Meet Me at Blue Hour
Sarah Suk
Quill Tree Books
Published April 1, 2025
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About Meet Me at Blue Hour
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets Past Lives in this gripping, emotional story of two childhood friends navigating the fallout of one erasing their memory of the other, from acclaimed author Sarah Suk.
Seventeen-year-old Yena Bae is spending the summer in Busan, South Korea, working at her mom’s memory-erasing clinic. She feels lost and disconnected from people, something she’s felt ever since her best friend, Lucas, moved away four years ago without a word, leaving her in limbo.
Eighteen-year-old Lucas Pak is also in Busan for the summer, visiting his grandpa, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. But he isn’t just here for a regular visit—he’s determined to get his beloved grandpa into the new study running at the clinic, a trial program seeking to restore lost memories.
When Yena runs into Lucas again, she’s shocked to see him and even more shocked to discover that he doesn’t remember a thing about her. He’s completely erased her from his memories, and she has no idea why.
As the two reconnect, they unravel the mystery and heartache of what happened between them all those years ago—and must now reckon with whether they can forge a new beginning together.
My Review
It was easy to see the parallels between The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and this book. The storytelling is more linear in the book than that movie, though. For the most part, the story alternates between Lucas’s and Yena’s viewpoints. Periodically, short scenes show erased memories from unusual perspectives. For example, one memory is told from the viewpoint of a windchime that one character gives another for a birthday present.
One of my favorite elements of The Eternal Sunshine is the way that the movie explores different facets of a memory loss procedure and how it might be used in harmful ways. While Meet Me at Blue Hour doesn’t follow that thread, it does explore the impact of memory loss on the community surrounding the person who has had memory alteration. The narrative leads us to think not only about the ramifications of erasing memory but of preserving it as well. Pretty fascinating stuff!
In addition to the thoughtful exploration of those ideas, the author delivers a compelling romance between two people with past connections. The pacing of their relationship is perfect– I felt like I was on the edge of my seat hoping for them to find the answers they were looking for.
Additionally, I loved the South Korean setting. It’s been a long time since I visited Seoul, and I have never been to Busan, but I found some of the descriptions of the markets and stuff triggered fond memories for me, too.
If you like thoughtful stories or sweet summer romances, add this one to your reading list! Adam Silvera just announced that he will be hosting a speculative romance book club, and this book will be the first pick for the group to read.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 12 up.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Very infrequent use of profanity.
Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.
Spiritual Content
Characters discuss the social and communal implications of a person’s memory loss.
Violent Content
Nightmares and a brief panic attack. References to the loss of a parent and other repressed trauma.
Drug Content
Lucas and his uncle drink an alcoholic drink together.
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This sounds both a sweet story and a very interesting premise! I have to say the mention of Busan makes me think of ‘Train to Busan’, one of my favourite zombie movies! I enjoyed the ‘The Eternal Sunshine of a spotless mind’ though its a while since I saw it. Thanks for sharing!
Yes! Haha– I have not seen the zombie movie. I’ll have to check it out. 🙂