Unmissable Korean Novels

K-Pop bands, K-dramas and webtoons have become widely popular in recent years. But how about Korean novels? Check out our hand-picked titles for fans of Korean culture everywhere!

Updated June 18, 2025
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The plotters
Kim, ?n-su
Paper Book
"[A] powerhouse of a novel....It reads as if Haruki Murakami rewrote The Day of the Jackal." - Locus Magazine "Editor's Choice" New York Times Book Review "The Most Anticipated Crime Books of 2019" CrimeReads "Most...
Love in the big city
Pak, Sang-y?ng
Paper Book
A funny, transporting, surprising, and poignant novel that was one of the highest-selling debuts of recent years in Korea, Love in the Big City tells the story of a young gay man searching for happiness in the lonely city of Seoul Love in the Big City is the English...
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop
Bo-reum, Hwang
Paper Book
INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER * NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER INDIE NEXT PICK * Debutiful Most Anticipated Book of 2024 * Powell's Pick of the Month * A Bookshop Best Book of the Year So Far The Korean smash hit available for the first...
If I had your face
Cha, Frances
Paper Book
A riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossible standards of beauty, after-hours room salons catering to wealthy men, ruthless social hierarchies, and K-pop mania   "Powerful and...
Y/n : a novel
Yi, Esther
Paper Book
Finalist for the 2023 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2023 New York Times 2023 Critics' Pick New Yorker Best Book of 2023 (Essential Read) NPR Best Book of 2023 TIME Must-Read Book of 2023
When we fell apart
Wiley, Soon
Paper Book
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022:  Harper's Bazaar  *  Vogue  *  Good Housekeeping  *  CrimeReads  *  BookBub  *  Veranda  *  Shondaland  *  Debutiful  *  PureWow *  and more! ...
Greek Lessons
Kang, Han.
Paper Book
FROM HAN KANG, WINNER OF THE 2024 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE   "[Han Kang's] intense poetic prose . . . exposes the fragility of human life."--The Nobel Committee for Literature, in the citation for the Nobel Prize   NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE * A...
The vegetarian : a novel
Han, Kang
Paper Book
FROM HAN KANG, WINNER OF THE 2024 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE "[Han Kang's] intense poetic prose . . . exposes the fragility of human life."--The Nobel Committee for Literature, in the citation for the Nobel Prize A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ...
The Trunk
Ryeo-ryeong, Kim.
Paper Book
NOW A NETFLIX TV SERIES The English language debut from bestselling Korean author Kim Ryeo-ryeong - an edgy, arresting drama about a secret marriage service for Korea's wealthy elite, and one unlikely couple in the thick of it all.
The island of Sea Women
See, Lisa
Paper Book
A new novel from Lisa See, the New York Times bestselling author of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, about female friendship and family secrets on a small Korean island. Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends that come...
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982
Paper Book
Kim Ji-young is an "ordinary woman" in her thirties, with a husband and daughter and a home in the suburbs. One day she begins to behave abnormally, and her concerned husband arranges for her to attend counseling sessions. The doctor's notes of their conversations with Ji-young reveal her...

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