The Rainfall Market

The Rainfall Market, You Yeong-Gwang's first published book and international bestseller, translated by Slin Jung, is a delightful Fantasy / Cozy Mystery about a magical place named The Rainfall Market where those who are truly miserable in their lives can write a letter pleading their case and, if accepted, can receive a rare, once-in-a-lifetime invitation to visit this magical place as a guest of the strange and magical Dokkaebi - and for a chance to trade their miserable lives for the life of their dreams... a life that will make them truly happy. It seems the Dokkaebi live in some sort of separate realm from humans and have a symbiotic relationship with them, taking something from humans - such as shyness, fears or bad memories - and using them to fashion magical, mystical objects that they use in day-to-day lives, from candles to clothing and from potions to books. The Dokkaebi deal in aspects of human lives and this is what gives them the ability to trade out a person's life for one they want more. Well, so long as they make their selection before the rainy season ends. Otherwise, they are just gone forever. So, yeah, there's that...

A poor young girl named Serin feels like she's the perfect candidate... and that's the only perfect thing in her life. She is poorer than all of the other girls, not even able to afford a school uniform or to have a pet. When she hears of The Rainfall Market, it's all she can think about and anxiously awaits the rainy season and hopes desperately for her ticket to The Rainfall Market. However, it seems that things are bad all over and there are scary areas and individuals on the way to The Rainfall Market and even in The Rainfall Market... and not only that... there seems to be some sort of thief afoot within The Rainfall Market. Serin finds out she's not only received a ticket, but an ultra-rare special ticket... granting her the ability to preview several potential lives she could choose from, while being accompanied by a magical cat named Isha, who can change to any desired size (a talent that comes in handy regularly) - and can sense the location of potential life-orbs based on Serin's descriptions... but she'll have to be careful, decisive and quick-witted if she's to survive the very odd Rainfall Market and find her dream life and make her way out - before her time runs out and she's lost forever.

The Rainfall Market is well-written, giving some warm, emotional moments, a few tense moments, and some nice character development, so you're rooting for Serin the whole way through. The mystical, magical setting of The Rainfall Market conjured fond memories of classic fantasy settings, such as Oz or Wonderland. There were certainly some strange settings and minor twists and turns that I didn't see coming, as well as a fairly large one that I hadn't suspected, but the overarching moral of the story seemed apparent to me early on. Still, that didn't lessen my enjoyment of watching the story unfold as it went along.

You Yeong-Gwang is a talented writer and The Rainfall Market was a joy to read. I would highly recommend curling up with this book in your favorite reading nook next time it rains. Perhaps with a warm mug of a soothing beverage and nuzzled up with a cuddly pet. I look forward to seeing what You Yeong-Gwang writes next.