Reviews

The Girl with Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee, David John

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kellygoesgeocaching's review against another edition

4.0

A fascinating memoir on a turbulent life. I'm very interested in the political turmoil of North Korea, especially at the moment, and the depiction in this novel makes me want to help those suffering under the oppressive regime.

emeraldgarnet's review against another edition

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4.0

A riveting read that conveys the difficulties North Korean defectors face.

morganzapimp's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring tense medium-paced

4.5

katiedurham's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

arjohnson5623's review against another edition

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5.0

"An extraordinary insight into life under one of the world’s most ruthless and secretive dictatorships – and the story of one woman’s terrifying struggle to avoid capture/repatriation and guide her family to freedom."

Terrifying is an astonishing understatement. Ms. Lee's courage and dedication to her family over a decade of struggle and fear left me speechless, and shaken. I know it is a very complicated issue, and not one that I could speak on with any manner of expertise, but I hope that her prediction of a unified Korean peninsula, where people are not faced with the dichotomy of being indoctrinated into the Kim cult or left to rot and die in a gulag, will come true.

I highly, highly recommend this book to anyone interested in human rights issues and learning more about North Korea from such a unique perspective.