Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Není co závidět: obyčejné životy v Severní Koreji by Barbara Demick

7 reviews

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

4.0

This was an interesting look into the lives of the average North Korean of a decade and a half ago. The fear mongering of Western media and the violent escalation of North Korean threats against enemy nations and against its own people has made the country into something larger than life in the eyes of the general public. The people of North Korea having to just barely scrape by while their leader lives in luxury and hides the poverty of the average citizen even while seeking aid is horrifying. It's sad to see how little has changed in the last fifteen years.
This book is well written and the firsthand accounts of life in North Korea add weight to the input of what Demick has to add as a foreign journalist.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Abortion

cepbreed's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

My heart and mind are so heavy. For the first time I’ve struggled to sleep after reading a book. The thought of the thousands of starving children, so destitute they don’t own shoes, never mind even a singular morsel of food to eat. I’ve been interested in learning more about the aftermath of the Korean War for a while but I don’t know if I can continue pursuing the topic. One thought about all of those Korean people does make it hard to think of anything else. 

I appreciate Barbara Demick’s knowledge of the topic and her closed pool of defectors that she interviewed, but some part of this book felt like she wasn’t giving readers enough credit. Some bits were needlessly repeated. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Excrement, and Cannibalism

directorpurry's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Minor: Cannibalism, Abandonment, and Deportation

jenniesreadingjourney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Slavery, Police brutality, Dementia, Medical trauma, Abortion, Gaslighting, and Deportation

bookshelf_al's review against another edition

challenging informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Cannibalism

Minor: Domestic abuse and Abortion

marissab's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Gaslighting, and War

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

stevie's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Blood, Excrement, and Abortion