Cozy Review: You Yeong-Gwang’s The Rainfall Market
I picked this up on Audible, and couldn’t stop listening to it from start to finish (when I was in my car, at least). It’s no wonder it was picked up by a Penguin Random House imprint, and the reviews on it, to me, don’t do it justice.
If you’ve ever stood under an awning at a bus stop during a torrential downpour and felt a strange, melancholy peace, then you understand the tone set by You Yeong-Gwang. The Rainfall Market belongs in a nice space in cozy fantasy I call “healing fiction,” and reflects a growing movement in Korean literature toward simple prose and positive stories.
The story follows Serin, who stumbles into a hidden world called “The Rainfall Market” that operates on a bittersweet logic: visitors trade their darkest memories or deepest regrets for currency that allows them to purchase magical orbs from creatures called Dokkaebi.
Why do I consider it a cozy story? Because the scenarios perfectly match that. At a hair salon, she is required to get a haircut. In a bookstore, she might help the book vendor find a missing book. In an apothecary, she helps the alchemist fix a broken potion. After doing the bidding of the Dokkaebi in question, they allow her to purchase the orb.
The catch? The orbs aren’t quite what she might imagine, and thanks to her traveling feline companion, she is able to see glimpses of the life she might leave the market with, both the pros and cons.
The world-building is whimsical. The emotional stakes are grounded. Each Dokkaaebi that Serin encounters reflects a different aspect of modern life.
The stakes? If she choses wrong, she gets a life she might regret. If she fails to chose, she gets nothing. And if she doesn’t get out before the end of the rainy season? Well… I’ll let you find out.
This story is a masterclass in magical realism. It doesn’t over-explain its magic. The magic just happens.
Read this if you enjoyed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig or Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum.
MY RATINGS: 5/5
