Shelter

by Jung Yun
May 14-23, 2017

No doubt did I tear through Shelter at a crazy pace, so kudos to Yun on his first novel. I'm not sure if my lack of knowledge on Korean culture can be blamed for some of my disconnect to the characters, but without a doubt, the main character was indeed a whiny, spineless loser. Truly pitiful. There was absolutely nothing redeeming about him – a brave move for a first-time author. I didn't even want to like him and never found myself rooting for him. Yet the story sweeps you in immediately and held my interest until the end.  I did enjoy it, but mostly in a watching-a-train-wreck kind of way. The book jacket boasts a "startling conclusion" but I think it was expected. Not in a bad way necessarily, but in an "of course" way. The ending started to become a bit tidy, but also fairly abrupt too. Even though you knew that Kyung is f-ed overall, we don't really find out to what extent.

Overall, entertaining dysfunction.

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