Famous Adopted People
Written by Alice Stephens
Narrated by Roxelana Waters
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Lisa Pearl is an American teaching English in Japan and the situation there—thanks mostly to her spontaneous, hard-partying ways—has become problematic. Now she’s in Seoul, South Korea, with her childhood best-friend Mindy. The young women share a special bond: they are both Korean-born adoptees into white American families. Mindy is in Seoul to track down her birth mom, and wants Lisa to do the same. Trouble is, Lisa isn’t convinced she needs to know about her past, much less meet her biological mother.
She’d much rather spend time with Harrison, an almost supernaturally handsome local who works for the MotherFinder’s agency. When Lisa wakes up inside a palatial mountain compound, the captive of a glamorous, surgically-enhanced blonde named Honey, she soon realizes she is going to learn about her past whether she likes it or not. What happens next only could in one place: North Korea.
Editor's Note
Surreal tale…
Fun-loving party girl Lisa, a Korean-born adoptee raised by white parents in America, is looking for a good time, not her birth mother. But when her best friend and fellow transracial adoptee convinces her to travel to Korea on a quest to find her biological parents, Lisa’s up for the adventure. It quickly turns into misadventure in this surreal tale filled with wacky humor, biting irreverence, and wild twists.
Alice Stephens
Alice Stephens was born in Korea and came to the United States as one of the first generation of interracial adoptees. Her work has appeared in Urban Mozaik, Flung, Banana Writers, and the Washington Independent Review of Books, which publishes her monthly column, Alice in Wordland. She has lived and studied on four continents, and the one constant in her life, besides writing, has been travel. Famous Adopted People is her debut novel.
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Reviews for Famous Adopted People
176 ratings12 reviews
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The main character is an incredibly shitty person. The plot is not believeable at all. I usually finish a book once i started, but imgoing to put this one down halfway through. Its just not with going to the end.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The writer has a story to tell that matters to her, but the circumstances she invented for this tale were just too preposterous for me, I can only suspend my disbelief so far--and I'm a huge fan of science fiction! The narration was pretty good, but I wish the producers of this edited the reading better, as the actor mispronounced many English words, which really bugged me.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved the story and the narrator. She added to this superbly
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This one truly escalated.
I first thought it was light entertainment (at least based on the cover) but the story galloped into unexpected directions.2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This should have been a much better book than it was. The writer certainly has a gift for words, but plot development is incredibly uneven. There is an over abundance of subplots that are introduced but never developed or go anywhere, and none of them add anything to the story; they should have been left out completely. These distractions are heavily scattered throughout the book and are dropped just as nonsensically and randomly as they’re picked up. It seems as though the author had a lot of random ideas that she threw in, but did so without attempting to create any cohesion or having them drive the plot at all, so they just fall flat. It’s actually very strange.
At the same time, other plot points are waaaay over developed, and most of them are just absolutely ridiculous and in many ways pointless. In fact, most of the story after she meets her birth mother is so preposterous that I truly thought it was going to end up being some kind of long, drawn out dream sequence from a drug overdose.
It was hard to like or care for any of the characters except for Mindy, and even she represents another undeveloped subplot. The main character is very uneven and not likable at all. I didn’t really care about what happened to her or really anyone else, and what did happen was half-baked at best.
With all of that said, I think this writer has talent and I would give her a second chance, but she needs a strong editor to help her keep the plot on track.2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Disappointing. A long drawn out story that abruptly ends, leaving the reader with no satisfactory closure and many unanswered questions. A book that you want to like and keep reading, hoping it will get better.
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Really frustrating none-ending, maybe I just don’t get it, before that I was enjoying the build of the story
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The worst narration I have ever heard in hundreds of audiobooks. All secondary characters are voiced in a whisper. There are few things more ridiculous or off-putting than hearing, “You have ruined the meal!” she screamed. delivered in a flat whisper. It was shaping up to be a great story but I could not keep listening.
3 people found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book was RIDICULOUS!! I guess contemporary satire might work as a description or maybe a comic thriller?? Lisa Pearl, a multiracial adoptee, travels to South Korea to find her birth mother but what she discovers is BONKERS. This book was outlandish, but I did find it entertaining, and the epilogue was insightful.
4 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Brilliantly witty writer, story is engrossing. I just hope the writer is Asian.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Really fabulous. Dimensional, multilayered characters and intriguing storyline. I highly recommend it!
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Heart-stopping novel about transnational adoption from adoptee from South Korea. Gripping.Beautifully written. A great book club suggestion.