Reviews

The Hard Road Out: One Woman's Escape From North Korea by Jihyun Park, Seh-Lynn Chai

snarkycrafter's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

3.5

owenatkinson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative tense fast-paced

2.5

I felt the story was cut short in places. It's an invaluable resource on life in North Korea, but there are parts of the story I would like to have learnt more about. Overall, a little curt. I'm still glad I read it, and it was very gripping, but I can't say I loved it

benebene's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad

4.0

alexaamarok's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

creativerunnings's review against another edition

5.0

I'm always very captivated when it comes to accounts from North Korea. This memoir was no different. At first, I didn't particularly enjoy the interweaving of the translator's South Korean story - on first glance it seemed to be so much less "harrowing", which made me feel like it didn't belong. However, I thought about it more, and the trauma of the Korean separation doesn't just affect the North. And with that, I came to appreciate the South Korean commentary and perspective, also because most often, that kind of thing seems to be suppressed.

frankiloves's review against another edition

5.0

i think that everyone should give this book a read. it’s heartbreaking & full of hard truths from NK. I genuinely am so glad I read this when i did, and give a glimmer of hope to all who are going through a tough time. Truly the power of resilience!

ivassavi's review against another edition

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

4.5

jnicely's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

madameroyale's review

4.5

Quite enjoyed this memoir; it offered a different class perspective from most defector memoirs I’ve read. The only drawback were the insertions of the ghostwriter’s perspective in contemporary London; they distracted from the main narrative in North Korea and didn’t offer any information that wasn’t already obvious. Thankfully, there were only a couple of them.

donellareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Sexism, Rape, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Murder, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, and Death