To celebrate the release of the latest novel in the Juche series, The Storm of Storms, we’re going back to the book that started it all! The Demon of Yodok! Read on for more details and a chance to win a signed hardcover edition of the novel!
The Demon of Yodok (Juche 1)
Genre: YA Dystopian
A highly addictive Young Adult Dystopian Survival series that will keep you glued to the pages.
JUCHE [dʒuːtʃe]
Just when Areum, daughter of a privileged family in the totalitarian state of Choson, thought she was free from her personal prison, her world collapses around her as her family are taken away in the middle of the night to a hell-like camp in the mountains where people who have strayed from the righteous path are brutally re-educated through blood, sweat, tears and starvation.
There she has to fight for survival together with the family she hates and is forced to re-evaluate every aspect of her life until then – her deep resentment toward her twin sister; her view of her father in face of the mounting evidence he is a traitor with the blood of millions of fellow countrymen on his hands; and even her love and affection for the Great General – the eternal savior and protector of Choson, whom she had always considered her true father.
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Excerpt
Cranes sang songs of joy from the mountain tops.
Double rainbows appeared in the sky.
The aggressors from the west were defeated. The invaders from the east were expunged. The traitors from the south were put at bay.
The people of Choson were finally free to create their own destiny, and so a hermit kingdom of people’s rule rose from the ashes, and the doors to the enemies of the outside world were closed, never to be opened again.
The world around them moved on. Years passed. Decades passed. Peace and prosperity spread throughout the world, and nothing was heard from the secluded hermit paradise.
Then one day, people started emerging from its closed borders. The stories they brought with them were, however, not of a paradise on earth. Instead, what they depicted were horrors so vile and cruel that they almost exceeded human comprehension.
Little had the people of the kingdom known when they closed its doors to the outside world, that the vilest beast of all was still lurking among their midst, and as soon as the curtains had been drawn, the beast unleashed its reign of terror upon the people, not stopping until it had crushed and enslaved every soul within its reach.
The beast now rules the kingdom from a throne of human misery and agony.
No one alive has ever encountered this beast, but everybody knows its name.
JUCHE
Available on Amazon
About the Author
Adria Carmichael is a writer of Young Adult Dystopian fiction with a twist. When she is not devouring dystopian and post-apocalyptic content in any format – books, movies, TV-series and PlayStation games – she is crafting the epic and highly-addictive Juche saga, her 2020 debut novel series that takes place in the brutal, totalitarian nation of Choson. When the limit of doom and gloom is reached, a 10K run on a sunny day or binging a silly sitcom on a rainy day is her go-to way to unwind.
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My Review
5 stars
Areum is fourteen years old and lives in Chosen under the Great General’s command. She lives in the Capital with her family. Her father Young Il works for the department of agriculture for the country, Sun Hee is her mother and a former actress, and Nari is her twin sister that has a heart condition.
Areum is rather snotty to her family and focuses on the Great General and believes how he is her true father. Her only goal is to get selected for the Great General’s National Gymnastics Team and through a little cheating gets her wish. She is about to be away from those she lives with when suddenly her mother, Nari and her are rounded up and sent to Penal Labor Camp 15, otherwise known as Yodok.
Young Il has been deemed a traitor and sent to the camp. But the Great General knows that treachery runs deep so whole families are sent with the traitors to make sure all doubt can be cast out. Slow to accept her fate, Areum is going to have to learn how to come together with her family if they are going to survive Yodok.
I was instantly drawn into this story even if Areum is such a snot and horrible to her family. It just made me bristle until I learned more about her past, then I could kind of understand her behavior. Of course she is very narrow sighted and doesn’t see the big picture around her until she falls flat on her face.
You know this story is about North Korea and how the people live. It breaks my heart that anyone should have to live like this but all you have to do is look at history to know that it has happened in the past, in the present, and will happen again in the future.
The more I read the more I wanted to know what was happening. I received the original Part One of the series and as soon as I finished I downloaded the update to keep reading Areum’s struggles. This is a wonderful read and one that I recommend checking out. I would recommend having all ages read it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
Book Tour Schedule
May 24th
May 25th
@booksford_dictionary (Review)
Cocktails & Fairy Tales (Spotlight)
May 26th
Bonnie Reads & Writes (Spotlight)
@esmeralda_lagiggles18 (Review)
Musings of a Final Girl (Review)
May 27th
B is for Book Review (Spotlight)
May 28th
@gin_books_crochethooks (Review)
Jennifer Mitchell, Bibliolater (Review)
J Bronder Book Reviews (Review)
The Magic of Wor(l)ds (Review)
Click the link below for a chance to win a signed hardcover edition of The Demon of Yodok
Book Tour Organized By:
I would like to thank R&R Book Tours for the opportunity to read and share this book.
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