This story was amazing and I didn't want to put it down the whole time I was reading it. The author really does convey the stress she was put through in various situations in order to survive. If you've never read up on North Korea and the strict stratification within the society, she does an amazing job of breaking it down so anyone can understand the type of atmosphere that exists there. Lee comes off as very human and really does help you put yourself in her shoes and have a cultural understanding of the corrupt bribing system that is prominent in countries like North Korea as well as Laos, which she personally experienced. Even when talking about her experiences in China and South Korea, she helps the reader understand the discrimination North Korean defectors often experience due to their lack of education and exposure to the rest of the world. Fitting into society and progressing is an arduous journey in and of itself even after surviving the trek to freedom from one of the harshest dictatorships in the world. Hyeonseo Lee also recognizes the privilege she had within North Korean society and describes her slow but eventual realization that her family was very well off in comparison to most of the country. Her family and her had access to many things others could only dream of, including illegal foreign goods like clothes, foreign music, and food when no one else had anything to spare. Despite this, she still saw many horrible things during the Great Famine and the idea that it was so normal during that to see people dying in the street in such horrific ways was astounding. The title of the book is also no exaggeration. In order to protect herself and her family when she was staying in China, she had to change her name multiple times. By the time she settled on her final name, Hyeonseo Lee, she had already had six previous names. Lee's experiences are complex, difficult, and compelling from beginning to end. I recommend this book to all as well as her TED talk about her experiences. Here is the link for those of you that are interested: https://www.ted.com/talks/hyeonseo_lee_my_escape_from_north_korea