The Rainfall Market You Yeong-Gwang

by You Yeong-Gwang
The Rainfall Market Published by Penguin Group on January 21, 2025
Genres: Fiction / Animals, Fiction / Coming of Age, Fiction / Fantasy / General
Pages: 224
Goodreads

If you could swap your life for a better one, which would you choose?

On the outskirts of Rainbow Town, there is an old, abandoned house. They say that if you send a letter detailing your misfortunes there, you could receive a ticket. If you bring this ticket to the house on the first day of the rainy season, you'll be granted entrance into the mysterious Rainfall Market—where you can choose to completely change your life.

No one is more surprised than Serin when she receives a ticket. Lonely and with no real prospects for a future, Serin ventures to the market, determined to create a better life for herself.

There, she meets a magical cat companion named Issha and they search through bookstores, perfumeries, and fantastical realms while Serin tries to determine what her perfect life will look like.

The catch? Serin only has one week to find her happiness or be doomed to vanish into the market forever.

And all the while, a shadow follows quietly behind them…

Review:

A South Korean girl named Serin reads a book about a magical place called The Rainfall Market, run by human-like people called the Dokkaebi. There, one can purchase a glass orb containing the life they wish for. Her favorite radio program has a segment called Stories from the Listeners, in which one listener’s letter about their personal hardships earns them a ticket to The Rainfall Market.

Serin writes the show a letter sharing that her father died when she was young, her sister ran away, she has no friends, and she can’t see any good prospects for her future. When her letter is chosen, she begins an unimaginable adventure to the Rainfall Market, where pursuing the dream life she wants may be more dangerous than she could’ve imagined, especially when someone there stops playing by the rules!

You Yeong-Gwang’s debut caught my eye because of its beautiful cover and because I’ve been craving something different than my typical thrillers and rom-coms lately. The magical realism, thought-provoking, feel-good storyline, light touch of fantasy, and a cast of fun characters were just what I needed. The cherry on top? A magical, size-changing spirit guide cat, Issha, behaves more like a puppy and completely steals my heart!

The writing is pretty simple, and some suggested it suited to a middle-grade audience. Whether that’s a translation issue or just how it’s written, I didn’t find it too young for an adult audience despite the MC being a teen or school-aged (I’m not sure of her exact age). It had shades of Willy Wonka and Meg Shaffer’s The Wishing Gamewith the winning ticket scenario and whimsical setting. It also had the philosophical bent of Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library concerning the opportunity to “try on” different lives. Throw in a little magic and a thread of mystery, and it was a fun read.

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