Yeoyu - new voices Korea #2 - Old Wrestler

An aging hero, a wrestler from Korea, grapples with his unrealiable memory as he’s invited to his hometown for an event. This book was a bit of a disapointment for me considering how great the other books in this series are.

There were parts of the story around the edges that felt like they could be interesting but were never explored. Why is the Korean wrestler living out his retirement in Japan? Who is the General? What kind of wrestling?

This novella didn’t capture my attention or make me feel much for the characters. We don’t know anything about this wrestler, so I only felt pity for the old wrestler as a pathetic old man who is losing his memory. I wish I knew more about the wrestler. Why was he famous? Give me a flashback to his childhood or some of his heroic matches.

Don’t write off the Yeoyu collection if this is the first one you read! The others are way better. The Old Wrestler didn’t work as a novella. It probably needed to be fleshed out as a novel to get interesting.

I do want to give props to the coverart though. It’s a shame one of the weakest stories in the whole series has one of the best covers.

Check out the better books in the Yeoyu series.

Rating: ★★★

Book #8 in my 2022 Reading Challenge