NBtM Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: Juche Series by Adria Carmichael

Welcome to my stop on the NBtM virtual book tour for the Juche series by Adria Carmichael. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt from the first book in the series as well as a great guest post from the author. There's also the tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!

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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:

Have you ever wondered what the world looks like when seen through an indoctrinated mind?

This is a topic that has intrigued me for as long as I can remember, so when I came up with the idea to write a book many years ago, I decided to create it from the viewpoint of a victim of indoctrination… which in the end became Areum (the protagonist of the story).

What I try to explore in this story is how deep the indoctrination of a 14-year old girl can run and how much “reality” it can be exposed to before breaking… if it will break at all. As a comparison, the defectors from North Korea who arrive in South Korea are isolated for three months in a de-programming facility called Hanawon before they are allowed to join society where they go through this process in a more controlled (and less brutal) way than Areum.

I hope you will enjoy this slightly different take on the dystopian genre!

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Title: The Demon of Yodok

Series: Juche #1

Author: Adria Carmichael

Publication Date: August 11th 2020

Print Length: 393 pages

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Fiction

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Just when Areum - daughter of a privileged family in the totalitarian state of Choson (North Korea) - thought she was free from her personal prison, her world collapses around her as her family is taken away in the middle of the night to a hell-like camp in the mountains where people who have strayed from the righteous path are brutally re-educated through blood, sweat, tears, and starvation.

There she has to fight for survival together with the family she hates and is forced to re-evaluate every aspect of her life until then: her deep resentment toward her twin sister; her view of her father in the face of mounting evidence that he is a traitor with the blood of millions of fellow countrymen on his hands; and even her love and affection for the Great General - the eternal savior and protector of Choson, whom she had always considered her true father.

Goodreads * Amazon * Barnes & Noble *

Book Depository * Books-A-Million * Bookshop *

Half Price Books * IndieBound * Thrift Books

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EXCERPT:

My father’s words echo in my head.

“Hamhung”

“Hamhung”

I’m standing in a long wide street. There are tall houses on both sides of me.

Where am I?

I don’t recognize anything, but still, everything looks familiar.

Then I notice there is something on the ground around me. I try to focus, but my vision is blurry. There is something there. Some kind of objects.

Or…

Now the focus is getting clearer. They are bodies! They are everywhere. I jump in panic. I want to run away, but my feet are stuck to the ground.

I’m standing in a sea of sun-scorched, dried up corpses - as far as the eye can reach. Then I feel it. The stench of their decay stings my nose. I feel nauseous. I look down at the corpse closest to me. A man. He looks so strange. Like all his muscles and fat has been removed, and his skin tightly wrapped around his bare bones. All the corpses look the same.

All of a sudden, there is a movement in the corner of my eye. I turn my head.

Paralyzed with fear I watch one of the corpses rising until he stands before me a bit further down the street of death. He doesn’t move, just looks at me with his dead silvery eyes. My blood is freezing to ice inside my veins. I look closer, squinting against the distant sun. The features of the man look strangely familiar. Then I suddenly see it. I gasp, and a flash of ice rushes down my spine.

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Title: The Weeping Masses

Series: Juche #2

Author: Adria Carmichael

Publication Date: February 28th 2021

Print Length: 521 pages

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Fiction

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Areum’s hopes to be set free from the brutal political prison camp holding them is crushed, and the heinous assault on her sister plunges her into a state of shock and horror… and puts her on a collision course with her family. All hope seems to be lost. Just when she is about to give up, however, a disturbing revelation is made… and as the evil of the camp is given a face, Areum finds a new purpose to keep fighting.

Revenge!

But first they need to survive, and with the constantly harshening conditions and her family being targeted from all directions, daily life in Yodok turns into a never-ceasing fight to evade imminent doom.

On top of everything, an impossible tragedy strikes Choson, and the unquestionable truth Areum has built her life around is challenged to its very core.

Goodreads * Amazon

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Title: The Storm of Storms

Series: Juche #3

Author: Adria Carmichael

Publication Date: September 15th 2021

Print Length: 415 pages

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Fiction

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Nari’s shocking revelation in the watermill changes everything in an instant, and Areum is once more faced with an impossible decision. Will she betray her sister in order to save her life?

In the midst of this struggle, the storm of the century hits the camp, and life goes from hard to impossible overnight. Areum slowly comes to realize there is only one way to ensure their survival.

To escape!

But how can they escape from an escape-proof prison camp? And even if they would get past the impenetrable defenses… will Areum be willing to condemn everyone they’re leaving behind to an excruciating end through torture and execution?

Goodreads * Amazon

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Title: Freedom or Death

Series: Juche #4

Author: Adria Carmichael

Publication Date: May 31st 2022

Print Length: 389 pages

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Fiction

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Areum and Nari are arrested and face imminent doom, but are saved at the last minute by an unexpected and unspeakable betrayal.

Still, they are far from being out of the woods. As they are reassigned to food gathering duty in the mountains, they must continue their fight for survival under the constant threat of daily executions and the rampant starvation sweeping through the prison camp. And with time running out for Nari, Areum is more desperate than ever to find a way to escape, making her forge risky new alliances that until now would have been unthinkable.

As the situation in the camp deteriorates further, their survival comes down to their ability to work as a team. But dark secrets and lies continue to be revealed, sending the fragile coalition to the verge of collapse at an alarming speed.

Will they make it out in time?

Goodreads * Amazon

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Adria Carmichael is a writer of dystopian fiction with a twist. When she is not devouring dystopian and post-apocalyptic content in any format - books, movies, TV-series and PlayStation games - she is crafting the epic and highly-addictive Juche saga, her 2020 debut novel series that takes place in the brutal, totalitarian nation of Choson. When the limit of doom and gloom is reached, a 10K run on a sunny day or binging a silly sitcom on a rainy day is her go-to way to unwind.

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GUEST POST:

Why I Write Dystopian Fiction
by Adria Carmichael

I have always been fascinated by dystopian and post-apocalyptic stories and imagery, whether it’s in the format of a book, a movie, TV series or a video game. There is something about the end of the world and what might come thereafter that entices me, whether it’s wasteland battlegrounds in Mad Max or the totalitarian dictatorship of 1984. So, when I after many years of pondering finally decided to write a novel (which slowly turned into a series without me realizing it) making it Dystopian was the natural choice, even though post-apocalyptic came as a close second. Maybe that will be my next project. I have often wondered why I’m drawn to the bleak and dark, but have never come up with an answer.

The stranger choice was maybe rather why I decided to set my story in a real-world country – North Korea – instead of a made-up future dystopian nation like Panem, Gilead or Oceania. The reason is, however, quite simple. I just happened to read the Hunger Games trilogy at the same time as I read “Escape from Camp 14” by Blain Harden, which is a non-fiction book about the only known person to ever escape from that North Korean gulag camp. And I noticed there were many similarities between the world of Panem with its lavish capital and dirt-poor districts and the world depicted in “Escape from Camp 14” and other defector books with the hard labor camps surrounded by electrified fences, and showcase capital where the elite class can live their lives in affluence and luxury. That’s why I decided I didn’t need to create an imaginary dystopian society for my story – there was one here in the real world what is just as horrifying as any author could conjure up with their imagination. And hopefully, my novels will also help create awareness about the humanitarian catastrophe that is still ongoing in our real-world dystopian society at the easternmost edge of the Asian continent.

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GIVEAWAY:

Adria Carmichael will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to one randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Good luck!

(All the Ups and Downs is not responsible for this giveaway, its entries, or the prize. Goddess Fish Promotions and the author assume all responsibility over this giveaway.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway