mbuckley92 's review for:

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

3.0

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I enjoy reading books about people, countries and events that I don't know much about. I knew next nothing about North Korea and found this book fascinating. It is a tragic account of six North Korean defectors. While the writing isn't the best (several times she tells the same story twice or restates things multiple times), she provides a vivid picture of the lives inside North Korea - a rarity it seems in an extremely closed society. The poverty and hopelessness of this people in contrast to their devotion to their leader (brainwashing at its best) is heartbreaking.