Reviews tagging 'Blood'

A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea by Masaji Ishikawa

7 reviews

meaganb914's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Animal death, Alcohol, Child death, Violence, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Self harm, Blood, Death, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Grief, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Classism, Cannibalism, Police brutality, and Fire/Fire injury

scarafaggy's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.25

I was born not just once but five times. And five times I learned the same lesson. Sometimes in life, you have to grab your so-called destiny by the throat and wring its neck.

A straightforward (but nevertheless heartbreaking) account of a man's time in North Korea. The author's writing is extremely effective in conveying his pain and desperation without being too overwhelming. However, the instances where he chooses to be graphic (see the bark cake bit) serve as a reminder that he is holding much more back.

I’m sorry. You didn’t need to know that. Except you did. It’s the only thing that shows how desperate we were.

If readers are already shocked by the details he has chosen to share, we can only imagine what true horrors he and his family have experienced. An educational and harrowing read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Vomit

sammantha's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Broke my heart into a thousand pieces.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Child death, Violence, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal cruelty, Suicide, and Blood

mandkips's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Blood, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism and Police brutality

nicolemillo's review

emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

I’m never sure what to say about these sorts of accounts. This was informative, sad, reflective and well-written. Despite the subject matter, Masaji Ishikawa manages to bring some wry humour to the text on occasion. Brian Nishii did an excellent job with his narration of Ishikawa’s story

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Cannibalism, Violence, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Child death

marenk's review

dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Suicide attempt

ivana's review

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Police brutality