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

Our respective countries' independence came as a result of the sacrifices made by our founding fathers. In The Vanished by Peejay Bradley, the author tells a realistic story of Korea's struggle for freedom from the Japanese government.

Embon, the son of Lady Suogyon and grandson of Prince Aansoon, gains admission into the Hokkaido Imperial University a year before graduating High School. There, he becomes friends with Insoo, Hain, and Yangwoon, who are also Koreans like him. In their frequent debates, they verbally express love for their country and hatred for the Japanese government. They later get arrested for treason and thrown into jail. Embon, however, becomes critically ill and is released before the others. Though he's separated from his friends as he goes home to recover, a new phase begins for each of them, which causes their destinies to become more entwined.

Though I found the story depressing, it was realistic and a tad suspenseful. It was a story of friendship, patriotism, bravery, love, and loss. The characters were relatable, which made their interactions with one another believable. The author was able to make the characters come alive throughout the storyline. I, therefore, found myself enjoying the story even as I dreaded the next gruesome outcome.

Embon and his three friends can be likened to our past heroes, who, despite the odds against them, moved heaven and earth to gain independence for their country. Their story is one that is relatable to anyone familiar with their country's historical facts. I enjoyed the relationship they had with one another till the end.

Furthermore, though the story was fictional, the author correlated historical facts with her story. For instance, the uprising that took place in the book happened in history on that same date. The signing of the Japanese-Korean Annexation Treaty also occurred in the same year as recorded in historical archives. I couldn't help but admire the way she made them all come together. Due to all of these, I couldn't bring myself to dislike anything about the book.

Though I had favorite characters and ones I couldn't stand, they all pointed towards the fact that the author did an excellent job developing them.

There were no errors in the book, so I'd submit that it was professionally edited. All in all, the book made an interesting read. The author was able to paint a vivid picture illustrating the Korean fight for independence. Therefore, I'd rate the book 4 out of 4 stars, which it deserved for being so well written and devoid of errors. I'd readily recommend it to lovers of historical fiction and those who would be interested in a well-told story of the Korean struggle for independence.

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The Vanished
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Very interesting book very well told is the struggles for independence

Thanks for writing a good quality review, you've touched on multiple points in your review that weren't present in other reviews of this book, so keep up the excellent work

The book is very good, interesting to read and helps calm my mind

It's an interesting review, thank you. Fiction and historical facts combined will be informative. Just love the story, a Korean fight for independence. Thank you for the lovely review.

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