I Leave It Up To You by Jinwoo Chong

I am usually not one for the gimmicky story line, but I have to say that I did enjoy this book--I did not read his first book, but it was apparently in the sci-fi genre, and this one gets extra points for breaking out of that mold as well. Jack Jr. wakes up from a coma after almost two years. He missed COVID altogether. He slept through it, which is maybe what a lot of people wished they could do. Prior to all this he had turned his back on his family and their Japanese restaurant run by his Korean family in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He had not seen them for quite some time when he had the accident that left him unconscious, but in the end they were the ones that stuck by him. While he was out, everyone else gradually evaporated, including his fiancé, and what he was left with was his family and their restaurant. So, reluctant as he had been to stay on, he returns, and it turns out that you can go home and lo and behold, he has quite the talent as a sushi chef with a knife. So much so that when his nephew makes videos of him preparing food he becomes a TikTok sensation. At the end of the day, this is a crowd pleaser. It kind of veers into YA territory in that respect, because usually when things are going too well for the characters, in an adult fiction piece of work you would expect a wrench in the works, but for the most part things progress smoothly and positively for the characters. It turns out we also want the best for Jack Jr. and his post-coma, post-COVID life as he picks up the pieces of what he left behind and re-examines how he lives, so a lot can be forgiven.