Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom by Maryanne Vollers, Yeonmi Park

49 reviews

bringtheseoul's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

An incredibly eye opening story into the horrors of what life is like in North Korea, and an inspiring story of fighting for survival.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Deportation

clare_dv's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, and Deportation

axo17's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.75

Amazing personal account of her life in North Korea, China, and South Korea. It’s a dark truth, but overall I absolutely loved it. 

I included a lot of disclaimers. It’s a heavy read… lots of content that can be too much to handle at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

funkaroo12's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Everybody needs to read this— regardless of your political or religious beliefs. If you are are human being, read this book. Her story is more gut-wrenching than imaginable with a strong message of hope.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

rachreads681's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Excrement, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

underthetreereads's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

“In the free world, children dream about what they want to be when they grow up and how they can use their talents. When I was four and five years old, my only adult ambition was to buy as much bread as I liked and eat all of it.”

In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom by Yeonmi Park is a brutally eye opening memoir of human brutality and kindness. Yeonmi tells her story suffering under the North Korean regime, escaping to China only to be sold into human trafficking, and then finally making her way to freedom. Something I think was very unique (and yet not at all for so many) was her eventual understanding that even when she made it to South Korea, she still wasn’t free until she allowed herself to be free.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Abortion and Death of parent

kirstenpod_'s review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Cancer and Terminal illness

Minor: Alcoholism and Genocide

sofiarf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

ajsterkel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

I didn't like it, which is a terrible thing to say because it's a memoir. I feel like I'm judging somebody's life. Maybe this is why I don't read more nonfiction.

The author was born in North Korea and didn't have an easy childhood. When she was 13, her and her mother escaped into China and became victims of human trafficking. They jumped from one bad situation into an equally bad situation. It's a brutal story to read.

Aside from the difficult subject matter, most of the book is fine. The writing isn't great, but I can forgive it because the author doesn't have the same education level as other writers.

I think the pacing is too fast. I kept wishing the author would slow down and give more details. I wondered how she learned Mandarin faster than the other kidnapped refugees, and why she was so valuable to human traffickers that they were willing to "go to war" for her, and why her mother allowed a 13-year-old to make so many important decisions for the family. I wanted more information!

Then, a paragraph at the end of the book slightly ruined everything for me. The author admits that her story has changed multiple times. She gave different accounts to different journalists. Instead of telling the truth, she told reporters what she thought they wanted to hear. She says, "I was reacting, improvising like a jazz musician playing the same melody a little differently each time, unaware that there might be people out there keeping score."

My brain went in two directions with this. First, I said, "She obviously lived through something traumatizing. Of course she's not going to spill her secrets to every reporter who asks a question." The second part of me went, "Nooo! North Korea is a vault wrapped in propaganda. Changing your story will muddy the waters and cast doubt on the stories of other refugees." The North Korean government is going to grab these inconsistencies and use them to discredit survivors and keep people trapped.

I don't know what to think about this book. I'm not mad that I read it, but I can't recommend it to other people. I lost trust in the author. How do I know I'm reading the real story right now? Does it even matter if I'm reading the real story? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation

ernie_8's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Cancer and Confinement

Minor: Alcoholism and Abortion