Review by Dman_1996 -- The Vanished by Pejay Bradley

Post by **Damian Keyes** » 25 Jan 2021, 20:03

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

4 out of 4 stars

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The Vanished is a historical fiction novel that revolves its story around the real-life Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1910. Pejay Bradley is the author of this amazing book that details how this treaty affected Koreans unfairly, while the Japanese gained more control over their territory. King Gojong is reigning during this time period, and with his first cousin, Prince Aansoon, by his side, they know the future of Korea was going to change greatly because of this treaty. This book takes you on a generational journey through time where the fight for Korea’s independence is constantly being fought for.

Lady Sougyon - daughter of Prince Aansoon - is married to a drunk, womanizer who is unfaithful to her. At the beginning of this book, this story is told in the first POV of Lady Sougyon as a royal and single mother to son, Kim Embon. When her father passes away, life for Sougyon is not the same, her father handed all of his main valuables down to his first-born son. As the years go by, the book transitions to a teenage Kim Embon, who is a very smart pupil that he doesn’t finish middle school and skips high school to attend one of the top prestigious universities in China—Hokkaido Imperial University. The author does a wonderful job of transitioning from Lady Sougyon POV to Embon, as he is now in college.

In this book, another character, Mr. Seoh, is introduced as a family man and banker in Korea. When you read this book, then you will see the full-circle connection between Mr. Seoh, Embon, and the fight for Korea's independence. While in college, Embon met three boys (Insoo, Yangwoo, and Hain) who are independent activists of Korea who want the sanctity of their homeland back. Pejay exhibits the journey from these college students throughout the rest of this book as they encounter being targets of the Japanese government, while Embon is dealing with an ailment.

Since this book does not have any sexual content or profanity, then I would recommend this book to individuals 18 years older. If you’re the type of person who likes reading about historical fiction with a great storyline. then this is the right book for you. There are some moments in the book where theirs detailed descriptions of people's horrible deaths. I would not recommend this to people who are not huge fans of reading about explicit and horrid deaths.

I loved so many things about this book that kept me interested. First, I love how Pejay divided this book into four parts that show that transition from the different character storylines that are told years apart. The development of Embon from a well-mannered and smart student to a freedom fighter for the revolution of Korea is what held my attention throughout the book. Another thing I admired about this book was reading about Korea’s and Japan's culture during the late-19th century and early 20th century.

There was nothing I hated about this book. The author did a good job of creating a novel that’s well-written and free from any spelling or grammatical errors. Pejay Bradley did a terrific job of maintaining the focus of this book about Korea separating themselves from Japanese control by using the thoughts of people who were against the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. For these reasons, I’m more than excited to give this book a four out of four rating.

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The Vanished
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