A Goodreads user asked:

I read this book but I'm still a little confused about what's true and what's not. I understand that there was some sort of scandal because Shin was not entirely truthful about his story at first. But is everything in this book true? I'd ahte to think I read something that's not.

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9 years ago
5 answers

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Bon Tom And wouldn't you hate it even more if the book was (and it is) true? Well, if somebody told me this book is as true as Harry Potter, that would really make my day. But what I really hate to think is I have read something that's sheds painful and true light at the world we live in. So rest without worries, my friend, you've read testament of truth that might only be false in minor, unimportant details. Everything of substance is out there.

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Stella Paralia I believe what was untrue was of a more personal nature and understandingly so. It was about the fact that he was the one who ratted out his mother and brother and in that way caused their departe from life. A truth that would probably be hard to admit for anyone.
I recently read another North Korean escape story called 'In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom'.
Another good read

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Lesley I'm only half finished with the book but, because I have read 3 or 4 other books about North Korea and follow it in the news, in general, I would say everything is true. Maybe not small details, but the vast majority of how the camps and political system work. What he was not truthful about was who actually ratted on his mother and brother.

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Meg The author has written a new foreword that describes the changing story and what we can trust:

http://www.blaineharden.com/escape-fr...

The biggest outline changes may be that he escaped as a youth and was recaptured, and that some abuse happened when he was 20, not 13. Shin's still not a totally reliable narrator.

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