Frances Cha has done something wonderful with her debut novel, If I Had Your Face and I'm here to spread the word.

In this engaging and touching novel, Ms. Cha introduces readers to four women who live in Seoul, South Korea. They’re neighbors in an “office-tel,” a building that mixes living and commercial spaces. Each woman is different and the same: Kyuri, a beautiful but tragic woman working in Seoul's room salons; Ara, a mute who has a back story that shows she's tougher than she looks; Miho, an artist loving a man in the shadow of her friend; and Wonna, the only married woman of the group with her own problems. Each one is living under the unrealistic beauty expectations in a society that values beauty, to the detriment of many.

I loved reading this book and it kept me engaged to the point I was able to forget about the current situation we're in right now. Ms. Cha really made the women into fully-realized characters and I wanted to know as much as possible about them. I was stunned by the way they talked about plastic surgery like it was a normal thing. Especially Kyuri since she knew first hand what being beautiful could do, for good or ill. To be beautiful is to be better, seen, loved. But it may also mean being taken advantage of, thrown aside and forgotten.

I especially enjoyed reading the back story of each woman, which the author peppered throughout the novel. It made me want more and I was invested in each character for the entire novel. I finished this book feeling hopeful for all of them, which is something we need right now.

If I Had Your Face is out now and I highly recommend it to my readers and look forward to more from Frances Cha.

I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Where to buy: The Lit. Bar Books Are Magic Indiebound