By Samantha Pak
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
The Library of Flowers
By L.C. Chu
Sourcebooks Landmark, 2026
For centuries, Hua women have held influence over people in power—from emperors to billionaires—with their magical perfumes that can stir hearts, ensure fortunes, and more. And every five generations, an eldest daughter is born with the gift to summon true love.
Enter Lucy, the long-awaited fifth daughter of the present day. Except her magic failed, leading Lucy to flee her home in Vancouver, British Columbia, her legacy, and all the expectations she couldn’t live up to. Now she runs a small perfume shop in Toronto—until the death of her grandmother brings her home, and she inherits the centuries-old Hua family register.
As she dives into the stories of her ancestors and learns their secrets, Lucy has to ask herself if she’s ready to take on the responsibilities of being a Hua woman, and whether her magic was truly ever gone.
“The Library of Flowers” is a story about second chances as Lucy’s homecoming prompts her to confront her mother (as well as other family members), who confront Lucy in return. Seeing how both women have been hurting over the last decade makes it all the more satisfying as we see them open up more and really talk about the past, where things went wrong between them and what they need to do to move forward. Mother-daughter relationships are not easy, and Chu does a great job of balancing out the tension most women may feel with their mother and/or daughter, with the added pressure of the Hua women’s magical legacy.
I also enjoyed the flashbacks into previous Hua women’s stories from throughout the centuries and seeing the parallels between what they faced and what Lucy and her mom are facing. This helped ground the story and give context and weight to the power, responsibility, and even danger of the family’s magical secret.
The Second Chance Convenience Store
Written by Kim Ho-Yeon, translated by Janet Hong
Harper Perennial, 2025
When Mrs. Yeom loses her purse while on her way from Seoul to Busan, the retired history teacher is distraught. That is until she receives a phone call from a man who has found it. When she meets the man in question, she realizes he’s homeless and offers him a free meal from her convenience store as a thank you. Seeing how happy the meal makes him, Mrs. Yeom tells him to come each day for a free meal.
The man, who goes by Dok-go and lives at Seoul Station, takes her up on her offer and one day saves the store from a robber. This leads Mrs. Yeom to offer him the job of taking over the night shift when the position becomes open. Despite her employees’ wariness over their new colleague, Dok-go, who has no memory of his life before he became homeless, quickly wins them—and their customers—over as he offers them a listening ear, advice, and delivery services. He also becomes key when Mrs. Yeom’s good-for-nothing son comes sniffing around in the hopes that she will sell the store (and give him a big chunk of the profits, of course).
Told from various perspectives, including the store’s employees and a number of its customers, “Second Chance” is a sweet slice-of-life story following the people who work and live in a neighborhood in Seoul. I really enjoyed seeing how people from different walks of life, and at different stages in their lives, end up being connected, showing readers how we’re not that different from each other—especially as the characters started to look past their prejudices against Dok-go, the more they got to know him.
We see how while Dok-go was given a second chance in life, he was not the only character who was in need of one. Through him and his interactions with others, Kim shows the impact seemingly small acts of kindness can have on any of us—something many of us can do well to keep in mind in these current times.
Good Luck, Babe!
By Erin Baldwin
Viking Books for Young Readers, 2026
From the moment they met, Noelle and Yumi spent 10 years attached at the hip. The two were inseparable—until the summer after their junior year. One ill-fated night (and awkward kiss), and all of a sudden their friendship ended, and the pair went no contact for about a year. Then fate throws them back together when they’re offered a last-minute spot on their favorite show, “The Adventureverse.”
It’s the chance of a lifetime and a dream come true for the pair of superfans. But there’s a catch: They’ve been cast on an all-couples season, and the two young women haven’t spoken since they filmed their audition tape. While being on the reality show with her estranged best friend is the last thing Noelle wants, she needs the money to help with her father’s medical bills. Yumi reluctantly agrees once she learns about Noelle’s father, who is in acute liver failure.
As soon as the two girls join the show, of course, their reconciliation slowly begins to build. It was nice to see them take a few steps forward in their renewed relationship, and then a couple steps back, before repeating the process. It felt realistic as healing a relationship after what they’ve been through doesn’t happen overnight, especially when they have so much history, and so much at stake.
It was also fun to see all the adventures they go on as part of the show—once you suspend your disbelief that two 18-year-olds can drop everything to join a globetrotting reality show (and have their parents be okay with it) and actually be competitive among the contestants. Baldwin does a great job of building the show universe and all that goes into such a production behind the scenes, that many readers may not even consider.
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