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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
Very interesting to learn about the journey she had to take to get from North Korea to South Korea.
informative
medium-paced
Probably a 3.25 for me, but there are some terrible books published about North Korea so I'm grading on a curve. This is a very clear, accessibly-written account of a family's escape. Kim is a case study of resilience, to say nothing of her mother's survival skills. In straightforward language (nary a hyperbole in sight--not even the title), we learn about Kim and her family starving in their hometown, moving around inside the country trying to survive and eventually escaping through China, although arriving in that country is only the very beginning of their journey. Trigger warnings for sanitized reports of human trafficking and sexual coercion apply. Incredibly, the family were reported to the Chinese authorities and repatriated to North Korea, from which they escaped a second time. They make impossibly hard decisions, such as Kim's mother bearing a son to a Chinese farmer who provided the family basic shelter, then eventually having to abandon the boy.
While any report from North Korea is compelling, this one was especially interesting for Kim's report on life in China as an (illegal) refugee, where the family thrived.
While any report from North Korea is compelling, this one was especially interesting for Kim's report on life in China as an (illegal) refugee, where the family thrived.
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
A quick read, moves pretty quickly and a fascinating story about the search for freedom out of North Korea. The most interesting part for me was the author's personal discovery about the politics of her home country and how that changed when she learned about the availability of freedom in South Korea.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
The things she and her mother and sister went through to get to South Korea and just simply out of North Korea and after were incomprehensible. This is survival. This woman and her family, particularly her mother, are the strongest people I have ever read about!
I finished this book in a day. The writing was elementary, which could at least partially be contributed to the fact that the piece was translated from Korean. The story itself was incredible, but the short sentences, the repetition, and the seeming lack of details left me wanting more. This incredible nine year journey wrapped up in just a couple hundred pages. I've been reading a lot on North Korea, and other stories have made me feel so differently. This one had so much potential. I'm a little sad that the author didn't include more details and extend the story out a bit. I would have loved to have had more content on this woman's incredible journey.
I never really paid special attention to the news growing up. To find out that I am roughly the same age as Eunsun and to read about the atrocities that she witnessed and endured herself is heartbreaking. What is enraging is that these atrocities are still going on and, though there are organizations to help the people that have escaped North Korea and China, the world's most dominant countries make no progress in North Korean citizen's plight. I hope that action will be taken that results in government being held accountable for the damage, killings, and countless other morally abhorrent atrocities committed. This book is easy to read but, most importantly, it enlightens people who are unaware of what goes on North of the 38th parallel.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
I’d expected a bit more on the actual daily life in North Korea, but in hindsight the title does focus on Eunsun’s journey out of the country more than her life in it. Nevertheless, I was impressed by her and her family’s resilience and courage. It encourages me to be thankful for all the luxury I can experience in a safe and free country.