Shelter

Gripping . . . Yun shows how, although shelter doesn't guarantee safety and blood doesn't guarantee love, there's something inextricable about the relationship between a child and a parent . . . We may each respond in our own way, but I'll go ahead and assume that a good amount of folks, regardless of the pain they may have experienced from bad mothers and fathers, and regardless of cultural traditions, will feel the pull to help save their parents. "Shelter" is captivating in chronicling this story.New York Times

Yun's debut may be a family drama, but it has all the tension of a thriller. It's a sharp knife of a novel - powerful and damaging, and so structurally elegant that it slides right in . . . Yun has written the rare novel that starts with a strong premise and gets better and richer with every page, each scene perfectly selected, building on the last. The language, at first blush plain and functional, reveals itself as the right medium for a story of unusual urgency - not simple but bony, spare and precise . . . Shelter is a marvel of skill and execution, tautly constructed and played without mercy.Los Angeles Times

A fluidly written debut novel that explores violence and its effects on one immigrant family . . . [A] layered, sometimes surprising debut . . . A diverse and nuanced cast of characters seeks shelter from pain and loneliness in this valiant portrayal of contemporary American life.Kirkus Reviews

The combination of grisly James Patterson thriller and melancholic suburban drama shouldn't work at all. Yet Ms. Yun pulls it off. Kyung is petulant and unlikeable, but he's also psychologically unstable. The proximity of his parents and the atmosphere of grief and panic launch him on a spiral of self-destruction that's impossible to turn away from. The novel grows darker and darker, until all its internal contradictions are eclipsed by an ending as disturbing and bereft as anything you'll read this year.Wall Street Journal