Ekin H.

The beginning of the book was a bit slow for me, as I didn't really know who she was and didn’t care much about her childhood accident. But once I got past that, the book really took off. It definitely changed the way I view Facebook. While I’ve always suspected that Facebook was doing shady things with the data it collects, suspecting it and actually reading about the specifics are two very different experiences.

A common criticism of the author is that she portrays herself as a good person who didn’t do anything wrong. But since this is her memoir, that seems understandable. If I were writing my own memoir, I wouldn’t cast myself in a negative light either, nor would I view myself as a villain.

Overall, it’s a great read and an eye-opener about one of the largest tech companies in the world.

I really enjoyed this book. Yeonmi gives an interesting viewpoint through her past experiences. While some areas I felt she was contradicting herself, like when she was talking about how capitalism is what makes this country so great and what keeps it going. However, when she laments about how the elite won't go against China due to their investments... I couldn't help but think, “Well, that's due to capitalism.” Overall, it was a good weekend read.

I really enjoyed this book a lot because it presented current times in mainland China through the eyes of a regular journalist. Smith doesn't seek to villainize China nor does he want to take anyone's side. He just talks about what he observes in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. I enjoyed this read, especially parts where he shared his own coming-out story in Asia, which gives the book a more human touch rather than just a retelling of history.

I wanted to like this book so badly because I think the premise was very interesting. Unfortunately, the execution was so-so for me and I found myself bored the majority of the time. Despite my boredom, I still pushed forward to finish the book. Toward the end, I got a bit confused and was thinking maybe Shibata really was going to have a baby. Overall, this had potential to be much better.

I really enjoyed the beginning and middle of the book. I learned a lot about the history of Koreans in Japan and all of the discrimination that they had faced. However, once the book reached the Etsuko, Solomon, and Hana arc, it became a chore to read. I couldn't relate to any of the more “modern” characters and wished that Mozasu's friend Haruki had more of a story of his unique struggle.