Read Time: 3 Minutes
The Rainfall Market is one of those audiobooks that sort of sneaks up on you. It starts quietly, like a gentle drizzle on a grey afternoon, and before you know it, you’re knee-deep in bottled memories, goblin-run shops, and emotional gut punches wrapped in soft fantasy.
We follow Serin, a lonely teenager living a pretty bleak existence. She’s poor, mostly invisible to the world, and quietly unravelling at the seams. After pouring out her heart into a letter, her dreams get one step closer when she receives a reply in the form of a ticket to the Rainfall Market – a magical place that only appears during the rainy season and disappears just as suddenly.
The Rainfall Market is full shops run by Dokkaebi (Korean goblins) who sell a variety of strange and wistful curiosities and oddities. The Dokkaebi steal memories and emotions from humans and turn them into tanglible things. Purchasing something from a Dokkaebi also allows her to receive a Dokkaebi orb, a magical artifact that allows someone to glimpse the life they could have lived and choose to live it, should they wish.
It gave me definite Midnight Library vibes, with that quiet ache of wondering “what if” threaded through every encounter Serin has in the market. Serin goes in thinking she knows what life she needs to choose, but of course, once she gets a glimpse of that life, perhaps the grass isn’t always greener.
The story moves at its own pace. It’s not in a rush, even though Serin is on a time limit to make a choice. She has until the end of the rainy season (about two weeks or so) or risk being trapped there forever. If you enjoy quiet, thoughtful stories with just enough magic to blur the edges of reality, along with a small mystery woven in, there’s a lot to love here.
The themes are heavy; loneliness, poverty, the yearning for connections, but are handled with a soft touch. Serin’s emotional journey is front and centre, sitting with her through the exploration of this strange world.
The story itself is straightforward but not simplistic. It moves at a steady, unhurried pace that suits its introspective nature. While Serin is a teenager preparing for university (something that might suggest a YA audience) the emotional weight of the themes reaches far beyond that. The longing to redo a life, the quiet question of whether things might have been better if you’d just made one different choice, is something that can speak to many people, regardless of age.
Rosa Escoda narrates the audiobook, and her performance carries a gentle, steady tone that fits Serin’s introspective journey well. To address the elephant in the room: Escoda has a noticeable lisp. While it wasn’t distracting throughout, there were moments where I had to pause and replay a line to catch exactly what was said. For the most part, I adjusted to it, and it didn’t take away from the emotional beats of the story. For me, I do think a crisper delivery might have made for a smoother overall listen.
It’s not a dealbreaker by any means and quite frankly, there’s another book she narrates that I’m keen to listen to, so it hasn’t put me off getting it.
Overall, The Rainfall Market is a charming modern fairy tale. It’s an introspective read that will appeal to fans of gentle fantasy and coming-of-age stories. Its exploration of personal growth and the idea that happiness may require a change in perspective will resonate with readers looking for a comforting and thought-provoking tale.