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How I Became a North Korean
At the lawless border between North Korea and China, three young lives converge in the hope of a better future.
Yongju is an accomplished student from a prominent but recently disgraced family; Jangmi has had to fend for herself since childhood, and now has her unborn child to protect; Danny is a Chinese-American teenager who yearns for the China of his childhood. But danger is everywhere: government informants, thieves, people smugglers, abductors and even missionaries are a threat. As the three form an adopted family in the struggle to survive, will they reach the safety and freedom that China seems to offer?
Inspired by the author's own experiences while working in the border area, How I Became a North Korean is a powerful story of peril and hope.
Yongju is an accomplished student from a prominent but recently disgraced family; Jangmi has had to fend for herself since childhood, and now has her unborn child to protect; Danny is a Chinese-American teenager who yearns for the China of his childhood. But danger is everywhere: government informants, thieves, people smugglers, abductors and even missionaries are a threat. As the three form an adopted family in the struggle to survive, will they reach the safety and freedom that China seems to offer?
Inspired by the author's own experiences while working in the border area, How I Became a North Korean is a powerful story of peril and hope.
256 pages, Paperback
First published August 2, 2016
73 people are currently reading
2755 people want to read
About the author
Krys Lee
7 books118 followersKrys Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, raised in California and Washington, and studied in the United States and England. She was a finalist for Best New American Voices, received a special mention in the 2012 Pushcart Prize XXXVI, and her work has appeared in the Kenyon Review, Narrative magazine, Granta (New Voices), California Quarterly, Asia Weekly, the Guardian, the New Statesman, and Conde Nast Traveller, UK (forthcoming). She lives in Seoul with intervals in San Francisco.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 210 reviews
March 12, 2019
Sometimes it is the style of story telling, the juicy words or lyrical strings of terminology that garner a top rating. Other times it is the story itself, delivered plain with no embellishments that wins the stars. This five star read is of the latter quality. Although the book is a work of fiction, Krys Lee - who lives in South Korea -has worked with defectors from North Korea for more than a decade. She abruptly left South Korea to spend some time in the US after receiving death threats from a very unusual source. Upon finishing the book, you'll figure out the unlikely real world source of the threats... surreal! But there is truth here.
This addictive trio of tales is laid out simply and braids its strands together as three teenagers whose lives converge. One is a US high school student active in Boy Souts and his church. Another is part of the affluent upper crust of Pyongyang, and the last lives as a half-starved go-getter trading illegal goods along the North Korean-Chinese border. Ever since reading the dark, surreal, and outstanding novel The Orphan Master's Son, North Korea's residents have pulled at my curiosity. Good people who've been sold crazy stories their entire lives, who've endured incredible hardship, they are as worthy as anyone else of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But that's not what their government, society, or reality brings them.
As diffferent as the lives of these three teenagers was, I still expected their intersection of worlds to be on the scary side of the street. But wow! The things taught to me in their stories were a stack of surprises. Let's let you discover the things I did, reading or listening to this excellent book. The three points of view were easy to follow, although the names of various other teenagers in their group confused me a bit because of my unfamiliarity with Korean names. That was actually okay, in that only one of the kids who is a side character plays a big role.
A final note. The title is not a literal one in that we don't have three people moving to or becoming North Koreans. They live, however, for a time period as North Koreans on the run, trying to escape death, incarceration, and the complications of family life. They are captive not in North Korea, but to the circumstances around people who are in fact from there.
Prepare to be surprised and educated. I'd recommend this to every high school student out there and to any adult who has no idea how lucky he or she is to be free. Five stars for a great story.
This addictive trio of tales is laid out simply and braids its strands together as three teenagers whose lives converge. One is a US high school student active in Boy Souts and his church. Another is part of the affluent upper crust of Pyongyang, and the last lives as a half-starved go-getter trading illegal goods along the North Korean-Chinese border. Ever since reading the dark, surreal, and outstanding novel The Orphan Master's Son, North Korea's residents have pulled at my curiosity. Good people who've been sold crazy stories their entire lives, who've endured incredible hardship, they are as worthy as anyone else of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But that's not what their government, society, or reality brings them.
As diffferent as the lives of these three teenagers was, I still expected their intersection of worlds to be on the scary side of the street. But wow! The things taught to me in their stories were a stack of surprises. Let's let you discover the things I did, reading or listening to this excellent book. The three points of view were easy to follow, although the names of various other teenagers in their group confused me a bit because of my unfamiliarity with Korean names. That was actually okay, in that only one of the kids who is a side character plays a big role.
A final note. The title is not a literal one in that we don't have three people moving to or becoming North Koreans. They live, however, for a time period as North Koreans on the run, trying to escape death, incarceration, and the complications of family life. They are captive not in North Korea, but to the circumstances around people who are in fact from there.
Prepare to be surprised and educated. I'd recommend this to every high school student out there and to any adult who has no idea how lucky he or she is to be free. Five stars for a great story.
September 12, 2021
Three incredibly disparate young people, two boys and a girl, each find themselves on their own in the area of China abutting North Korea. Two are refugees--one from a peasant family having lived through the Great Hunger, crossing the river for a chance to raise her baby in peace, the other the privileged son of a political insider family, whose father was shot at point black range by the Dear Leader at a small dinner party. The third is a bright but rigid American boy struggling with his homosexuality within the evangelical Christian church, sent to China to live with his mother, a missionary, after painful encounters with other high schoolers. He rejects her when he discovers an unsavory secret, preferring to try his luck on the streets--luck which doesn't hold him very far.
A fascinating wheel as we turn from story to story--the intransigent survivor, determined to survive no matter what; the privileged son become a street boy; and the American who cannot reconcile his ideals to his circumstances.
A fascinating wheel as we turn from story to story--the intransigent survivor, determined to survive no matter what; the privileged son become a street boy; and the American who cannot reconcile his ideals to his circumstances.
June 27, 2016
Nearly four years ago, I read Drifting House, a collection of short stories that focused on the damaged, lonely, and yearning in a Korea forced to weather war, financial draught and instabilities. It portended the rise of a new talent and I was eager to see how Ms. Lee made the transition from stories to a novel.
In How I Became A North Korean, this author again mines the Korean experience with the interwoven stories of three characters –Youngiu, Jangmai and Danny – who are forced to leave their unstable and dangerous homes and end up in a border town across the border in China. The book is divided further into four parts: Crossing, The Border, Safe, and Freedom.
The novel opens with great promise at a Pyongyang party, overseen by the Great Leader, interfused with a growing sense of terror. Had the rest of the novel lived up to its gripping beginning, the novel would have been extraordinary.
Instead, it becomes somewhat derivative. Jangmai smuggles herself into China in the hopes of marrying a damaged Chinese man, therefore saving the life of her unborn child. Yongui, whose father was assassinated, arrives with his mother and sister. And Danny, who is Korean by heritage, is sent back to his mother in China, is robbed of his entire identity, and is forced to connect to an underbelly of other outcasts.
The author too often leads the reader (“We couldn’t eat ice cream or thrill ourselves with amusement park rides, try foreign foods like hamburgers and pretend to enjoy them…We couldn’t do anything. But we were usually together.”) The Danny narrative, in particular, seemed flat of emotion, considering that he came from the pampered west – Fresno, California. The survival tale is one that frequent readers are familiar with.
Some of the passages are truly haunting: Jangmi’s amazement at a new initial life of consumerism after making do with little…the interactions between the Koreans and the Chinese. I found myself comparing the book, at various points, to Sunjeev Sahota’s Year of the Runaways, which created visceral, original and unforgettable portraits of characters similarly facing hunger, homelessness and uncertainty. Somehow, I wanted more here.
In How I Became A North Korean, this author again mines the Korean experience with the interwoven stories of three characters –Youngiu, Jangmai and Danny – who are forced to leave their unstable and dangerous homes and end up in a border town across the border in China. The book is divided further into four parts: Crossing, The Border, Safe, and Freedom.
The novel opens with great promise at a Pyongyang party, overseen by the Great Leader, interfused with a growing sense of terror. Had the rest of the novel lived up to its gripping beginning, the novel would have been extraordinary.
Instead, it becomes somewhat derivative. Jangmai smuggles herself into China in the hopes of marrying a damaged Chinese man, therefore saving the life of her unborn child. Yongui, whose father was assassinated, arrives with his mother and sister. And Danny, who is Korean by heritage, is sent back to his mother in China, is robbed of his entire identity, and is forced to connect to an underbelly of other outcasts.
The author too often leads the reader (“We couldn’t eat ice cream or thrill ourselves with amusement park rides, try foreign foods like hamburgers and pretend to enjoy them…We couldn’t do anything. But we were usually together.”) The Danny narrative, in particular, seemed flat of emotion, considering that he came from the pampered west – Fresno, California. The survival tale is one that frequent readers are familiar with.
Some of the passages are truly haunting: Jangmi’s amazement at a new initial life of consumerism after making do with little…the interactions between the Koreans and the Chinese. I found myself comparing the book, at various points, to Sunjeev Sahota’s Year of the Runaways, which created visceral, original and unforgettable portraits of characters similarly facing hunger, homelessness and uncertainty. Somehow, I wanted more here.
August 21, 2021
"Freedom shows me that all that matters to the free world is money."
Slow beginning but it soon became a gripping, heart-wrenching book. I kept telling herself "this is just fiction" but then again, I've read about the experiences in this book in memoirs and testimonies. Sad read, sad reality.
I like how the author made the characters question how other countries know about this but they are too 'scared' to challenge China about what they make them go through to escape/avoid repatriation.
Slow beginning but it soon became a gripping, heart-wrenching book. I kept telling herself "this is just fiction" but then again, I've read about the experiences in this book in memoirs and testimonies. Sad read, sad reality.
I like how the author made the characters question how other countries know about this but they are too 'scared' to challenge China about what they make them go through to escape/avoid repatriation.
December 10, 2016
This started crazy strong but lost momentum once each character left North Korea. At that point it became a survival story. The writing is great and I'll certainly be seeking out Lee's next book.
July 19, 2016
I received and ARC of this book at the ALA convention.
Korean novels, or rather literary fiction orbiting around Korea, have become something that I quite enjoy. However, I found this story to teeter-totter, back and forth, from okay to bland.
The book follows three main points of view, each chapter is from a different perspective. I have had encounters with this sort of format before, And Again by Jessica Chiarella for example, but I have never disliked it so much before. I believe the primary problem was that I did not like Danny (the Chinese-born boy, living in America) at all. In fact I quite detested him; although, I did understand why and how he feels and sympathized with him, I just did not think he was a very likeable character.
The writing is beautiful, Krys Lee knows how to write! I found the author to be able to conjure horrifying scenes, as well as the vividly unpleasant poverty, within my mind. I could taste, see, smell all of the blood, tears, and bone. The grit is very well described.
Korean novels, or rather literary fiction orbiting around Korea, have become something that I quite enjoy. However, I found this story to teeter-totter, back and forth, from okay to bland.
The book follows three main points of view, each chapter is from a different perspective. I have had encounters with this sort of format before, And Again by Jessica Chiarella for example, but I have never disliked it so much before. I believe the primary problem was that I did not like Danny (the Chinese-born boy, living in America) at all. In fact I quite detested him; although, I did understand why and how he feels and sympathized with him, I just did not think he was a very likeable character.
The writing is beautiful, Krys Lee knows how to write! I found the author to be able to conjure horrifying scenes, as well as the vividly unpleasant poverty, within my mind. I could taste, see, smell all of the blood, tears, and bone. The grit is very well described.
November 15, 2016
"You ever thought about what happens to them after coming? They take on a new identity and a name. They invent a biography for themselves - at least until they have to be more truthful so that someone like me can double-check their story and give them shelter. If they're ever lucky enough to cross into a third country, most reinvent themselves all over again. But they'll always be North Korean. The way they talk and think, the things they know and the things they don't, their history wiped out in a new country - it marks them forever. They go into South Korea with their fantasies and are ashamed when they're looked down at, or shocked when people suspect them of being spies, or act wary, or worse, stop caring. I've seen it hundreds of times. They don't have a choice. Unlike you."
I enjoyed Kyrs Lee's Drifting House her debut short-story collection, and was looking forward to this, her debut novel.
It is set in the world of young homeless refugees from North Korea, Kkotjaebi 꽃제비, literally flowering swallows, fending for survival amongst the Joseon-jok (조선족), the ethnic Korean community in China.
The story is told in three alternating stories narrated by Yongju (용주), privileged scion of a senior North Korean official who fled the country after his father was abruptly executed ("You're in China now, you're a nobody."), the resourceful Jangmi (장미), a young pregnant girl from the other end of the social spectrum, given her name (literally Rose) by her arranged Chinese husband, and Danny/Daehan (대한), the subject of the quote than opens my review, a Chinese-American student of Korean descent, who fled a socially awkward situation at college to come to China to stay with his mother but who ends up passing himself off as one of the refugees ("I'm a university student surrounded by crass, ignorant kkotjaebi").
The stories of the three characters quickly converge as they find that even the Christian missionaries who appear to offer their only hope have their own mixed motives.
Lee has rooted the novel in not just research but personal involvement in the defectors' plight (see
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2...-) and as fictional documentary it certainly works.
And the use of Korean words, Romanized but not translated, throughout the text adds to atmosphere and gives the reader less familiar with the language a sense of the character's alienation, a technique also used in Sunjeev Sahota's The Year of the Runaways (a comparison more generally made in this excellent review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...?)
However, at literary fiction I found it ultimately less successful. The character of Daehan seemed an unnecessarily artificial addition to a very real situation, and the story remained at a relatively straightforward level.
I can only repeat my conclusion for The Year of the Runaways: Overall, a worthwhile read, although perhaps of more socio-political than artistic merit
I enjoyed Kyrs Lee's Drifting House her debut short-story collection, and was looking forward to this, her debut novel.
It is set in the world of young homeless refugees from North Korea, Kkotjaebi 꽃제비, literally flowering swallows, fending for survival amongst the Joseon-jok (조선족), the ethnic Korean community in China.
The story is told in three alternating stories narrated by Yongju (용주), privileged scion of a senior North Korean official who fled the country after his father was abruptly executed ("You're in China now, you're a nobody."), the resourceful Jangmi (장미), a young pregnant girl from the other end of the social spectrum, given her name (literally Rose) by her arranged Chinese husband, and Danny/Daehan (대한), the subject of the quote than opens my review, a Chinese-American student of Korean descent, who fled a socially awkward situation at college to come to China to stay with his mother but who ends up passing himself off as one of the refugees ("I'm a university student surrounded by crass, ignorant kkotjaebi").
The stories of the three characters quickly converge as they find that even the Christian missionaries who appear to offer their only hope have their own mixed motives.
Lee has rooted the novel in not just research but personal involvement in the defectors' plight (see
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2...-) and as fictional documentary it certainly works.
And the use of Korean words, Romanized but not translated, throughout the text adds to atmosphere and gives the reader less familiar with the language a sense of the character's alienation, a technique also used in Sunjeev Sahota's The Year of the Runaways (a comparison more generally made in this excellent review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...?)
However, at literary fiction I found it ultimately less successful. The character of Daehan seemed an unnecessarily artificial addition to a very real situation, and the story remained at a relatively straightforward level.
I can only repeat my conclusion for The Year of the Runaways: Overall, a worthwhile read, although perhaps of more socio-political than artistic merit
May 29, 2022
A great story of the reality of the state of North Korea and what people will do to survive and find a sense of belonging. I like the way that Ms. Lee weaves the characters together and shows their growth during the entire story. The story was great, and it is a fantastic read. An engaging story for only 250 pages, this is a fantastic book to sit down and read. Happy Summer everyone.
November 2, 2017
I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. I see the meaning of the title and its significance, but I still don't think it's a good title.
The story is interesting, following three very different characters from different cultures, social classes and life experiences. It varies whose perspective you see the events unfold through, limiting information from that narrative to that person. Danny (Daehan) is a very Christian Chinese-American visiting his missionary mother in China and trying to escape his troubles with kids his age at school and his family. Yongju is a son of a well to do North Korean family that has fallen out of favor and is fleeing into China. Jangmi is a poor North Korean woman, newly pregnant from a well to do man, who has sold herself as a wife to a man living in China in hopes of convincing him that it is his child long enough to find a way to flee to South Korea.
My first obstacle was tackling the Korean language and setting. In order to effectively keep characters and their relationships straight, I spent some time looking at Korean language tutorials so I could hear their names and locations in my head as I read. Then as I read, I looked up Korean words that came into play. I found knowing the varying words for mother and father as well as the distinct words they use for a boy referring to an older sister versus a girl doing it, or the separate words for younger sisters and brothers led to a deeper and better appreciation for the book. Furthermore, I did some light research into the origins of the divide in Korea and the social structure between them and China, since that's pretty relevant to the book. You could read it without doing all this, but I personally felt that it gave me a much better understanding of the story and the history that surrounds it.
The characters were good people. Easy to like, easy to hope for. I can't say their hardships moved me to tears or anything dramatic, because they were fictitious characters. It did move me though because I could imagine that these sorts of people are out there. They were all believable in that way and in a modern real world setting, it made sense.
I likes the language used in this best. The author has really beautiful and insightful ways of seeing and describing the world. A lot of things that have changed the way I see everyday things. And a perspective is presented that makes me think more about the world as a whole rather than as countries. So much focus is put on unspoken (or spoken) hostility towards others solely based on what piece of land they were born on or live on, rather than how those same people love support or care for others. And it's all said and done so very subtly and gently.
Finally, it's not often that I am really satisfied with an ending, but I was with this one. It's not happy or sad, but real and yet still hopeful.
The story is interesting, following three very different characters from different cultures, social classes and life experiences. It varies whose perspective you see the events unfold through, limiting information from that narrative to that person. Danny (Daehan) is a very Christian Chinese-American visiting his missionary mother in China and trying to escape his troubles with kids his age at school and his family. Yongju is a son of a well to do North Korean family that has fallen out of favor and is fleeing into China. Jangmi is a poor North Korean woman, newly pregnant from a well to do man, who has sold herself as a wife to a man living in China in hopes of convincing him that it is his child long enough to find a way to flee to South Korea.
My first obstacle was tackling the Korean language and setting. In order to effectively keep characters and their relationships straight, I spent some time looking at Korean language tutorials so I could hear their names and locations in my head as I read. Then as I read, I looked up Korean words that came into play. I found knowing the varying words for mother and father as well as the distinct words they use for a boy referring to an older sister versus a girl doing it, or the separate words for younger sisters and brothers led to a deeper and better appreciation for the book. Furthermore, I did some light research into the origins of the divide in Korea and the social structure between them and China, since that's pretty relevant to the book. You could read it without doing all this, but I personally felt that it gave me a much better understanding of the story and the history that surrounds it.
The characters were good people. Easy to like, easy to hope for. I can't say their hardships moved me to tears or anything dramatic, because they were fictitious characters. It did move me though because I could imagine that these sorts of people are out there. They were all believable in that way and in a modern real world setting, it made sense.
I likes the language used in this best. The author has really beautiful and insightful ways of seeing and describing the world. A lot of things that have changed the way I see everyday things. And a perspective is presented that makes me think more about the world as a whole rather than as countries. So much focus is put on unspoken (or spoken) hostility towards others solely based on what piece of land they were born on or live on, rather than how those same people love support or care for others. And it's all said and done so very subtly and gently.
Finally, it's not often that I am really satisfied with an ending, but I was with this one. It's not happy or sad, but real and yet still hopeful.
June 22, 2021
This book ended up being quite a surprise for me. After I became interested in North Korea, and most importantly stories about defectors, this book seemed simply too good to ignore. And once I got into this book, I was quite surprised how well written it was. Krys Lee's use of language helps most importantly flesh out our three main characters, but also helps humanize characters who are deemed to be, well, less than human by many of the other more fortunate characters they come across their journey in China.
Interpretations of this title, How I Became a North Korean will probably vary, but the best way to understand it is through context. As two of our three characters are from North Korea in the beginning of this tale, with one character being an immigrant of Asian descent hailing from the United States, the titular North Korean can be seen as a derogatory phrase to describe the way they are perceived. As the novel makes it clear, North Koreans are looked down upon by both the people living in China and South Korea, and as their misfortunes spread long and wide during the course of this novel, it is not hard to see that the title is a reference to immigrants.
The novel starts off very strong, as one character witnesses , while the third character, Danny, feels like he simply does not belong to his current home. As a result, he flees to China and soon finds himself in a very dangerous environment. Eventually the three meet each other under very unexpected circumstances, and this the point where the book becomes less captivating.
The best part of this book, besides the great writing, is undeniably the descriptions of hardships immigrants face. Several chapters depict the anxiety and fear of being ostracized by the natives, the constant fear of violence and the unease. These stories were especially great when the characters were apart from each other, as they offered very different views on the immigrant experience, but once they were put together, it just sort of blended it all together.
There wasn't much excitement in the end, since all of the individuality was gone and most of the plot became quite predictable. The ending had some high notes, but they never reached the melody all three characters were able to produce.
Interpretations of this title, How I Became a North Korean will probably vary, but the best way to understand it is through context. As two of our three characters are from North Korea in the beginning of this tale, with one character being an immigrant of Asian descent hailing from the United States, the titular North Korean can be seen as a derogatory phrase to describe the way they are perceived. As the novel makes it clear, North Koreans are looked down upon by both the people living in China and South Korea, and as their misfortunes spread long and wide during the course of this novel, it is not hard to see that the title is a reference to immigrants.
The novel starts off very strong, as one character witnesses , while the third character, Danny, feels like he simply does not belong to his current home. As a result, he flees to China and soon finds himself in a very dangerous environment. Eventually the three meet each other under very unexpected circumstances, and this the point where the book becomes less captivating.
The best part of this book, besides the great writing, is undeniably the descriptions of hardships immigrants face. Several chapters depict the anxiety and fear of being ostracized by the natives, the constant fear of violence and the unease. These stories were especially great when the characters were apart from each other, as they offered very different views on the immigrant experience, but once they were put together, it just sort of blended it all together.
There wasn't much excitement in the end, since all of the individuality was gone and most of the plot became quite predictable. The ending had some high notes, but they never reached the melody all three characters were able to produce.
December 14, 2017
Any book about North Korea is painful, and this is no exception. It's a well-wrought narrative with three viewpoint characters. It's set a decade ago, when Kim Jong Il was still the "Great General."
One viewpoint character is Daehan (Danny), a teenager of North Korean origin with Chinese citizenship whose family has moved to Northern California after living in China. He's closeted gay, slightly autistic, and highly intelligent. Other teenagers bully him. He wants to escape. He flies to China to visit his mother, who has moved back there. He winds up with teenage North Korean refugees and becomes committed to helping them.
Another viewpoint character is Yongju, a North Korean college student from Pyongyang whose parents hold positions of favor under Kim Jong Il. But Kim suddenly turns against them. Yongju, his mother, and his sister flee to China, where they find they have fallen from one hell into another because North Koreans are often abused and turned into slaves in China, and no one cares.
The third viewpoint character is Jangmi, a pregnant North Korean woman in her 20s who flees to China. Her fate is even worse.
The characters meet. Their story is harrowing, but undoubtedly true to life. If you're willing to learn about the lives of North Koreans, both those who stay and those who flee, this book is very worth reading.
One viewpoint character is Daehan (Danny), a teenager of North Korean origin with Chinese citizenship whose family has moved to Northern California after living in China. He's closeted gay, slightly autistic, and highly intelligent. Other teenagers bully him. He wants to escape. He flies to China to visit his mother, who has moved back there. He winds up with teenage North Korean refugees and becomes committed to helping them.
Another viewpoint character is Yongju, a North Korean college student from Pyongyang whose parents hold positions of favor under Kim Jong Il. But Kim suddenly turns against them. Yongju, his mother, and his sister flee to China, where they find they have fallen from one hell into another because North Koreans are often abused and turned into slaves in China, and no one cares.
The third viewpoint character is Jangmi, a pregnant North Korean woman in her 20s who flees to China. Her fate is even worse.
The characters meet. Their story is harrowing, but undoubtedly true to life. If you're willing to learn about the lives of North Koreans, both those who stay and those who flee, this book is very worth reading.
June 11, 2017
First of all, Krys Lee's writing is so beautiful! It's a novel, but parts of it seem like poetry at times, how she can describe even the most disgusting situations with such fluid, perfect words.
Also, as a Korean, this story was just mind-boggling and heart-breaking to me. The fact that though this is fiction, it is probably quite close to real life for some people is unbelievable. Though the book wasn't super action packed or filled with suspense, I could never stop reading. I love how each of the characters developed and showed their flaws. It's so interesting to see how Christianity became such a compelling part of each of their lives, even as the characters seemed to be rejecting it.
Overall, amazing book.
Also, as a Korean, this story was just mind-boggling and heart-breaking to me. The fact that though this is fiction, it is probably quite close to real life for some people is unbelievable. Though the book wasn't super action packed or filled with suspense, I could never stop reading. I love how each of the characters developed and showed their flaws. It's so interesting to see how Christianity became such a compelling part of each of their lives, even as the characters seemed to be rejecting it.
Overall, amazing book.
July 7, 2017
I lived in Seoul for almost three years, and during that time I became very close with a man my age who had fled North Korea in high school. Although it was at times hard for him to talk about directly, he shared his experiences with me through articles written about him, screenplays he'd created, and interviews from his YouTube Channel. I thought of him throughout this whole book, and I am so, so proud of him. The work he does to spread awareness and dissolve stigma is priceless, as is the work Krys Lee has done here with this brilliant and moving novel.
Yoo Sung, you are the bravest person I've ever met.
Yoo Sung, you are the bravest person I've ever met.
September 2, 2025
Watch my review on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdmPN...
January 31, 2021
I know I’ve rated this what I would consider relatively low, but I quote enjoyed this book. It follows 3 people who’s lives come together in waves of trauma, it’s a story of their survival and everything they did to make it through.
I enjoyed the reading experience but had a few issues- first of all, one of the main characters literally chooses homelessness and risk of death, because his mother had an affair and he doesn’t get on great with his dad? He’s shown to possibly be neuro-divergent, but at the end of the book he’s like ‘yeah I stopped that’, that same characters queerness got used for plot and plot alone. He’s 20 years old and still blames the guy his mom left his dad for which is ridiculous considering even he thought his dad was dull, and there is no evidence that his parents ever did.... anything? Like we get a glimpse at his parents making a missing poster, and then his mom comes through in the very very end? I had some issues with the other characters too, but nothing that impacted my enjoyment like this character did. I did enjoy reading it and I kinda put all those issues with the arc of the story and brushed it off... but idk, I’d give this like a 2.5 but rounded up as I didn’t dislike reading it.
I enjoyed the reading experience but had a few issues- first of all, one of the main characters literally chooses homelessness and risk of death, because his mother had an affair and he doesn’t get on great with his dad? He’s shown to possibly be neuro-divergent, but at the end of the book he’s like ‘yeah I stopped that’, that same characters queerness got used for plot and plot alone. He’s 20 years old and still blames the guy his mom left his dad for which is ridiculous considering even he thought his dad was dull, and there is no evidence that his parents ever did.... anything? Like we get a glimpse at his parents making a missing poster, and then his mom comes through in the very very end? I had some issues with the other characters too, but nothing that impacted my enjoyment like this character did. I did enjoy reading it and I kinda put all those issues with the arc of the story and brushed it off... but idk, I’d give this like a 2.5 but rounded up as I didn’t dislike reading it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 7, 2022
an absolutely devastating, gripping, and yet seemingly wistful tale of three teenagers trying to make hopes out of nothing. there are few books that have touched my heart quite as deeply as this one, and few books that have been so engaging. each page provided not only artful and magnificent writing, but a story in and of itself. detailing the truth of not just north korea, but the many worlds beyond it, i found myself hanging on to every word. stories like this have a way of making you step back and acknowledge your privilege, finding gratitude in what you have- or what you don’t have to endure.
the only thing i would have wished for with this novel was a bit more detail about their lives upon the trio’s departure from china. i wanted to know what happened between their escape and their futures, and I felt the following epilogue seemed a bit rushed.
regardless, this story earned four stars with ease: a momentous tale, built on the pain of those who will never get to share their stories. though it was fiction, this book was incredibly impactful- it gave light, and with that, hope, to the unspoken stories of north korea.
the stories we need to hear.
incredible.
the only thing i would have wished for with this novel was a bit more detail about their lives upon the trio’s departure from china. i wanted to know what happened between their escape and their futures, and I felt the following epilogue seemed a bit rushed.
regardless, this story earned four stars with ease: a momentous tale, built on the pain of those who will never get to share their stories. though it was fiction, this book was incredibly impactful- it gave light, and with that, hope, to the unspoken stories of north korea.
the stories we need to hear.
incredible.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
December 1, 20253.5 ⭐️
December 22, 2017
I loved this, a lot. It's a fantastic short book and I ripped through it in about a day.
I was aprehensive before starting it, because of some of the reviews I read here - so let me address some of the issues brought up in those first!
1) The title - it IS relevant. Each of the characters considered themselves a 'Korean' whilst living in North Korea or otherwise. They were simply a person belonging to their country and they didn't consider themselves specifically a 'North Korean' - it wasn't the main part of their self or their identity. However, after leaving (or arriving, in Daehan's case), that became the first and most important thing that ANYONE noticed about them - therefore, they all became 'North Korean'.
2) The pacing. A couple people said that the pace flagged, and this didn't match up to survivor stories from NK. I think that is seems VERY realistic, and it's unfair I think so say that it doesn't seem real when the situations encountered by each of the characters is what those escaping from NK face. If you only want the "exciting" parts - the departure from North Korea, and the arrival wherever, then I have nothing to say to you other than that's a real shame, because you're missing out on some of the most interesting parts of the book!
Yes it is sad, yes most of it is disheartening but what were you expecting really? If you wanted sparkles and a very obvious happily-ever-after, you shouldn't have picked up a book with North Korea in the title. This is very realistic, harrowing, but very gripping and interesting if you go into it expecting that.
- OK!
Now onto what I thought.
1. Great storytelling! Krys Lee really gets how the characters must be feeling and expresses it really well. Yes, it does mean that sometimes you don't like the characters very much but they are fighting every step of their journey for their lives and they've all gone through many horrible experiences - that would leave anyone with a tough exterior.
2. I was stunned by how realistic it felt - I honestly felt like I was reading a memoir and I think Krys Lee has done an amazing job to make it feel so real!
3. I could NOT put it down - I picked this up one night, read until I couldn't stay awake anymore, went to Starbucks in the morning, and finished it in one go.
4. I think this is so important! It brings the plight of North Korean escapees, and their trials AFTER leaving their country to light to a range of people who might not pick the book up if it were 'non-fiction'. It shows how they are told to move forward with their lives after leaving but are constantly prompted to only look back.
It's great, basically. Have an interest in NK? Pick this up. It's short, quick, gripping and thought-provoking.
I was aprehensive before starting it, because of some of the reviews I read here - so let me address some of the issues brought up in those first!
1) The title - it IS relevant. Each of the characters considered themselves a 'Korean' whilst living in North Korea or otherwise. They were simply a person belonging to their country and they didn't consider themselves specifically a 'North Korean' - it wasn't the main part of their self or their identity. However, after leaving (or arriving, in Daehan's case), that became the first and most important thing that ANYONE noticed about them - therefore, they all became 'North Korean'.
2) The pacing. A couple people said that the pace flagged, and this didn't match up to survivor stories from NK. I think that is seems VERY realistic, and it's unfair I think so say that it doesn't seem real when the situations encountered by each of the characters is what those escaping from NK face. If you only want the "exciting" parts - the departure from North Korea, and the arrival wherever, then I have nothing to say to you other than that's a real shame, because you're missing out on some of the most interesting parts of the book!
Yes it is sad, yes most of it is disheartening but what were you expecting really? If you wanted sparkles and a very obvious happily-ever-after, you shouldn't have picked up a book with North Korea in the title. This is very realistic, harrowing, but very gripping and interesting if you go into it expecting that.
- OK!
Now onto what I thought.
1. Great storytelling! Krys Lee really gets how the characters must be feeling and expresses it really well. Yes, it does mean that sometimes you don't like the characters very much but they are fighting every step of their journey for their lives and they've all gone through many horrible experiences - that would leave anyone with a tough exterior.
2. I was stunned by how realistic it felt - I honestly felt like I was reading a memoir and I think Krys Lee has done an amazing job to make it feel so real!
3. I could NOT put it down - I picked this up one night, read until I couldn't stay awake anymore, went to Starbucks in the morning, and finished it in one go.
4. I think this is so important! It brings the plight of North Korean escapees, and their trials AFTER leaving their country to light to a range of people who might not pick the book up if it were 'non-fiction'. It shows how they are told to move forward with their lives after leaving but are constantly prompted to only look back.
It's great, basically. Have an interest in NK? Pick this up. It's short, quick, gripping and thought-provoking.
December 13, 2016
When I initially read the synopsis for this book, I thought 'that seems like a lot of stuff going on for a 250 page book'. Unfortunately I was exactly right on this thought. This follows three different young adults on their 'journeys' to the same small city in China that borders North Korea. One escape from persecution after his highly powerful father is executed. One escapes as a pregnant women trying to make better for her baby. One escapes American bullying. We see the three individual stories, then about halfway through the stories merge together and the characters meet.
We see the harrowing and horrible experiences that a North Korean has to go through to escape the country. I've read a lot about NK and have read memoirs of refugees. It's clearly based off of similar research. However you can tell it's researched and therefore not everything is thought out. The author realizes the 'newness' that a new city and life must be, but doesn't always put that in her characters. She recognizes that someone won't recognize what a red cross means- but then the character somehow knows about the background of something, and can speculate on meanings behind things. A real NK refugee wouldn't even have that mindset, let alone have any frame of reference.
The book wasn't only a little graphic despite the nature of the subject. We see the female go through horrors through and through. I think that it's important to tell this side-ugly as it is to see the realities of North Korea, and the dangers of escaping. She had the most interesting parts for me. Although she never really developed as a character. The kid from America definitely had the weakest sections- I think the author was trying to make someone more relatable to the reader- but there's no way a kid would leave California to go through this stuff.
Altogether, a good look into the terrible and horrifying events that are true to this day, but not executed as well as it could have been. I enjoyed the Korean words interspersed in the text, and special shout out to the author who works at Yonsei- only a short subway ride away from where I lived in Korea. I love any nostalgia that a book about Korea will give me. The book takes a depressing subject and puts it in a palatable way- easier to think of these things as fiction rather than fact.
We see the harrowing and horrible experiences that a North Korean has to go through to escape the country. I've read a lot about NK and have read memoirs of refugees. It's clearly based off of similar research. However you can tell it's researched and therefore not everything is thought out. The author realizes the 'newness' that a new city and life must be, but doesn't always put that in her characters. She recognizes that someone won't recognize what a red cross means- but then the character somehow knows about the background of something, and can speculate on meanings behind things. A real NK refugee wouldn't even have that mindset, let alone have any frame of reference.
The book wasn't only a little graphic despite the nature of the subject. We see the female go through horrors through and through. I think that it's important to tell this side-ugly as it is to see the realities of North Korea, and the dangers of escaping. She had the most interesting parts for me. Although she never really developed as a character. The kid from America definitely had the weakest sections- I think the author was trying to make someone more relatable to the reader- but there's no way a kid would leave California to go through this stuff.
Altogether, a good look into the terrible and horrifying events that are true to this day, but not executed as well as it could have been. I enjoyed the Korean words interspersed in the text, and special shout out to the author who works at Yonsei- only a short subway ride away from where I lived in Korea. I love any nostalgia that a book about Korea will give me. The book takes a depressing subject and puts it in a palatable way- easier to think of these things as fiction rather than fact.
August 29, 2016
Three perspectives; that of Yongju, a student from a prominent North Korean family, Jangmi, a poor North Korean girl who wants a better life for her unborn baby, and Daehan (Danny), a Chinese American (but also North Korean). None of them were entirely satisfactory.
Yongju had the narrative - his father is killed by the Dear Leader in a crowded party, forcing him to flee Pyongyang with his mother and sister. He loses track of his mother and sister early on, but the story of his survival is still compelling enough. Then he meets Jangmi. And, that's about it for growth.
Jangmi has the narrative too - she's impregnated by a goon in Pyongyang, and she knows that he'll have her abort the baby if he finds out about it. So she sells herself to marry a Chinese man across the border, but he finds out that she's pregnant and kicks her out. Then she meets Yongju (and some of the other survivors). After which, she's still interesting, but also not.
Daehan never even gets started. He's the standard confused immigrant, sent back to China he's still confused, and after confronting something he doesn't want to confront, runs away and gets together with Yongju and the other North Korean survivors. He stays, days in and days out, for Yongju. The events are all interesting in their own way. But what I found irritating was that the different perspectives are not used for internal examination, but for recording impressions of other people. It moved the plot, but it didn't give me any meaningful connection with the characters. The book had potential, and of course, it had North Korea in the title. Speaking of the title, I still can't figure out who became North Korean, because all of them ran away from there and none of them thought about national identity in the period that we're concerned with.
Yongju had the narrative - his father is killed by the Dear Leader in a crowded party, forcing him to flee Pyongyang with his mother and sister. He loses track of his mother and sister early on, but the story of his survival is still compelling enough. Then he meets Jangmi. And, that's about it for growth.
Jangmi has the narrative too - she's impregnated by a goon in Pyongyang, and she knows that he'll have her abort the baby if he finds out about it. So she sells herself to marry a Chinese man across the border, but he finds out that she's pregnant and kicks her out. Then she meets Yongju (and some of the other survivors). After which, she's still interesting, but also not.
Daehan never even gets started. He's the standard confused immigrant, sent back to China he's still confused, and after confronting something he doesn't want to confront, runs away and gets together with Yongju and the other North Korean survivors. He stays, days in and days out, for Yongju. The events are all interesting in their own way. But what I found irritating was that the different perspectives are not used for internal examination, but for recording impressions of other people. It moved the plot, but it didn't give me any meaningful connection with the characters. The book had potential, and of course, it had North Korea in the title. Speaking of the title, I still can't figure out who became North Korean, because all of them ran away from there and none of them thought about national identity in the period that we're concerned with.
October 19, 2016
This debut novel by Krys Lee, who has worked with defectors from North Korea herself, follows three characters on a long and strange journey to find a reality that they can accept. Yongju is the son of privilege in North Korea, forced to flee after the Dear Leader kills his father in cold blood; while a pregnant Jangmi allows herself to be sold into marriage in China in the hopes that her new husband will believe the baby is his. The non-North Korean of the group is Danny, a Korean American teenager in search of meaning.
How I Became a North Korean is a weird fever dream of a book for a weird fever dream of a country. If some of the plot twists seem unlikely, it can’t even compare to the unlikelihood that a country like North Korea could exist, this rarefied environment in which the country’s leader acts with utter impunity against his own people, and of which so little is reliably known that we can’t even assess what needs to change.
(Except, you know, everything.)
Krys Lee is writing about something I haven’t encountered before, which is the difficulties that North Koreans face after crossing out of their own country. Though rescue organizations do exist, Lee has had some experience with predatory Christian agencies less interested in helping refugees than gaining more donation money from visitors. This experience informs the bulk of the book, as North Korean refugees find not safety but a new kind of captivity when they leave their country.
How I Became a North Korean is a weird fever dream of a book for a weird fever dream of a country. If some of the plot twists seem unlikely, it can’t even compare to the unlikelihood that a country like North Korea could exist, this rarefied environment in which the country’s leader acts with utter impunity against his own people, and of which so little is reliably known that we can’t even assess what needs to change.
(Except, you know, everything.)
Krys Lee is writing about something I haven’t encountered before, which is the difficulties that North Koreans face after crossing out of their own country. Though rescue organizations do exist, Lee has had some experience with predatory Christian agencies less interested in helping refugees than gaining more donation money from visitors. This experience informs the bulk of the book, as North Korean refugees find not safety but a new kind of captivity when they leave their country.
July 1, 2017
A few documentary films have been made about smuggling North Koreans out to China and then down into Thailand where they get deported, hopefully, to South Korea. Krys Lee takes the facts and creates a harrowing novel about three teenagers, Jangmi, Danny, and Yongju, who follow a similar path.
The two boys and one girl couldn’t be more dissimilar. Jangmi has had to fend for herself from an early age. Now she is pregnant and has sold herself into marriage with a Chinese man. He has no prior knowledge of her pregnancy. Danny is from an upper middle class family in California. He is an immigrant from China with North Korean ancestry. Danny hates everything about his life in California and is holding his breath until he can go to Harvard. Yongju is the son of a well placed North Korean who loses everything after his father’s unlawful deeds are punished by the great leader.
The interesting twists in the novel showing us how these three souls wind up twisting in the wind is well worth the read. They cross paths and then wind up together in a safe house run by a missionary. The description of life for the poor people who live on the Chinese-North Korean border is appalling and the life of the children who are homeless is one of despair and tragedy. Krys Lee presents strong views on culture, religion and politics in her first novel. This novel is a must read for those who are not aware of the real plight of North Koreans today.
ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Viking.
The two boys and one girl couldn’t be more dissimilar. Jangmi has had to fend for herself from an early age. Now she is pregnant and has sold herself into marriage with a Chinese man. He has no prior knowledge of her pregnancy. Danny is from an upper middle class family in California. He is an immigrant from China with North Korean ancestry. Danny hates everything about his life in California and is holding his breath until he can go to Harvard. Yongju is the son of a well placed North Korean who loses everything after his father’s unlawful deeds are punished by the great leader.
The interesting twists in the novel showing us how these three souls wind up twisting in the wind is well worth the read. They cross paths and then wind up together in a safe house run by a missionary. The description of life for the poor people who live on the Chinese-North Korean border is appalling and the life of the children who are homeless is one of despair and tragedy. Krys Lee presents strong views on culture, religion and politics in her first novel. This novel is a must read for those who are not aware of the real plight of North Koreans today.
ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Viking.
November 11, 2016
A vey touching story of three very different people who meet on the border of China and North Korea. Two are North Korean defectors, and the other is a young man of Korean descent who is visiting his mother in China.
Danny has his passport stolen in China, and throws in his lot with the defectors, who hide in a cave to escape discovery and being sent back across the border.
They are found by Christian missionaries who promise protection and movement to South Korea, but in reality they move from one terrible situation to another, as they are imprisoned by the missionaries until they convert.
It's a sobering novel, apparently the author is writing from her own experience in helping North Korean refugees, so if this subject interests you, it's a great read.
Danny has his passport stolen in China, and throws in his lot with the defectors, who hide in a cave to escape discovery and being sent back across the border.
They are found by Christian missionaries who promise protection and movement to South Korea, but in reality they move from one terrible situation to another, as they are imprisoned by the missionaries until they convert.
It's a sobering novel, apparently the author is writing from her own experience in helping North Korean refugees, so if this subject interests you, it's a great read.
October 27, 2016
A gripping story, told in a very well written book. This is truly a unique story and beautifully written. That it was inspired by real lives and situations accentuates the value of art and how fiction and life reflect one another. I'll give this author my ultimate compliment: I'd readily read her future writing.
A couple of favorite quotes:
"I shrank from their stares, their canvas coats and coarse scarves and, especially from my growing fear that the difference between us were becoming less important."
"But he pulled me into his musk and amber, drew me into the secret fraternity of men, until I was drowning in the oceanic span of his long arms, finally lost."
A couple of favorite quotes:
"I shrank from their stares, their canvas coats and coarse scarves and, especially from my growing fear that the difference between us were becoming less important."
"But he pulled me into his musk and amber, drew me into the secret fraternity of men, until I was drowning in the oceanic span of his long arms, finally lost."
February 6, 2022
This book tells the stories of three different individuals and their relationship with North Korea. Their experiences are well written and interesting but we get limited information about what life was like before the story was set.
My problem with this book was a lack of character building which unfortunately made me feel less than I wanted to for the characters. I also found that of the three characters, Danny's hardships felt far too self indulgent when compared to the experiences of his peers.
All in all I was disappointed, this story feels important and yet fails to pack the punch that it should.
My problem with this book was a lack of character building which unfortunately made me feel less than I wanted to for the characters. I also found that of the three characters, Danny's hardships felt far too self indulgent when compared to the experiences of his peers.
All in all I was disappointed, this story feels important and yet fails to pack the punch that it should.
March 5, 2018
4.5 stars rounded up.
A captivating and eye-opening read. Told in the perspective of three main characters, each coming from a different stand in life and brought together by loneliness, escape and necessity. I have always been sympathetic to the plight of North Koreans and defectors. I cannot even imagine the pain, frustration and hopelessness they go through. It puts into perspective our problems compared to those whose everyday choices are literally life or death. As they say, on a scale of burnt toast to death, how big a deal really is your problem?
A captivating and eye-opening read. Told in the perspective of three main characters, each coming from a different stand in life and brought together by loneliness, escape and necessity. I have always been sympathetic to the plight of North Koreans and defectors. I cannot even imagine the pain, frustration and hopelessness they go through. It puts into perspective our problems compared to those whose everyday choices are literally life or death. As they say, on a scale of burnt toast to death, how big a deal really is your problem?
April 12, 2019
Interesting novel, the author clearly took the time to get acquianted with the themes of life in North Korea, fleeing the country and hiding in China, and adjusting to life in South Korea. Recommended to people who want to read a fictional but realistic account of DPRK citizens fleeing their country.
February 5, 2017
I found this a fascinating, eye-opening read. Telling the stories of three characters all fleeing something and connected to North Korea, Lee writes with a crisp, easy-to-read tone, switching between the three perspectives. There are horrors here, but also great hope, both skillfully told.
July 3, 2021
I've read quite a lot about North Korea over the past few years, so much so, in fact, that I find myself dreaming about it quite often.
To slake my ever growing thirst for information on life inside the world's last remaining Closed frontier, I've taken to Googling "books about North Korea" and adding them to my to-read list en-masse.
That is exactly how I stumbled across Krys Lee's How I Became A North Korean. Up until now, everything id read on the Hermit Kingdom had been of an auto/biographical nature, so this was my first foray into the world of fiction set in North Korea.
How I Became A North Korean lacks the voyeuristic grizzle you would normally associate with tales from North Korea (it is nowhere near as stark and brutal as Masaji Ishikawa's A River in Darkness, for example). Similarly, it lacks the breadth of detail that you would find in something like Barbara Demick's Nothing To Envy (in which a cornucopia of Korean characters come to life before your eyes).
How I Became A North Korean is not so much about North Korea itself, as what happens to people once they have successfully escaped the country. Much of the book is set in the Chinese boarder region, amidst the community of illegal Korean escapees.
In the novel, three very different lives converge in the Korean emigrant sub culture in Yanbian. As they struggle to evade capture and repatriation to North Korea, the novel's three main characters begin an epic journey towards freedom, that pushes them to their very limits.
While not as punchy as the other two books I have mentioned, How I Became A North Korean is definitely worth a read for and prospective North Korea watchers.
A thoroughly engrossing 4/5.
To slake my ever growing thirst for information on life inside the world's last remaining Closed frontier, I've taken to Googling "books about North Korea" and adding them to my to-read list en-masse.
That is exactly how I stumbled across Krys Lee's How I Became A North Korean. Up until now, everything id read on the Hermit Kingdom had been of an auto/biographical nature, so this was my first foray into the world of fiction set in North Korea.
How I Became A North Korean lacks the voyeuristic grizzle you would normally associate with tales from North Korea (it is nowhere near as stark and brutal as Masaji Ishikawa's A River in Darkness, for example). Similarly, it lacks the breadth of detail that you would find in something like Barbara Demick's Nothing To Envy (in which a cornucopia of Korean characters come to life before your eyes).
How I Became A North Korean is not so much about North Korea itself, as what happens to people once they have successfully escaped the country. Much of the book is set in the Chinese boarder region, amidst the community of illegal Korean escapees.
In the novel, three very different lives converge in the Korean emigrant sub culture in Yanbian. As they struggle to evade capture and repatriation to North Korea, the novel's three main characters begin an epic journey towards freedom, that pushes them to their very limits.
While not as punchy as the other two books I have mentioned, How I Became A North Korean is definitely worth a read for and prospective North Korea watchers.
A thoroughly engrossing 4/5.
January 24, 2021
"At night I reread the same two books: Three Kingdoms and a book on baduk-playing strategies. I became a fountain of speech for myself, a delirium of quotations and epiphanies. I talked to God. I began to hear God everywhere: In honking cars, the beating of pigeon wings, a water fountain bubbling, the wosh! of a school swing. He was north, south and west for me. He was the boy peeing against a wall, the umbrella pines fanning mightily in a private conversation, and I was the sky and the earth and they were me, and the night wasn't so scary anymore once the roofless building filled with the Word, the Word being God. One night, in that deep peace I would never feel again, I heard foodsteps." (p.103)
I enjoyed the use of language in this book, these haunting paragraphs like the one above. However the storyline left me unsatisfied in the end. I didnt feel very emotional reading this book nor did I feel affection or hatered towards any of the characters. I would have enjoyed a longer plot and character development, because now I felt like I got to know only the surface thoughts and personality of each three main characters.
But then again, maybe this book's purpose is not to analyze individuals but to capture the various heartbreaking experiences that many North Koreans face when crossing over to China in search of freedom and peace, only to end up in another kind of prison of endless hunger, discrimination and loneliness.
I enjoyed the use of language in this book, these haunting paragraphs like the one above. However the storyline left me unsatisfied in the end. I didnt feel very emotional reading this book nor did I feel affection or hatered towards any of the characters. I would have enjoyed a longer plot and character development, because now I felt like I got to know only the surface thoughts and personality of each three main characters.
But then again, maybe this book's purpose is not to analyze individuals but to capture the various heartbreaking experiences that many North Koreans face when crossing over to China in search of freedom and peace, only to end up in another kind of prison of endless hunger, discrimination and loneliness.
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