Very humbling, disturbing but insightful to different things. If the human rights atrocities of the North Korean government do not appeal to you, I would still recommend simply for you to find out something new about the human experience and how people live with memories and trauma, adapt to society, and how your environment in your formative years impacts your psyche, survival instincts and worldview.

It astounds me how many people are reluctant to take Shin’s story seriously, even after the author explains Shin’s reasons behind it, as well as the impact trauma and guilt can have on your narrative. Although the criticisms of the journalistic, impersonal use of language use throughout the book is justified. I can see how a reader would find it hard to connect to the story when there are statistics and citations thrown your way in-between the narrative.

Trigger warnings for graphic descriptions of torture and abuse. In the 2015 version, the author included Shin’s sketches from the camp - very disturbing so tread with caution.