Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick

12 reviews

jenniesreadingjourney's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, War, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Classism, Child abuse, Murder, Confinement, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

Moderate: Cursing, Gaslighting, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Alcoholism, Cancer, Infidelity, Abortion, Medical trauma, Deportation, Hate crime, and Police brutality

marlimeuw's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This is the most informative look on North Korean life before Y2K. If you do not know anything about North Korea, this is a must read.

I wish every person in these stories to live a long, happy, fulfilling future. Thank you all for sharing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, Genocide, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, Abortion, and Confinement

bilbili's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Violence, Torture, Child death, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Gun violence

Minor: Cannibalism and Abandonment

marillenbaum's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

5.0

An incredible, though difficult, read, this look into life in North Korea as told by its defectors is a rich and fascinating portrait of a world staggeringly different from our own. I especially appreciated the afterward to the new edition, with the latest updates on the people we had come to root for. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, Suicide, and Police brutality

bookshelf_al's review against another edition

challenging informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Slavery, Confinement, Death of parent, Child death, Abandonment, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Cannibalism

Minor: Domestic abuse and Abortion

lianne_rooney's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Deportation, Colonisation, Pregnancy, and Cannibalism

gladiolus17's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful sad tense medium-paced

4.75

Absolutely loved this book. Made me feel the whole spectrum of emotions, and I’ve learned so much about North Korea.

The only thing I didn’t like was how the author tried to snap a picture of an overweight woman in North Korea?? Like, I understand why, many people are starving there, but I just found that rude!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Fatphobia

marissab's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Medical content, Death, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and War

Moderate: Classism, Grief, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Child death, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Slavery, Deportation, Terminal illness, Torture, Xenophobia, and Gun violence

parasolcrafter's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

5.0

this is another one of those books that ive read that i really dont know what to say because it really does speak for itself. i really appreciate how in depth it went into everything because North Korea really isnt a country i knew much about going into it and the atrocities that went on there, so this book is quite invaluable in the knowledge it has

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Suicide, War, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Medical content, Abortion, Addiction, Animal death, Confinement, Death of parent, Deportation, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Sexism, Slavery, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Pregnancy, Torture, Trafficking, Colonisation, Murder, Racism, Rape, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, and Drug use

Moderate: Excrement and Cannibalism

ajediprincess's review

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

I never expected this book to make it to my “must own” list, but nevertheless I now need this in my personal library. This book was an unforeseen journey for me and I feel I have been changed forever from reading it.

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea is a non-fiction account of the lives of six different people growing up and struggling to survive in North Korea across a fifteen year period in the 1990's and into the new millenium. It explores not only the culture, conditions, and political climate of North Korea but what daily life was like for the average citizen during a period of time where the former Supreme Leader Kim Il-sung died, his son Kim Jong-il rose to power, and the country saw a devastating famine that killed one-fifth of their population. It was written by award-winning American journalist Barbara Demick in 2009, following over 100 interviews she conducted with North Korean defectors from Chongjin.

I found it absolutely captivating in the most chilling way. There is political intrigue, love, indoctrination, heartbreak, imagination, censorship, abuse, triumph, devastation, economic collapse, perseverance, propaganda, and the uneasy, ever present threat of betrayal by one's own friends, family, and government. It completely transported me to the time and setting as I followed the day-to-day of each of the main “characters”: Mi-ran, Doctor Kim, Mrs. Song, Hyuck, Oak-hee, and Jun-sang. I watched with rapt suspense as they worked hard to overcome hurdle after hurdle just to survive and avoid finding themselves on the wrong side of the ruthless, totalitarian North Korean regime.

If you enjoy non-fiction and are curious about North Korea, I definitely recommend this book. It's written in such a way that it feels like a 3rd person close narrative, which I found immersive and effective. The author very briefly mentions herself and instead keeps the focus on each of the primary figures and their personal stories, giving us a realistic and sobering look at their experiences. I left this book with a new-found appreciation of the freedoms, rights, and opportunities my own country offers to its citizens. Many thanks to my dear friend, Chelsie, who recommended it to me! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Domestic abuse