Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.47 AVERAGE
4.47 AVERAGE
Everyone should read this memoir. So heartbreaking yet hopeful account of Yeonmi Park, a girl who escaped North Korea at 13 years old. She faced so many hardships after escaping, but used her story to help others and to change the world. I commend her for sharing her story across so many platforms and for her bravery throughout it all.
Please be aware of trigger warnings! Yeonmi provides a detailed and raw account of her experiences.
Tw: rape, prison camps, starvation, abuse, human trafficking
Please be aware of trigger warnings! Yeonmi provides a detailed and raw account of her experiences.
Tw: rape, prison camps, starvation, abuse, human trafficking
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Compelling and heart wrenching. Only after reading did I learn of the skepticism surrounding Park’s accounts and recent affiliation with alt-right media. I can’t imagine the psychological impact of her upbringing and escape from North Korea. I’d like to believe she did her best to overcome trauma and language barriers to write a true account of her experience, though I can’t condone her embrace of far right media ideology.
I don't feel comfortable giving a low rating to someones story so I'm only rating it based on my enjoyment and the writing
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
medium-paced
The author of this book has been accused by all sides of the political spectrum of fabricating aspects of her story.
Bear this in mind. Still think it has value and probably has lots of elements of truth, but the criticisms that the memoir faces (and the fact that she is now a MAGA conservative, transphobe etc...) means that I cannot take the information at face value.
Take it with a heavy grain of salt.
Bear this in mind. Still think it has value and probably has lots of elements of truth, but the criticisms that the memoir faces (and the fact that she is now a MAGA conservative, transphobe etc...) means that I cannot take the information at face value.
Take it with a heavy grain of salt.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Domestic abuse, Torture, Xenophobia
Wow - how lucky we are to have access to Yeonmi Park's incredible story. The twists and turns of her life's story are more moving and impressive than most fiction I've read. Highly recommend.
I'm so grateful for her story and being about to learn more about North Korea in such a powerful way. Her efforts will help others undoubtedly and I admire her courage in escaping, surviving and sharing this.
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
immediately after finishing I was considering giving this book 5 stars, but since then I browsed the other reviews doubting how much of it is the truth. after reading her wikipedia page I cannot rate this book any higher, despite enjoying it, because most of the facts within it have been disputed by other north korea defectors. the funniest part to me was googling her and seeing the screenshot of her on the joe rogan podcast which became a meme, where the point was making fun of her for telling outrageous lies. when reading this book I had no idea the face on the cover was the same one I saw hundreds of times during that meme's lifespan. as you can probably assume from the fact she went on joe rogan's podcast, she also went down the american right-wing pipeline in the 2020s and now does conservative grifting full time. honestly very hard to reconcile that with the person in the book I just read, who did not mention hating trans people even once (that wasn't as profitable in 2015 I guess)