A hilarious, heartwarming rom-com that proves that sometimes home is exactly where you belong.
Jack Jr woke up from a two-year coma with a sore neck, a brand new ex-fiancee, and the distinct feeling he'd missed something big. Like, global pandemic big. Reluctantly returning to New Jersey, and a kitchen job at the sushi restaurant his family runs, he finds himself suddenly dependent on his dysfunctional and very estranged Asian American family- headstrong fishmonger father, Jack Sr; his recovering alcoholic brother, James; and his rebellious teenage nephew, Juno. And then there's Emil Cuddy, Jack Jr's former nurse, who may offer a glimmer of hope, but who's struggling with complicated feelings of his own ...
Can Jack Jr navigate the family chaos, rebuild his life, and maybe even find love (or at least a decent date) in a world that's moved on without him?
'Maybe I've been waiting my whole life for a novel about a Korean sushi chef in Fort Lee, New Jersey? I Leave This to You is funny and tender, with characters whose lives are satisfyingly messy. Jinwoo Chong is a writer for those of us who exist between cultures and identities.'
-Gabrielle Zevin, New York Times bestselling author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
'Exuberant and emotional, hilarious and full of heart, Jinwoo Chong's I Leave It Up to You is alive and boisterous and entirely profound. Chong's prose is ambitious and emotional, rendering questions of love, family, queerness, and connection with empathy and delight. I Leave It Up to You is wise and surprising, irresistible and insightful, a riot and a tender exploration of (re)discovering your place in the world.'
-Bryan Washington, author of Family Meal
'I Leave It Up to You is both a remarkable portrait of an American family and a moving examination of what it takes to remake a life ... tender, compassionate, and beautifully told.'
-Grace D. Li, New York Times bestselling author of Portrait of a Thief
