Snowglobe

November 6, 2023
In Park’s dystopian duology opener, 16-year-old Jeon Chobahm lives with the rest of the lower-class population in a treacherous environment where the average temperature is –50 °F. Actors are among the lucky few who live in Snowglobe—a climate-controlled paradise encased in a glass dome—in exchange for having their “unscripted lives recorded and edited into shows,” which are then broadcast to the masses as entertainment. Though she dreams of becoming a director and someday working on one of the reality shows, Chobahm works at the power plant to produce Snowglobe’s electricity. Days before her 17th birthday, she’s approached by Cha Seol, the director of The Goh Haeri Show, who claims that she resembles the actor who plays Goh Haeri. She persuades Chobahm to step in as the new Haeri after the actor dies by suicide, promising to assist her in her goal of becoming a director. Chobahm agrees, and as she adjusts to Haeri’s highly publicized lifestyle, she uncovers a greater conspiracy within Snowglobe. This fast-paced examination of reality television and surveillance, smoothly translated by Comfort (Plastic), boasts a cast of resourceful and morally gray teens and teems with anticipatory tension reminiscent of The Hunger Games. Ages 12–up. Agent: Sue Park, Barbara J. Zitwer Agency.

Starred review from December 1, 2023
An intrepid teen encounters the dark secrets of the elite in her climate-ravaged world in this translated work from South Korea. Sixteen-year-old Jeon Chobahm is shocked to learn that Goh Haeri, the beloved reality TV star who happens to be Chobahm's look-alike, just died by suicide--and also that she's being asked to become Haeri's secret replacement. In their frozen, post-apocalyptic world, Chobahm, like everyone around her, leads a bleak life. She bundles up daily against the dangerous cold and toils in a power plant. But now she'll live Haeri's cushy life in Snowglobe, an exclusive, glass-dome-enclosed community, where the climate is mild, and the resident actors' lives are broadcast as entertainment for those in the open world. As glamorous as life there may seem, however, Chobahm quickly learns that there's a sinister underbelly: People are killed off when they're no longer useful, and there's something strange about Haeri's family dynamics. As she meets a host of new companions, including Yi Bonwhe, the heir of Snowglobe's founding family, Chobahm discovers a devastating secret and embarks on a risky plan to expose the truth. Climate change, societal inequity, and the ethics of escaping from our own lives by watching others' are addressed in this intelligent, absorbing book. Chobahm is a complex character inhabiting a strongly developed world, and her compassion, ambition, outrage, and sorrow ring true. Transporting and unputdownable; an appealing combination of deep and page-turning. (Dystopian. 12-adult)

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January 1, 2024
Grades 8-10 The world has frozen over--or nearly enough, with daily temperatures reaching minus 50 degrees and worse--and the have-nots are forced to work in power plants to feed the Snowglobe, the only place left on Earth with a temperate climate. It's where the rich and glamorous live, each one a reality TV star, live streaming 24 hours a day. Chobahm, a 16-year-old worker who is fascinated by Snowglobe's broadcasts, dreams of making it inside the domed city as a director. When famous weathercaster Goh Haeri, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Chobahm, dies, Chobahm is selected to secretly replace the reality star. Life in Snowglobe is obviously very different from what she's used to, but it's not all glitz and glamour; there's something weird going on behind the scenes, and Chobahm becomes determined to find out what. The huge cast of characters can be difficult to track, though there's a list at the beginning. This debut, a dystopian thriller with a reality-TV twist, is perfect for fans of Squid Game or Snowpiercer.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 1, 2024

Gr 9 Up-The world is cold; -50 degrees is the norm in winter. Communities survive by linking to power plants run on kinetic human energy. To escape their bleak existence, ordinary people watch television produced in Snowglobe, where glamorous reality shows are filmed inside a geothermal heated dome, the only warm place left. Chobahm and her twin brother work daily alongside their mother at the power plant, creating the electricity needed to survive. Yet she dreams of becoming a director for Snowglobe, creating a popular show and living in the safe warmth of the dome. Surprisingly, the opportunity presents itself, just not in the way Chobahm hoped. She is to replace an actor on a hit show, a girl who bears a striking resemblance to Chobahm and who has supposedly just died by suicide. But who would want to die in paradise? Snowglobe is not what it seems, hiding ugly, violent truths. Can Chobahm survive this new reality of lies and betrayals? Park's first novel translated for an English-speaking audience falters in pacing for much of the middle. With the plot mired in minutia, most readers will see the twists coming long before they arrive. However, readers will appreciate the rich Korean culture that permeates every part of the book and the well-done character development. All characters are Korean. VERDICT Purchase for collections serving high schoolers where there is a love of dystopian mysteries.-Kristen Rademacher

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