I debated whether I liked I Leave It Up to You while reading. I enjoy reading and reviewing literary books, and I sometimes thought this read like a romance. However, upon completion, I decided it qualified as literature when I considered the author’s characterization and themes conveyed through the story. When the novel opens, we meet Jack Jr., waking from a two-year coma with his nurse, Emil Cuddy, at his side. Jack Jr. has missed two years of his life, most of the 2020 pandemic, and the changes it has brought to hospitals, communities, and his family’s Korean sushi restaurant. Jack Jr. had been in a relationship with a man named Ren before his accident and coma. Early in the story, it becomes apparent that Ren has moved on to another love, and Jack becomes attracted to his nurse.
Jack, the first-person storyteller, is never just Jack. He is Jack Jr. In addition to the name, there is a solid connection to his father, Appa, even though Jack Jr. walked out on the family several years before his coma. Jack Jr. follows in his father’s footsteps and plans to take over the sushi restaurant in Ft Lee, NJ, a Korean enclave. The father, mother, and brother spent countless hours in Jack Jr.’s hospital room when it wasn’t clear whether he would wake. The family, like many others, suffers from strained relationships. Although Jack Jr.’s mother, Umma, works in the restaurant, she lives separately from Appa and has a man-friend named Jo. James, Jack Jr.’s brother, is married with a teenage son, Juno, and a baby named Sam. James is a recovering alcoholic and has difficulty communicating with the family, especially Juno. However, all family members have tacit ways of showing unconditional love.
Juno refers to Jack Jr. as Uncle JJ and confides in him. Juno represents the younger TikTok generation in the novel’s generational plot points. Juno posts Jack Jr.’s story on TikTok and sets up a crowdsourcing account to help with the hospital bills and restaurant maintenance. Although this horrifies some, it develops the story while maintaining the strong family theme and also some humor about commodifying health conditions and sympathy marketing so popular among Juno’s peers. Other themes include homophobia, racism, and ageism. Many of these messages are conveyed through dialogue, and I appreciate that. Jinwood Chong uses much dialogue and employs quotation marks in the old-fashioned way, which is something I appreciate.
One of Jack Jr.’s fondest memories from childhood is doing fish runs with Appa. They would go out very early in the morning and buy the best quality fish they could find for the restaurant at markets. Now, Juno accompanies them on the fish runs, and they provide significant time to bond. Of course, a literal fish run is often a pathway along streams and rivers, from the ocean to freshwater lakes and ponds, where fish travel to reproduce. On a symbolic level, the fish run was a beautiful expression that described Jack Jr.’s migratory nature and return. Juno has some of the same tendencies, and getting to know them made this an enjoyable and relatable read.
