"First off, the writing is top notch. There's a rhythm and lyricality to Nguyen's prose that makes it a delight to read. He deftly weaves together humour and tragedy and almost perfectly manages to dole out evocative imagery every other line without the sense of heaviness that often accompanies such writing. However, there are passages where he delves into Chabon-esque purple prose that just drags and his use of ten-dollar words can be indulgent at times.

The various genres and themes are integrated well and channeled through a narrator with a rich psychology, a mixed-race undercover agent, a synthesis of colliding dichotomies. This book will fill you with despair, anger, grief, and grim mirth - sometimes all at once. The end result is an excellent meditation on straddling two worlds yet being rejected by both, the nature of loneliness, and of course, sympathy.

I'm very much looking forward to the show and glad I read this first. Tonally, the book feels very aligned with Park Chan-Wook's works. Some elements of the book reminded me of Oldboy and they are in the same neighbourhood emotionally.

Fair warning that the last quarter or so sucker punches you hard emotionally and mentally. Incredibly heavy content and unsettling, if not outright upsetting. I'll leave it at that for fear of spoiling the book."