Review by Jasica900 -- The Vanished by Pejay Bradley

[Jasica900]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Vanished" by Pejay Bradley.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Vanished by Pejay Bradley is a historic fiction that is set during the time of the Japanese occupation of Korea. This story follows the life of Embron, a young man born into an aristocratic family. This book starts the story from the viewpoint of his mother and shows the turmoil in the nation as the Japanese slowly but surely gain more and more control over the people of Korea. As Embron grows up in this tumultuous situation, he joins the nationalist activities to try and get his country back from the Japanese.

What I liked the most about this book was all of the historical information that it contained. The author did a great job of mixing information about Korea's culture with information about its history to help the reader understand the gravity of these events. The author also used a lot of descriptive language that helped the reader easily paint a picture in their mind of the environment in which these events took place.

What I disliked the most about this book was the character development. I had a hard time connecting with the various characters because it felt like just when you were getting to know one of them another one was introduced and focused on. This clashed with the depth of information on the historical facts and made this aspect of the book feel somewhat shallow. I enjoy being able to connect emotionally with the characters of the books I read so this was a big deal for me.

Overall, I would rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars. The author did a fantastic job of mixing the cultural and historical information throughout the book, and the descriptive language that they used helped me create vivid pictures in my mind about the environment this story took place in. The only downside to this book was the fact that the character development was not quite up to par for me. I felt that I was not able to connect with the characters due to new ones being introduced relatively frequently. This book was quite well edited as there were few typos that I noticed.

This book is suitable for slightly older readers. I would not advise that children read this book simply because of the political content in it. There are no curse words in this book and nothing that would prevent someone from a particular religion from enjoying it. If you have an interest in Korean history, I would recommend that you read this book.

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The Vanished
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