Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

5 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

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

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

palaris's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I read this book because it was Pulitzer prize winner, and I'm fascinated by North Korea. I've read a lot of non-fiction accounts of life in North Korea, but I'm surprised I'd never heard of this book before.
It was a great read. Really glad I stuck with it, because it's slow to start, but by the end, especially once you get to the second half, it picks up steam and the pieces start coming together.
It definitely felt like a drama book, I feel like some of the aspects of North Korean culture were dramatized for the book, based on my reading of non-fiction accounts, but I think that's fair.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Death

Moderate: Violence, Animal cruelty, Murder, and War

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Homophobia

dongchiot's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Rape, Torture, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail

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