Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

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

15 reviews

mmontemurro's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This was a gripping memoir of Yeonmi Park's harrowing journey out of North Korea. She describes her childhood in a country where having no food for days on end was commonplace, and how they would eat dragonflies for protein when they had nothing else. She describes seeing dead bodies on the side of the road - people who had died of starvation. Her father was taken to a hard labor camp after being caught selling "illegal" goods which in any other place would be considered legal. Her mother left to attempt to retrieve her father from prison, and she was left to care for herself and her sister. While others tried to help them, it sounded as though most people had little to give for food. I was shocked to hear about the government radios which had to be on at all times - it reminded me of 1984 where they were constantly watched and listened to. No one could be trusted but yourself. Her sister left for China, and eventually Yeonmi leaves with her mother too, to hopefully find a better life in China, and get her father out of North Korea. Yeonmi and her mother were trafficked for many years in China, and forced into marriages by Chinese brokers. They were considered second-class citizens - or really not citizens at all in China. Yeonmi secured a deal for herself as a young girl in order to get her mother and father, and hopefully her sister, who was missing, in exchange for becoming a mistress to one broker. She describes painful, terrible rape and having to endure that for her family. Eventually they leave with a Christian missionary group for South Korea. However dangerous, they do eventually make it to South Korea, and are able to become citizens there. Due to a lack in eduation in North Korea, Yeonmi is told that she will never amount to anything, never catch up to other classmates, and never go to university. She surpasses every goal by working extremely hard. Her story is incredible, and she has everlasting hope through all the bleak moments of her life. I hope that this story reaches many, and that her story can inspire others to understand the tragedy of North Korea and understand that anything is achieveable in this life. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Deportation

Moderate: Abortion and Pregnancy

This book really captivated me from start to finish. I had heard of Yeonmi's story before from the numerous interviews she does, but I had not heard of some specific details about her family and her survival throughout her teenage years. It humbles me and I am grateful to live in a country where freedom is a right and I am able to achieve my goals without significant hardship or sacrifice. I am glad that after all the hardship Yeonmi endured, she was able to gain freedom and is now able to spread awareness and information to others.

ezoots's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

5.0

A harrowing tale of her will to survive. Heart wrenching and eye opening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Abortion, and War

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

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

emilia___'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking and Death of parent

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Abortion

aguattery's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

This review is more about the book itself then Yeonmi's life story. Her life and journey to freedom was so tragic and complex, and it was beautiful to watch her hold on to hope. 

That being said, the writing style didn't sit well with me. It was VERY choppy and at times I didn't understand how we jumped from one topic to the next. Each chapter felt like reading an essay written by a middle schooler. And maybe that was purposeful to make the story accessible but it didn't work for me. It almost felt like  I almost thought about dnf'ing it because of that but it's such an important story that I finished it anyway. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, and Death of parent

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Xenophobia, Stalking, and Abortion

meenakshi's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Harrowing but inspiring 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Trafficking

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, and Cultural appropriation

clxxre's review

informative sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, and Trafficking

Minor: Abortion

clevelandbookgirl's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Synopsis: Yeonmi Park was born in North Korea. She spent most of her childhood trying to survive the atrocities of the country. One day, Yeonmi's mother decides the family must escape, in order to live. What awaits them during their escape is equally as terrible as the things that happened in North Korea. This true story displays courage, survival, and resiliency. 

I'm so happy I checked out this audiobook from Libby. Yeonmi Park gives insight to what life was like for her in North Korea. 

This story was very hard to listen to. It was tragic, but Yeonmi and her family did what they had to in order to survive, no matter the cost. I will list content warning at the end of this post, because a lot of what Yeonmi and her family survived was extremely brutal.

If you are looking for a memoir for Women's Month this March I would strongly suggest picking up this book. I think this book should be read in political science and sociology classes to showcase politics, survival, and people's ways of thinking. If you're looking for a non-fiction book that will shake you to the core, read In Order to Live.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Abortion, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Cancer and Gore

mxpringle's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail