[DeepL Translation - needs review] We live like aliens who crash-landed on Earth...
A novel for all those who are relationship-challenged and have no way of dealing with pain!
The author of dozens of novels for young adults, including The Squirrel Raised by a Cat and the bestselling The House Duck That Flew to the Sky, Lee Sang-kwon has written dozens of novels for young adults. In his latest novel, Aliens in Seoul, he brings a message of reconciliation and healing to his lively descriptions...
I'm not sure how much I enjoyed this story. The main theme is people who have been dealt a rotten hand in life choosing not to let that destroy them but to embrace life in spite of what they have experienced.
The main character is a teenager who experiences sexual abuse as a kid and ends up dropping out of school and becoming estranged from his family. He feels extremely failed by the people who were supposed to protect and look after him and his ability to trust other people or take part in society is completely destroyed.
He ends up renting an apartment from a woman with her own difficult past who over time he becomes close to and ends up being deeply inspired by.
The novel deals with some heavy topics like sexual abuse, violence and corruption. Althought it's aimed at youth it doesn't hold back and some of the scenes are graphic.
The author writes the characters as extremely hurt people who are doing their best without really having the tools to improve their situation. Understandably the characters themselves feel alienated and detached from society and to a large extent reality. I don't want to spoil it but the specific way the author chooses to paint that picture by introducing a fantastical element to the story was very strange. I'd say it worked but it was quite a bizarre novel to read overall.