A review by protoman21
The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

3.0

John Green recommended this book, so I went into it with very high expectations. Unfortunately I was let down and found the book only mildly enjoyable. I am not very appraised on North Korean politics, but I'm not sure that really matters. Knowing the basics is all that is required to grasp this particular story, but maybe if those issues were important to you, the impact would be felt more heavily. I wanted to feel more for Jun Do, and although I did feel something it was not a powerful undeniable emotion that rips at you when bad or good things happen. His story, on paper, is one that should be easy to connect with and for him to be a sympathetic character that you unreservedly root for, but it just never reached that level of connection for me.