[2] In Electric Literature, Chung stated that the "cultural whiplash" of oscillating between the two aforementioned communities was an "enduring preoccupation" in her fiction, including in Sea Change, a novel with a Korean American woman protagonist.

[6] Barnes & Noble selected it as a Discover Pick, and it was designated an Asian Pacific American Librarians Association Adult Fiction Honor Book.

Newcity Lit said that "Despite these futuristic elements, Sea Change reads very much like a novel of today, as Ro, a child of Korean immigrants, struggles to find her footing in adult life.

Her inner turmoil and penchant for self-destruction is reminiscent of the defiant female protagonists in TV shows like Fleabag and Insecure, but Chung breathes life into these themes of adult coming-of-age through her glittering prose and focus on intergenerational trauma.

"[13] Stinging Fly argued that "Chung's novel is at its strongest when it allows Ro's self-destructive impulses room to breathe, dramatising the ways in which loss and dysfunction at a young age can impact later life.