Actual rating: 3.75 stars

I just... can't believe it ended like this.

Spoiler

I did not endure so many torture chapters for the best character to die in the last twenty pages. Am not okay with this. Ugh. I wanted him to survive so bad, he deserved a new and better life outside of North-Korea.

Honestly the reason why I didn't give this four stars.

Having said that, I have to admit that this was a pretty good book. You can definitely see the amount of research the author has put into his work. It pays. The storylines were very interesting and all connected in a way, but in the end it was more about Cho than it was about Jenna and Soo-min, which was a bit weird considering the fact that the summary of the novel says it's about a woman who has to infiltrate North-Korea to uncover the truth and to save her sister.

Jenna doesn't really infiltrate North-Korea. She meets Colonel Cho Sang-ho in New York and tells him about her sister who's been abducted by North-Koreans over 12 years ago. When he returns to his country, he finds out that he and his brother have been marked as traitors because of something his grandfather did. A grandfather he's never even known, due to the fact that he and his brother were adopted when they were toddlers. Knowing his days are over, he decides to investigate the intel Jenna has given him and he discovers a shocking truth. One that will turn his world upside down. When Jenna does visit North-Korea on a CIA-op slash diplomatic mission, he decides to help her. That's when it all goes sideways.

The first half of the book throws a lot of information at you. About Jenna and her work, her training with the CIA and the bond with her sister, Soo-min aka Susie. But the author also has us meet Mrs. Moon, an elderly lady who's found a spot on a trading market to sell her food and make some money. At first, the three stories don't seem to have anything in common. An American woman in search of her long lost sister, a North-Korean diplomat and a poor, elderly North-Korean lady. But the author has managed to create three seperate stories that turn into one during the second half.

I've always been intrigued by the way one man can control an entire country by nothing more than sheer fear. Living in a democratic society, we can't even begin to understand what it's like to grow up in a dictatorship like that. It broke my heart to read about the fact that people are punished for something their ancestors did - ancestors they didn't even know. All that talk about 'keeping the body healthy and cutting out the cancer' was horrific, just like the seed-bearing program and the atrocities at Camp 22.

I so badly wanted to love this one! It was a really promising start, and I was genuinely hooked, but then I got to just over halfway and completely disengaged from the whole thing! Which is really annoying, because it was an intriguing premise. But it lost me somewhere around the middle, and I was done for by then! Still though, great plot and really topical, just lost my way with it!

“You only have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power—he's free again.”
Alexander Solzhenitsyn

This is the story of journeys; a woman’s to find her sister and a man’s to find himself.
This is a story of endurance, heroism and love; of adversities and survivals; of forgiveness and compassion; of pure evil and darkness; of hope and slivers of light shining through, illuminating a harsh reality, but also revealing that humanity is still alive; that God is not dead after all.

Recommended for those who have everything but still whine and complain and want some more.

Penguin Random House was kind enough to send out a proof copy of Star of the North to me, and asked me to provide an honest review. The cover shown in the image above is a proof copy only.

Star of the North is a page-turning, fast paced novel unlike anything I’ve read before. This timely thriller delves into the alarming reality of life in one of the world’s most feared states, and the truth is terrifying. What is perhaps most alarming is that much of what takes place in the story is based on fact. It seems that so much about North Korea is actually stranger than fiction.

The book provides insight into the daily lives of people living in North Korea; a hereditary Marxist monarchy whose people are basically trapped away and hidden from the outside world. D.B. John’s writing explores how, from a young age, these people are brainwashed and controlled, often through starvation, in order to make them believe that they live in freedom.

The novel begins in 1998, with the kidnapping of a Korean American teenager who is taken from a beach in South Korea by North Korean operatives. Her story is then woven together with several other narrative threads.

In one, we meet a North Korean peasant woman who does what she can to survive life within the world’s most deadly state. Mrs Moon lives and works on a penal farm high up in the mountains of North Korea, and is a really interesting character that I immediately liked. She is a strong female who fights for what is right and provides for others in need as much as she can, even despite her own old age and difficult circumstances.

Twelve years after the incident on a beach in South Korea, we are transported to Washington DC, where we are introduced to the kidnapped teen’s twin, Jenna Williams. She is still searching for her sister. Eventually, Jenna ends up on the radar of the CIA and is approached to collaborate with them. She is instantly drawn to the possibilities that her sister may still be alive in North Korea, and decides she will do absolutely anything to rescue her and bring her sister, Soo-min, home alive. However, doing so will not be easy, and soon Jenna finds herself undertaking a high-risk mission into the heart of the regime.

The third character explored is the high-ranking North Korean official Cho, who compared to the peasants barely surviving in the State, appears to lead a charmed and very comfortable life within the inner-circle of the North Korean operatives. In time, however, it becomes clear that things are not necessarily what they seem, and life changes greatly for Cho as the plot thickens.

As things progress, the novel moves back and forth from one character to the next, breaking each plot line into chapters which move between Jenna, based in Washington DC, and the separate stories of Cho and Mrs Moon, who both reside in North Korea.
Jenna was probably my favourite character, as she was so determined, brave, cunning and intelligent. Many times in the book she puts herself in serious danger during her lifelong search for her twin sister, who she simply will not give up on finding. She is a fantastic heroin that you can really route for in her mission to rescue Soo-min; a woman who has already been through so much and been treated so appallingly. The pacing is perfect, and there are twists around every corner to keep you enthralled and dying to read on. I loved the conclusion, but was also very sad to reach the end of this story. From the moment I started reading, I just could not put this book down and so it’s going to be tough for me to decide what to read next. Following such an enjoyable read it will not be easy.

Ultimately, at the heart of this fantastic thriller is a story about three people at different removes from the regime. All three of their lives connect in unpredictable ways, and in reaching this connection many shocking secrets are exposed about the Kim state.

The novel is revelatory, insightful and undoubtedly timely. This exciting and thought-provoking read seems incredibly relevant and up-to-date regarding what is going on in the world right now. I am giving Star of the North a thoroughly well-deserved rating of five stars, because I found it extremely compelling, entertaining and readable. D.B. John has succeeded in writing an addictive, explosive thriller that you absolutely must read.

I could not put this book down! What a unique thriller that gives us a glimpse of living in current day North Korea! The ending was a bit far fetched. I was amazed at the research the author put into this novel.

Great book, with decent plot. No massive surprises and didn't tell me anything I didn't already know about North Korea but enjoyed it

Lee Child recommended. A great book!! Builds slowly and plot twists that are unpredictable and the way it all comes together is quite magical!!