It’s so much fun to stumble across a debut novel that tackles both an important subject, but also tells a story in a unique and fresh way. Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim is just that, a hard-hitting science-fiction psychological thriller that is as much a thought-provoking journey as it is terrifying. I was expecting something unique, but utterly surprised on the impact this story has made on me.
When you immigrate, you leave a copy of yourself behind, an instance. One person enters their new country; the other stays trapped at home.
Some instances keep in touch, call each other daily, keep their lives and minds in sync in the hopes of reintegrating and resuming a life as one person. Others, like Soyoung Rose Kang, leave home at ten years old and never speak to their other selves again. Rose, in America, never imagined going back to Korea until her grandfather died and her Korean instance called her home for the funeral.
She doesn’t know that Soyoung plans to steal her body and her life. How far would you go to live the choice you didn’t make?
Now, I will say that one of the biggest draws for me to Sublimation was the comparison to Severance, one of my favorite television shows in recent times. While this is not exactly the same concept, it definitely has similarities that made it all that more enjoyable. What Severance and Sublimation have both done is given us such a thought-provoking concept of creating a different version of ourselves, only Kim crafts with this novel is something so much more impactful to our real world.
The subject of immigration is one that we see here and there in stories these days, but Kim tackles it in such a unique way that made for such a wonderful read. As someone who was born and raised in New England, immigration in my personal life has not been a factor, but know how hard it can be on various people depending on the situation. Moving halfway across the world to start a new life, wether due to choice, pressure, persecution, or whatever the circumstances, can be a chance to reinvent yourself, but also can be extremely tough to find a way to fit in.
It must be on those immigrants minds as they move through life in a new country, what would life have been life if I had stayed in the place I was born? I can imagine the thoughts swirl on how life would be different. With Sublimation, some of those who have immigrated get the chance to see what life was life for the part of you that was left behind, as well as what happens when your instance gets to try and experience a new place. It’s a concept I cannot get over, and have been thinking about ever since I closed the final page.
Yes, does Sublimation make you think and have a deeper meaning outside of just a well-written story, but it’s where the story goes and the science behind new technology that makes this even more enjoyable of a read. Instancing has been around for as long as people can remember, but there are new inventions that work around the phenomenon that pushes this psychological thriller into the realm of deep science-fiction that made this story what it is in the end. Where this book goes is something I did not see coming and was excited to dive into it even more.
Sublimation is the kind of debut novel that I love reading, taking a fascinating idea, grounded in real human experiences, and pushes it into unexpected and unsettling territory. Isabel J. Kim delivers an emotional, thrilling, and thought-provoking story that transforms the immigrant experience into something original and impactful.
Sublimation is available at bookstores everywhere from Tor Books. The audiobook, narrated by Major Curda & Michelle H. Lee, is available via Libro.fm!
