy answers. Rather than moving neatly from question to solution, the book lingers in uncertainty, circling Serk’s disappearance and the complicated lives connected to it.
One of the strongest elements of the novel is its atmosphere. There is a constant sense of unease, and the book offers a very dark look into the formation of North Korea and the lives shaped by history, exile, and political tension. Choi’s writing does not soften the edges of her characters. They are impatient, difficult, guarded, and often hard to like, but that prickliness also feels intentional. These are people formed by fear, disappointment, loss, and suspicion.
This is not a warm or comforting novel. It can feel wandering at times, and readers who prefer a clear, fast-paced plot may find it frustrating. But for those who appreciate literary fiction that is moody, layered, and unsettling, Flashlight offers a haunting story about disappearance, family, and the ways history leaves people permanently changed.
If you liked Flashlight, you may also like:
The Orphan Master's Son - Adam Johnson
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
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