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bookishlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
This sounds like fiction, but it's true: a Yale graduate who sets out to take down the North Korean regime. After encountering the narrative of a North Korean escapee, Adrian Hong finds a cause that will propel him from the potential promising life of a Yale student to his current status as wanted fugitive. Hong begins by setting up a campus organization dedicated to the North Korean cause. From there, his views and the organizations and connections he builds grow ever bolder and more risky. He travels campuses and conferences speaking on the North Korean cause, meets with politicians and wealthy businessmen cultivating connections, and sets up a successive series of organizations that become more radical in mission. His ambitions grow from assisting North Korean refugees to aiding defections to an eventual goal to take down the North Korean regime and help shape its future. My opinion on Hong shifted throughout the course of the book: his dedication, his naivete, his boldness, his impatience. His actions more than once end up jeopardizing his peers, the people he hopes to help and their families, other North Korean aid organizations, and even geopolitical events. Hong comes across as both fascinating and mysterious, admirable and dangerous.
rheagoveas's review against another edition
informative
tense
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide
sputnik2057's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Honestly, I found it kind of repetitive, and hard for me to focus while reading.
brittanymariereads's review against another edition
5.0
This book was so incredibly well researched and well written. I was hooked from the first page. The book tells the story of Adrian Hong Chang, a man intent on stopping the human rights atrocities that are happening in North Korea. It follows his start as a young college student and activist all the way to his current situation as an international fugitive. Throughout the book you also learn about North Korea, their history as well as their current conditions. I learned so much about what a lot of great people are doing to try to help North Korean citizens and how much more should be being done. I can't even tell you how many times I had to stop what I was doing to tell my husband or best friend about something I had just read. I feel like I learned something new on every page. I flew through it and it is one of the situations where truth is stranger than fiction. The entire thing read like a political spy thriller. Bradley Hope did such a great job telling this story and I think that it is a story that should be heard. I absolutely recommend this book!
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
lilehmoo's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
I want to write out all of my thoughts but it would be too long of an essay so I'll try to keep it short. Although I don't know much about him personally, I have a ton of respect for Adian Hong's work in helping North Korean defectors. His goal of overthrowing the NK government is extremely ambitious, but I find his passion relatable and the fact that he has been able to make an impact is impressive. I loved that this book gave me more insight into Adrian Hong, LiNK, Free Joseon, and the people surrounding the organizations. I'm especially fond of Christopher Ahn now and I'll be following his case closely.
I appreciated the political and historical overviews of NK and, of course, the details about the Madrid embassy raid that I hadn't heard anywhere else. I also learned a lot about the assassination of Kim Jong Nam that I find terrifying and fascinating. I'd honestly recommend this to anyone regardless of their level of obsession with North Korea. I find it inspirational that one man's obsession can have such an effect (whether good or bad) on politics and people's lives.
I appreciated the political and historical overviews of NK and, of course, the details about the Madrid embassy raid that I hadn't heard anywhere else. I also learned a lot about the assassination of Kim Jong Nam that I find terrifying and fascinating. I'd honestly recommend this to anyone regardless of their level of obsession with North Korea. I find it inspirational that one man's obsession can have such an effect (whether good or bad) on politics and people's lives.