Yeonmi Park

AUTOBIOGRAPHY: GENERAL. 'I am most grateful for two things: that I was born in North Korea, and that I escaped from North Korea.' Yeonmi Park was not dreaming of freedom when she escaped from North Korea. She didn't even know what it meant to be free. All she knew was that she was running for her life, that if she and her family stayed behind they would die - from starvation, or disease, or even execution. This book is the story of Park's struggle to survive in the darkest, most repressive country on earth; her harrowing escape through China's underworld of smugglers and human traffickers; and then her escape from China across the Gobi desert to Mongolia, with only the stars to guide her way, and from there to South Korea and at last to freedom; and finally her emergence as a leading human rights activist - all before her 21st birthday.

A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom

In Order to Live

Maryanne Vollers

"Park has told the harrowing story of her escape from North Korea as a child many times, but never before [now] has she revealed the most intimate and devastating details of the repressive society she was raised in and the enormous price she paid to escape"--Amazon.com.

Isabell McMann

sani

edit : supports israel

horrifying. brutal. i couldn't shut the book down as yeonmi proceeded to describe the horrors she had undergone not only in north korea but living as a defector in china. the happiness that she later found in south korea almost feels victorious. teared up reading it.

Heartbreaking and eye-opening. Yeonmi's story sheds light on unseen realities in North Korea, especially for women. Powerful narrative sparked me to raise awareness - everyone deserves their voice heard. While criticism feels inadequate, this book demands action, not silence. Stand against disinformation and amplify marginalized voices.

Liana

An unbelievable and harrowing memoir about growing up & escaping the Hermit Kingdom, North Korea. Truly heartbreaking and at times unbelievable. I will always be mesmerized by the resiliency, strength, and fight those take to obtain basic human rights and freedom. She describes such traumatic and emotional events with such candor. 

Rin Dav

A dark but inspiring story that is written beautifully 

Chloë Wallet

Beatrix Haase

Went back to this book for a second and it made me realize just how much I truly loved this book. I am South Korean, I was born in South Korea and then was adopted by a family and brought to the United States. Any book that deals with Korea is something I find truly fascinating. You hear all about how South Korea and Asia in general is so advanced in technology you forget that just on the other side of South Korea, North Korea is filled with oppression. North Korea is ruled by someone who does incredibly horrible things and in turn no one can leave North Korea and it is very hard to go to North Korea. 

I was truly baffled by this story because having to travel out of North Korea is one of the hardest things to do. This book was filled with raw emotion, and I'm really happy that she told her story, it made me realize just how bad some economy's are. 

xoxo,
Bebe

Charlotte Dann

alex

Human rights activist Park, who fled North Korea with her mother in 2007 at age 13 and eventually made it to South Korea two years later after a harrowing ordeal, recognized that in order to be "completely free," she had to confront the truth of her past. It is an ugly, shameful story of being sold with her mother into slave marriages by Chinese brokers, and although she at first tried to hide the painful details when blending into South Korean society, she realized how her survival story could inspire others. Moreover, her sister had also escaped earlier and had vanished into China for years, prompting the author to go public with her story in the hope of finding her sister.

Norma gruden

“We all have our own deserts. They may not be the same as my desert, but we all have to cross them to find a purpose in life and be free.”

Emelie

4,5!

The first half of the book was pretty slow paced for me.. I wasnt really impressed with her story since i felt her parents and a lot of other north koreans had it much worse! And she also mentions it herself in the book.

But then... Oh My! So good! The story really touched me and it was really emotional from time to time! It showed that some people are willing to do everything to be free!

She is truly an inspirational woman with dedication and a fighting spirit beyond words! 

The book also gives you a very good vision of how corrupted north Korea is. Which is awful, i dont which anyone to live like that!

'I am most grateful for two things: that I was born in North Korea, and that I escaped from North Korea.' Yeonmi Park was not dreaming of freedom when she escaped from North Korea. She didn't even know what it meant to be free. All she knew was that she was running for her life, that if she and her family stayed behind they would die - from starvation, or disease, or even execution. This book is the story of Park's struggle to survive in the darkest, most repressive country on earth; her harrowing escape through China's underworld of smugglers and human traffickers; and then her escape from China across the Gobi desert to Mongolia, with only the stars to guide her way, and from there to South Korea and at last to freedom; and finally her emergence as a leading human rights activist - all before her 21st birthday. 'Clear-eyed and devastating' Observer

In Order To Live

Flavia Louise

Andrea Stothard 

After watching multiple podcasts featuring Yeonmi on Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan, and Lex Fridman, I had to hear the story for myself. The atrocities in North Korea are as prevalent today as ever, and this book was a huge eye-opener for me. It's been a few months since I finished this book, however, I constantly am reminded of it and reflect on how grateful I was to be born in a free country. To not understand the meaning of words such as "love" seem unfathomable to me. How this exists in today's society with no trajectory of end in sight is dystopian. Yeonmi is an inspiration to young women and I am thankful for her expressing her story through the vulnerable, tragic parts that were obviously difficult to write.

Caroline Lewicki

An incredibly moving and heart wrenching story about Yeonmi Park, now an activist for human rights, and her family's escape from North Korea. She encounters a great deal of hardship and describes it very honestly in her autobiography. It's too good to put down and you'll be just as desperate as she was to see if she escapes North Korea.

Euodias

This book was incredible. Such an inspiring read. 5/5 stars 🌟

Olivera Mitić

I don't think that I have the proper vocabulary to express how In Order To Live made me feel. Whatever I say won't do Yeonmi justice. 

Just read it yourself. It's a horrific story, but it's also extremely important and it gives you so much...hope towards the end.

 I'm counting this for the Around the World in 80 Books challenge as a book set in North Korea.

Jade Flynn

I first discovered Yeonmi Park's story in a university human rights class many years ago, before her memoir was published. As I know probably more than the average person (that doesn't live or come from North Korea), about North Korea through studying, pure interest and research over a decade, not a lot of the events in this book surprised me but by no means does that make them any less monstrous. Such a brave family and such a brave young woman. An indispensable, thought provoking memoir that should be read by everyone.

Анастасия Розова

4.5/5
*Lots of trigger warnings!

**Also, please note, I am NOT rating Yeonmi's experience or her sufferings! Only the book itself and the emotional impact it had on me. I just want to show how good it is, but minus 0.5 just means that it is not my favourite book of the year. That's it. This precise rating is just for me.

I've inhaled this book in just a few days. It was horrible but also inspiring in its own way. Yeonmi and her family had suffered so much, I can't even imagine how people can treat other people like this. I knew North Korea was a bad place to live in, but I guess I've never imagined how bad.

And Yeonmi is only two years older than I am. It was very hard to picture myself in her place, I almost cried in the bus when she was talking about rape and human trafficking. 

I know she leads a normal life now, but she had to go through so much... I am personally grateful that she had the courage to share her story. 

I think everyone should read this book, grow and learn something.

Lonneke

I find this book very hard to rate. Having seen quite some interviews and having read some articles I really don't know what to believe anymore. There are a lot of dicrepansies between her stories and also between her and her mom's story, but who am I to decide how factual this is? Even if this story isn't completely true, I think Yeonmi her life wasn't easy in North Korea and the book still gives a lot of insight on the life of the North Korean refugees.

Brajendra V Singh

Damn! I don’t have words. Reading this book had me in tears.
This book is sending such strong messages, I can’t even begin. Highly recommended. 
The sacrifices your parents made, huge respect 🙌🏼

Kelly Kim

Unbelievably poignant. I read this book so as to learn more about the ‘other half’ of my own country. The lessons you can take away from Yeonmi’s painful journey will shift your perspective on everything. You can vividly see the reel of the landscapes, personas and the temporal conditions of her trek as you read this memoir, without losing track of her inner monologue. Extremely raw, and a superb insight into the dystopian reality of N Korea.

Kathryn

This book. How do I even begin to describe this book? It is so hard hitting but such a inspirational story. I would recommend this book to anyone whether you have an interest in North Korea or not. Yeonmi gives a raw and truthful perspective on a place that truthfully people in the outside world really know nothing about. It is well worth a read, even just to read about the bravery of ordinary people and what they are willing to do in order to be free and help others to have the same.

In Order to Live A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom

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