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4.47 AVERAGE
4.47 AVERAGE
Veel vraagtekens te zetten bij dit verhaal, maar wel fascinerend om haar geschiedenis te lezen en iets meer te leren over het leven in Noord-Korea en van hen die het land ontvluchtten.
Unless you have been trafficked, beaten, raped, and forced to escape your captors on foot through a freezing desert, I don't think you have the right to give this book anything but 5 stars.
As a reader, you can find many flaws in the book. The writing is sometimes sloppy. The narrative is choppy and unfocused at times. The narrator mixes personal anecdotes and historical details in a way that makes it hard to separate the opinion from the fact.
But none of that matters. The story itself is all that remains after you have turned the last page. And that story is harrowing. Yeonmi Park has done an excellent job conveying the root causes of the human trafficking problem in North Korea, its extent, and its horrors.
There is a lot to unpack in the book's 200 or so pages, and the author touches upon so many topics, providing insight into not just the reality of North Korean citizens, but their mentality, their naivety about the world, and their inability to think critically after being brainwashed for the duration of their lives.
Through suffering, death, rape, psychological and physical abuse, the book ends on a hopeful note. A young girl manages to get out, learns about the world, harnesses education and liberates not only her body but also her mind. Most importantly, her experience doesn't leave her bitter and hollow - she looks back and does her best to help others and to liberate her compatriots from the dehumanizing regime, becoming a voice for all those oppressed by the Kims.
As a reader, you can find many flaws in the book. The writing is sometimes sloppy. The narrative is choppy and unfocused at times. The narrator mixes personal anecdotes and historical details in a way that makes it hard to separate the opinion from the fact.
But none of that matters. The story itself is all that remains after you have turned the last page. And that story is harrowing. Yeonmi Park has done an excellent job conveying the root causes of the human trafficking problem in North Korea, its extent, and its horrors.
There is a lot to unpack in the book's 200 or so pages, and the author touches upon so many topics, providing insight into not just the reality of North Korean citizens, but their mentality, their naivety about the world, and their inability to think critically after being brainwashed for the duration of their lives.
Through suffering, death, rape, psychological and physical abuse, the book ends on a hopeful note. A young girl manages to get out, learns about the world, harnesses education and liberates not only her body but also her mind. Most importantly, her experience doesn't leave her bitter and hollow - she looks back and does her best to help others and to liberate her compatriots from the dehumanizing regime, becoming a voice for all those oppressed by the Kims.
Very interesting insight into the journey and struggles of North Korean defectors. Unfortunately, a little too slow paced for me.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
An incredibly moving and heart wrenching story about Yeonmi Park, now an activist for human rights, and her family's escape from North Korea. She encounters a great deal of hardship and describes it very honestly in her autobiography. It's too good to put down and you'll be just as desperate as she was to see if she escapes North Korea.
emotional
fast-paced
Harrowing to say the least. I am so glad she was brave enough to escape and share her story. This book offers incredible insights of the plight of people trapped under the North Korean regime, and the struggle to survive once out. I didn’t realize the extent of the hardships faced by women escaping the country - being sold into sexual slavery immediately upon entering China is abhorrent. Her account made me realize that for many women escaping North Korea is just the beginning of the journey.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
This is the story of a girl who escaped North Korea with her mother at age 13. It tells of their family's hardships in North Korea, then in China as they were made a part of the human trafficking world. Then it describes their journey to South Korea through Mongolia and how they adjusted to freedom in South Korea.
It was very straightforward and didn't go much into the author's feelings or details about all the struggles she went through. It was informative to read about life in North Korea and sad to learn what happens to many women who escape. I found the author to be inspiring and I felt her story was believable. However, I know there are some questions about the validity of some parts of her story.
It was very straightforward and didn't go much into the author's feelings or details about all the struggles she went through. It was informative to read about life in North Korea and sad to learn what happens to many women who escape. I found the author to be inspiring and I felt her story was believable. However, I know there are some questions about the validity of some parts of her story.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape