Helpful Score: 4
Wonderful book! I stayed up half the night reading it and didn't want it to end. I was very interested in Loung's story, but wondered with all the foreign names (large family) and places, would I get them all confused, but I didn't. It was very well-written with a satisfying ending. By the end, I felt the story was "complete."
Sharon D. (booklit) reviewed First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.) on + 473 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
I could not put this book down. Break out the tissues. I do not know how people have the resolve to survive such horrible conditions. Loung is amazing .Do not miss this book.
Sherry G. (Shervivor) -
Helpful Score: 2
This book is heart wrenching. It was an extremely depressing book to read. This is the true story of a child that survived the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot. I am amazed at how resilient the people of Cambodia are, especially after reading Luong's story. It seems that many survivors never even mention those four years in the late 70's when the world went crazy allowing a psychotic man to kill millions of people. I am just a couple of years older than Luong and during the time she was struggling for her life I was here safe in the US, a child with everything I could possibly want. The children of Cambodia were watching their families be murdered, were starving, were being trained as soldiers. I recommend this book because the more aware we are of genocide the more likely we are to step in when the next Pol Pot tries to create an "ideal" society.
Angela M. (urowndisaster467) reviewed First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.) on + 11 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
If you love reading memoirs you should definately read this one. This was a very sad, but touching story. I couldn't put it down.
Sarah W. (SwSe86) -
Helpful Score: 1
This book touched my heart! I cried many times hearing the terrible things that happened during the Khmer Rouge regime. My heart goes out to all those whose lives have been touched by it.
Warning though this book can be graphic and is very sad!!
Warning though this book can be graphic and is very sad!!
Ashley J. (trinity) reviewed First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.) on + 6 more book reviews
Could not put this book down, DIDN'T want to put it down! I have a strange fascination with memoirs and stories of tragedy, which is why this interested me in the first place. It made me wonder afterwards if I could actually survive on a ball of rice every couple days, and how grateful I am to be able to have the freedom to eat whatever and whenever I want, and to have FREEDOM, period!
A heart wrenching tale of life in Cambodia under Pol Pot. I was 17 when this book begins, and while I listened to the news, I had no idea what was really happening there. It makes me wonder what we really know about what is happening in Sudan, Darfur and other places.
Well written. Highly recommended.
Well written. Highly recommended.
Sandra L. (GrannyBookworm) reviewed First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.) on + 125 more book reviews
Absolutely searing. I couldn't put the book down until I finished. Have already read the second book and ordered the third in the trilogy. Exceedingly well written.
Cheryl C. (chergold) reviewed First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.) on + 4 more book reviews
Fabulous book! A must-read.
Sharon T. (r801) reviewed First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.) on + 122 more book reviews
While difficult to read, this story, told from a young child's point of view, takes you back with someone who survived the horror of Cambodia during Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge decimation of Cambodia. While other stories have been told from an adult's point of view, Loung Ung reminds us that while children grow up, they do not forget. An amazing story of the human spirit and determination intertwined with the evil of human against human that we all want to forget.
