Review of Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden

What a difficult story to read, but an important one to be shared with all. Harden provided us with facts about North Korea while also telling Shin’s story. The majority of us enjoyed the book even though the content could be a little too graphic.

What we liked:

-        We learned more about North Korea and the prison camps

-        The insight was gruesome but eye opening

-        The book was balanced between telling a story and sharing facts

What we didn’t like:

-        Some of the details were intense, very intense

-        The ending was odd, it didn’t explain much and just stopped

-        The story was difficult to believe at times, and it didn’t help that the defector admitted to lying about one portion of his story