Not the type of non-fiction I usually read, but I once saw this mentioned by a BookTuber a few years ago and ever since then I've been meaning to read it. I only found out a few weeks ago that my library actually owns a copy of the Dutch translation, so obviously I borrowed it.
Hyeonseo Lee, born under a different name and going by many others throughout the book, is a girl who grows up in North Korea. Shortly before she turns eighteen years old, she decides to take the risk to cross the icy river near her hometown to visit an aunt and uncle who live in China. Little did she know at the time that that would be the last time she would set food in the country and that she wouldn't see her mother and brother for a decade. Forced to stay in China, she first lives with her relatives before fleeing and trying to build a new life for herself in the bigger cities, which is difficult as a refugee. If she is found, the chances of her being punished severely and being deported back to North Korea are big.
Overall this was an intense and just sad read. I feel so bad for Lee, her life has clearly been very difficult. She and her family were already disobeying the strict North Korean laws here and there while in the country, but it was usually relative small stuff like bribery or having South Korean music on. Lee decides one day to just take the risk of crossing over the river into China, thinking she'll be back in a jiffy and her punishment if she were to be caught wouldn't be severe because she is underage. What ensued was instead so, so much more than she bargained for. Not being able to return home. Not seeing her mother and brother in ages. Not knowing who to trust. Being alone and illegally with only an aunt and uncle to rely on in a strange country where you do not speak the language.
Following Lee's journey throughout the book was intense and shocking, with how difficult things get for her and the difficult decisions she has to make. The author's writing voice was also pleasant to read and the book had a nice pace to it, never lingering too much in one place or time.
If I were to have a criticism for the book, it'd be the huge amount of "cliffhanger" chapter endings, like the book really needed to build more anticipation. Lee's story in and of itself is already engaging and intense and emotional, which is more than enough to keep the reader hooked. I don't need almost every chapter to end on a cliffhanger, which would then be instantly touched on in the next chapter, anyways. It was okay at first but it got old quickly with how much of a repetitive pattern it became after a while.
I've also seen some people criticize Lee's decisions throughout the book, and while I agree with them that a lot of her decisions aren't the ones I would have made, I also feel some reviewers are judging her a bit harshly. We're saying these things from a completely different standpoint. We didn't live Lee's childhood and hard life, most of us aren't from her culture and don't have a similar background to her, especially when it's western reviewers mentioning these things.
I feel it's a little too easy to just say "oh, she makes a lot dumb decisions" when one has never been in her shoes, situation or culture. Also, please keep in mind that Lee was still very young and figuring things out throughout the story. She was a mere seventeen years old when she first left North Korea and from that point on had to largely figure things out by herself. She had her aunt's and uncle's support at first, but after she left them behind she was a young woman with no prior experience of being in a culture and country different from her own. So she had to figure out a lot of things by herself. So while yes, it can be seen as frustrating to a reader to see Lee make some decisions like this (e.g. sometimes relying on people she doesn't really trust), please also cut her some slack because it's just very easy to dismiss her decisions like this especially when coming form a privileged, culturally different background and not having been in the situations as she was.
So, yeah, overall a very intense, emotional and rather dark look into a North Korean refugee's life. I won't go too in depth in what happens later on in the book, but despite the hardships the book has a pretty positive ending, which Lee and her family absolutely deserved. I definitely recommend this book.
Rating: 4/5
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