Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

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

14 reviews

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

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

Moderate: Death of parent and Abortion

ernie_8's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

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 against another edition

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, Death, Cancer, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Abortion, Stalking, and Xenophobia

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: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, and Trafficking

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

clxxre's review against another edition

informative sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Physical abuse, Rape, and Violence

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

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

wellreadmed's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abortion