New out June 2, 2026
Sublimation
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Our view
“Sublimation” is an original, unsettling science fiction novel built on one idea: when you emigrate, a second self stays behind and goes on living. Isabel J. Kim uses it to ask about the life you did not choose, threading in Korean folklore, biblical echoes and the Odyssey. Some readers describe most of the book as slow and inward, until a final stretch switches abruptly to action. It suits lovers of philosophical science fiction.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
When you immigrate, you leave a copy of yourself behind, an instance. One person enters their new country; the other stays trapped at home. Some instances keep in touch, call each other daily, keep their lives and minds in sync in the hopes of reintegrating and resuming a life as one person. Others, like Soyoung Rose Kang, leave home at ten years old and never speak to their other selves again. Rose, in America, never imagined going back to Korea until her grandfather died and her Korean instance called her home for the funeral. She doesn’t know that Soyoung plans to steal her body and her life. How far would you go to live the choice you didn’t make?
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.5 across 35 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 19% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Rankings average of 7.8. That is how 7.9 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 7.5 | 35 | 100% |
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