Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

7 reviews

fkshg8465's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I had to take my time with this one. It was dense, and I felt a lot of conflicting emotions, being Korean myself. I remembered my own introduction to both Korean and US propaganda of the North when I was in middle school and being filled with compassion and so many unanswerable questions. I remember my trip to the DMZ too. So I had a lot to sort through while reading this book. 

It was also one of the strangest and most haunting books I’ve ever read. It will stay with me for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Child abuse, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Animal death, Confinement, Violence, Physical abuse, Classism, Rape, Blood, Body horror, Sexism, Slavery, Kidnapping, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Xenophobia, Bullying, Infidelity, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Self harm, Torture, and War

erfenden's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

An immersive and broad look into life in North Korea filled with complex characters making horrible choices. I was sucked into and consumed by the world of the book in a way that few other pieces of media have had the power to do. I was also, at one point, genuinely triggered by emotional bleed. It was a heart wrenching, beautiful journey into a land that is totally alien to my own experience of life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Classism, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping

marianne_maschine's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Murder, and Suicide

Minor: Rape

ppppaula's review

challenging dark informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

I’m torn with this one - I enjoined the writing style and found the story fascinating. However, given this is a story written about North Korea written by a westerner, is it just our own western form of propaganda about what we think life is like in North Korea? The author did visit North Korea but I’m not sure how much of the ‘real’ Korea he would have experienced. Downgraded from. 4 or 5 star for this reason

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Kidnapping

nessazee's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicide, Police brutality, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Violence, Torture, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

alyssathorn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

Moderate: Sexism, Trafficking, Sexual content, and Violence

cilie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

En bog der er svær at sætte ord på.

Bogen består af to dele. 

Første del er et realistisk protræt af Nordkorea i starten af det 21'ende århundrede. Her følger vi Jun Do, fra en barndom i et børnehjem under den store hungersnød i 90'erne, gennem forskellige opgaver i militæret. Gennem Jun Do's historie får vi et indblik i hvordan det er at leve i norkorea. Jeg bliver mindet om dystopier som '1984' og 'favre nye verden', men den er god nok. Alle nordkoreanere skal have (eller skulle indtil 2012, idag ved jeg ikke hvad reglerne er) have et billede af Kim Jong Il og Kim Il-Sumg i hvert rum og alle hjem arbejdspladser mm skulle have instaleret en højtaler der kun spillede den statelige radiokanal og ikke kunne slukkes. Disse to ting er gennemgående, men der er mange andre ufattelige detaljer i første del.

Anden del er mere fiktionel. Tilgengæld er den bedre sammensat ud fra et litterært synspunkt. Mange detaljer og episoder der virker meningsløse i del et bliver spundet sammen til at hele. I anden del bliver tidslinjen også brudt op, mens man følger kommisær Ga. Hans sidste dage inden sin anholdelse, hans forhør i en underjordisk bunker i Pyingyang, samt forhørslederens liv i de dage forhøret står på.

Anden del fangede mig mere, men første del vækker mere eftertanke, nu jeg er færdig. Især kan jeg ikke lade være at spekulerer over hvor meget Nordkorea mon har ændret sig siden Kin Jong Ils død i 2012?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Homophobia, Torture, Murder, Medical content, and Confinement

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Suicide, and Sexual assault

in one scene a villain perform homosexual assult