Scan barcode
shebephoebe's review against another edition
4.0
This is both the biography of a man who escaped the North Korean prison camp where he was born, and also a biography of North Korea itself over the past 50-odd years. Sparse and somewhat stilted, full of facts and figures, it reads more like an article than a story. I'll say it's an important story, despite the surrounding controversy, but the writing style didn't do it any favors.
rightoftheleaf's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.75
natashajean's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
jlyons's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
3.75
spacetoread's review against another edition
3.0
Shin Dong-hyuk’s story is absolutely incredible. He was born inside a North Korean political prisoner’s camp, and never saw the outside world. He wasn’t raised to feel love, only self-preservation and fear. The writing is blunt and straight-forward, shocking the reader with his experiences. Overall, the writing also felt stilted and the story didn’t flow. For nonfiction, I am glad I read this and learned Shin Dong-Hyuk’s story.