Suja is a university student from a wealthy family, hoping to be a photographer when she meets Jin. Jin is a scholarship student from a poor family, made worse by the severe actions of the government. Both believed in the “Dear Leader” of North Korea until events led to them leaving Pyongyang, and realizing the lack of freedom in North Korea. It was hard not to read the book in one sitting, since I was at the edge of my seat anticipating Jin and Suja’s fate. There are few books about North Korea, and I highly recommend this title. Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. I look forward to more from this author.

Ann Shin highlights the reality of life in North Korea and the dangers of acting upon your starvation, being of lower class, and even the glimpse into being of higher class and the struggles they also face (especially if you are in disagreement with the supreme leader). My only complaint is that there wasn't much dialogue and I much prefer my book to be dialogue heavy. But other than that, this book is incredible.

As a reader who is always avid for books that tell us more about North Korea, I was happy to get an opportunity to read and review this book. The story line is pretty simple--a love story about a poor boy and a privileged young girl who need to escape North Korea both for their lives and their love. There are enough descriptive details to paint a story of what life is like in North Korea and what life is like for those who are able to escape, but it didn't really tell me anything new and the story has too many coincidences for it to seem authentic. It would be a good read for readers who know nothing about North Korea and would like to know more. That alone makes it a very worthwhile introductory read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this novel.

Shin, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker, makes her debut in fiction by giving readers a glimpse of life in North Korea. Focusing on the romance between a girl whose father works for the government newspaper and a young boy who is thrown into prison for stealing cornmeal for his starving family. Jin, the young man escapes and Suja is determined to find him. Shin, whose previous films have documented the hardships and the price North Koreans have to pay so they can escape gives credence to this bleak and fast-paced story

I received this from Netgalley.com,.

Jin and Suja meet and fall in love while studying at university in Pyongyang. Enduring very difficult and discouraging circumstances, they plan to escape and defect to America.

An interesting story, I haven't read much about North Korea in current times. This is apparently "inspired by true events".

3.75☆

Set in almost modern day North Korea, I was hoping for a book that clarified what life is like for its citizens and for a romance that inspire conversation about cultural differences. In that respect, this is exactly what this book does. Although inspired by actual events, I found much of the story a bit far-fetched. While the stories of Jin's home life, arrest and incarceraton are harrowing, his escape seems almost too easy. And the tale of Suja's search for Jin, her attempt to find someone to help her across the border, and her flight to China seemed just TOO contrived and simplified. I also found it difficult to believe that Suja would leave her life of relative comfort to follow a boy she barely knew.

I wanted more emotion in the story of their friendship/romance. Although as the story progressed and more flashbacks told more and more of their courtship, I just found it preposterous that she would leave her family for this boy, knowing that they might be punished and certainly would never see her again. She just didn't seem that invested in him to completely give up her promising future.

I did find the story of life in North Korea fascinating, especially the parts about the Kim family (leaders of NK). We know so little about this country, it was great to have a peek inside. I had no idea that escaping to China could provide a better life for North Koreans. The historical/cultural/lifestyle portions of this book are fascinating and well done. I was just disappointed in the love story.

I had such high hopes for this book, as I am interested in the stories of people living in North Korea. This story fell a little flat, however. The plausibility of the story line is what makes this unbelievable. The likelihood of two people from vastly different background getting together in the end is reminiscent of a fairytale we all know., but that is why this is labeled as fiction, it doesn't have to be believable.
I was looking for a book with a little more substance than this, so non-fiction tales of this country is what I will reach for next. The story was a good one, but not a great one. I will however, be recommending it for our book club. It is an easy read and quite interesting.

This is clearly a well-researched, thoughtfully approached novel about modern life in North Korea and those trying to escape it. It's a much-needed book in the market and I can absolutely see it appealing to both book clubs and classroom curriculums.

From a fiction standpoint, the world-building is very good, although I do think the time period could have been more clearly established sooner. While there are two main characters, occasionally the reader will jump to another narrator for a sentence or paragraph, which I found a little jarring in the storytelling. I also think the overall character development could have gone deeper, which would have allowed for more character growth over the story arc. Maybe the author's documentary background contributes to this, but I absolutely saw the bones of a movie script in this book, where so much about characters is conveyed visually.

This is great for people who are looking for something a little more fast-paced while doing some self-education.

My decision to read <b>The Last Exiles</b> by Ann Shin was in part motivated by a desire to get a futher glimpse into life in North Korea.   Having read The Girl With Seven Lives I had something of an understanding of the dismal conditions and the difficulties of trying to escape from that country.     I was drawn in by the blurb which described The Last Exiles as being inspired by true events.    Oddly though, my early impressions were that some of the events felt highly implausible.     For this reason this book and I got off to a slow start but I found the second half more compelling.

The story tells of two young North Korean university students.     Though they had vastly different home lives they both demonstrated what I consider to be the idealogical indoctrination (aka brainwashing) of the oppressive regime that ruled their nation.     They both stayed within the boundaries of what was allowed and they both spoke passionately of the <i> Dear Leader</i> believing in the righteousness of all his rules.  

Suja's family was relatively well off in North Korean terms whereas Jin was from an impoverished farming family.   When he returned during uni break to find his family starving and their last remaining food stolen he  was infuriated and reacted impulsively.    This was the catalyst for events that changed both Jin and Suja's lives and ultimately the eye opening realisation that their beloved North Korean leader was not doing right by his people.

The second half of the story was one of defection and escape to China.    It was also a story of risking everything in the name of love.   It shone a light on brokers, the lack of honesty and trust when dealing in the underground and black market. It drew attention to human trafficking and the mistreatment and dangers for all illegal immigrants to China. 

Overall, the story worked well enough.  I was able to put aside my earlier reservations about plausibility and didnt get hung up on the way the ending came together.   If you haven't been exposed to stories set in North Korea this one would surely open your eyes and make you glad not to have been born there.

My thanks to Harlequin, Park Row Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars on Goodreads.

Set in North Korea, this is the story of Suja, a newspaper photographer, and Jin Lee, her boyfriend, also known as "The Cornmeal Culprit".

Jin Lee was sent to Yodok Prison Camp for stealing cornmeal that had been confiscated from his family & other families during an official raid. While Jin Lee's family are forced to withdraw any support for him, Suja refuses to give up on him.

This was okay, but it definitely wasn't the book I thought it was going to be. I felt that it jumped quite far ahead in one particular part and it kind of lost me a bit after that. But an interesting read all the same, if only for the characters' realisation that all may not be what it seems when it comes to their leadership.

It's worrying when you compare something like this with the way the current crisis has been reported from North Korea. It's evident that things are never what they seem and it's very hard to think of the way it's affecting the people behind the walls.

This novel offers a fascinating glimpse of everyday life in North Korea, shown through the love story of Jin and Suja. Jin is from a poor family in a small village that is suffering from starvation. Suja is a young journalist from a privileged family in Pyongyang. They meet and fall in love while at university, where they are mostly sheltered from the politics of North Korea. During a school break, Jin visits his home village and takes a desperate risk in order to help his family. He is soon caught and sent to a prison labor camp.

When Suja hears of Jin's escape from the camp, she sets out for China in search of the man she loves. Not knowing where the other is or if they are even alive, both Suja and Jin find themselves in desperate situations in China. Conditions in China are harsh for refugees, with legal work and safe housing difficult to find. If caught, they will be executed upon return to North Korea. This novel gives us a based-on-real-life view of the class disparity, politics, and harsh conditions that North Koreans live with and the difficulty of escaping to a better life.

I enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. The setting gave me a rare glimpse into the lives of North Koreans. The characters were well-drawn examples of class differences, but in a way where I could believe their connection to each other. The inner strength of these characters was inspiring. This novel would make for an excellent book club discussion.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Very well written. Emotionally gripping. Frighteningly realistic. As I read, I felt oppressed and frightened. I revisited first love. And I experienced the harsh circumstances of the people and cruelty of those in power. This will be an eye-opener for youth (and possibly some adults) who are unaware of realities of life under repressive dictatorship.

The Last Exiles provides a fascinating, compelling look into the realities of life for those living in North Korea, and of North Korean defectors. Suja and Jin's love story will pull you in from the start, and keep you engrossed until the end.

Wow. This book was a page-turner from the first chapter and took me into a world that I knew little about. The author's details about life in North Korea were both terrible and fascinating, and I was immediately invested in this story about a young couple, and their harrowing escape from their homeland.

Jin and Suja are from different worlds. Suja is the only daughter of an affluent, connected family in Pyongyang, Jin is a scholarship student from a poor town in the northern region of North Korea. They meet at university, fall in love and plan to marry, and settle into careers in journalism, spreading the propaganda of their Dear Leader. On a break from school, Jin returns home to find his family starving, and steals a bag of corn meal to help them survive. He is caught, arrested and sent to prison. Suja is devastated and tries to find a way to help Jin, until she leans that he has escaped into China. Desperate to find him, Suja risks everything to do the same.

Their story, based on accounts of other North Korean defectors, is dark, violent, and frightening, especially for Suja. But the story is ultimately hopeful, and without giving away spoilers, ends the way I'd hoped it would. Trigger warnings: violence, sexual assault.

Overall I truly enjoyed reading this book. It’s a heartbreaking tale that goes between two characters: one a young man who is sent to a labor camp for stealing food, and the young woman who goes in search of him. It’s a well-researched look into the lives of North Koreans and the defectors looking for a better life. Any life.

The copy I read was probably a pretty early version - also a pdf file full of weird formatting, so it was hard to see what would be fixed in the final version and what wouldn’t. My biggest concern was a misleading scene earlier in the book when Suja’s teacher starts to talk about the flood from the year before, and then brings out an article from 1997. This tells me the book takes place in 1998 or so. But everything else in the story points to this taking place in 2010-2011. I hope that is clarified in the final version. Timing felt off in a few other places as well - relationships, speed with which some people started to pick up new languages, events running parallel to each other not being paced at the same rate, references to how many days it should take for things to have happened, but not seeing those events play out that way on our end...

Without knowing for sure how this will play out in the final, corrected version, I don’t feel comfortable giving the book more than four stars. I’ll try to keep an eye out for the book when it’s published in April.

This novel is not only a story of life in North Korea, but also of the treatment defectors receive in China. It is a story of love, resilience, and survival.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opporunity to read and review this book!
Two young students in North Korea, from different backgrounds and situations, become friends at the government university. One is incarcertated for a petty crime and escapes a brutal regime. The other, hearing of his escape, dares to try to find him. Will they survive one brtual dictatorship as exciles ina country known for human traffiking and their own brutal human conditions?
North Korea is not a topic normally seen in stories. Either conditions arent much known or escapees arent readily telling their stories in this format. BUT THIS IS WHY I READ HISTORICAL FICTION. This sotry is based on a compliation of true stories and kept me on edge. I always put myself in the characters shoes and wonder what I would do. This is why we must be careful how we take care of our democracy as well. I could go into the political ramifications, but instead I will say, this is a short and impactful read. Very worthy or your time. 4+

The Last Exile by Ann Shin is a fact-based tale of bravery, love and sacrifice by those seeking  freedom from one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. The story gives a rare look inside the day to day lives of the people of North Korea. Jin and Suja's harrowing experiences are at times difficult to comprehend. The story is fast paced and the author has an well defined writing style. An unforgettable story of love, hope, bravery and the resilience of the human spirit.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.