Reviews tagging 'Death'

Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden

6 reviews

maggieparedesauthor's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Rape, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Child death, Bullying, Blood, Alcoholism, Sexism, Pregnancy, Gore, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Child abuse, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Classism, Trafficking, Confinement, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, War, Torture, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Medical content, Infidelity, Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Mental illness, Murder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Cannibalism

North Korean concentration camp

novelideea's review

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Murder, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Body horror, Violence, Child death, and Sexual assault

ericaburns1's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Abandonment, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Deportation

Minor: Trafficking and Rape

kelseygrachek's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Classism, Murder, Violence, Blood, Physical abuse, Body horror, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and Torture

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Abandonment

Minor: Sexual assault, Cannibalism, and Rape

la_karina1818's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

A very reflective novel on the realities of escaping a prison camp and the aftermath of getting used to freedom. I personally felt a bit unattached from the Shin's story as it was retold by the author himself who is a journalist. I liked that there was more added substance with the experiences of other defectors from North Korea from all areas of life in North Korea such as diplomats, escaped prisoners and other defectors. I also liked how the author also addressed the realities of defectors trying to get used to life in South Korea after escaping and how in fact, it's a challenging country to live in, but in a very different kind of way. I feel for Shin as an individual himself, because he is honest about how he will never act fully like a normal person due to the environment he was brought up in and the distorted socialization of prisoners in the camps. I am deeply saddened that people who have experienced such trauma would never experience full peace and closure in their lifetime. 

There was controversy to how Shin did change his narrative after the release of the book, but I can't blame him for still viewing the world through a suspicious lens or the fact that he choose to tell his story only in Korean than in English. I respect him immensely for the strength he has had his whole life and I do hope he gets to find peace as time goes on.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Violence

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual content

mandi4886's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Slavery, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Animal death, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, War, and Vomit