"A haunting, gorgeous narrative...lushly told. Brilliant."

-- "Minneapolis Star Tribune"

"Koh's book is a tremendous gift. We're so fortunate to have this literary reckoning from a tremendously talented writer. The Magical Language of Others is a wonder."

-- "San Francisco Chronicle"

"J. Koh's memoir The Magical Language of Others floats stunningly through the abandonment she experienced as a teenager...[and] talks about living while excavating the troubled past and writing difficult love letters."

-- "Electric Literature"

"A poignant transgenerational story of trauma and recovery in South Korea, Japan, and America."

-- "Library Journal"

"Both creative tribute and personal reckoning, this is a finely wrought, linguistically rich, provocative memoir."

-- "Booklist"

"Intimate, subtle insights about a unique mother-daughter relationship."

-- "Kirkus Reviews"

"A beautifully crafted saga...graceful and moving."

-- "Nicole Chung, author of All You Can Ever Know"

"Stunning...This memoir will pierce you."

-- "Crystal Hana Kim, author of If You Leave Me"

"Broke my heart...I could read this book a thousand times over."

-- "Sarah Blake, author of Naamah"

"Indisputably brilliant...a densely layered, lyrical exploration of the bonds between generations of daughters and mothers."

-- "Jeannie Vanasco, author of Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl "

"Give yourself over to her narrative territory and the resetting of the borders of lineage, language, and lives lost."

-- "Shawn Wong, author of Homebase and American Knees"

"Koh remarkably and beautifully translates the language of mothers as the language of survivors."

-- "Don Mee Choi, author of Hardly War"

"An exquisite, challenging, and stunning memoir. E. J. Koh intricately melds her personal story with a broader view of Korean history. Through these pages, you are asked to experience one family's heartbreak, trauma, and complex love for each other. This memoir will pierce you."

-- "Crystal Hana Kim, author of If You Leave Me"

"E.J. Koh writes of the boundary, between anonymity and naming, between absence and abandonment, between cruelty and safety for four generations of mothers and daughters, each speaking with an occupied heart and crossing narrative borders between Korea, Japan, and America. As a reader, you give yourself over to her narrative territory and the resetting of the borders of lineage, language, and lives lost."

-- "Shawn Wong, author of Homebase"

"This memoir broke my heart. The tragedies that filled the lives of Koh's mother and grandmothers are woven into mythic, magic tales in Koh's hands. Only by Koh's grace and mastery are we not crushed by the stories within The Magical Language of Others. I could read this book a thousand times over."

-- "Sarah Blake, author of Naamah"