Review by Abisolalawal -- Fighting To Breathe by Jong Yi
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Review by Abisolalawal -- Fighting To Breathe by Jong Yi
Fighting to breath by Jong Yi is a realistic and enlightening fictional piece. The book starts with Ginger Kim's last conscious state when she was rushed into the hospital by the paramedics she had called when she could not breathe, just before she had collapsed. A young and vibrant nurse trying to live her American dream.
Ginger, though lucky to be alive with her family during the era of the national tragedy in Gwangju, South Korea while some of their friends and even neighbors could not make it, felt that responsibility settled on her shoulders. She wanted to do something for her country as far back as 1979. She wanted to bring a change.
Trying to bring about change, no matter what route you take is not easy. Ginger and her fellow non-white nurses went through discrimination, xenophobia, exclusion, and disrespect. The last straw for her was when she got the COVID-19 virus with severe symptoms. Knowing that she is not alone in her experiences, she finally decided to do what she could not do for years- stand up!
I liked so many aspect of this book. The fact that the author went back and forth with dating the chapters, and in order of past and present events which were eventually merged in the last chapters made the book less of suspense to the readers, and that appeals to me as well. There was no point where I was lost in the reading but rather, the book was active from the very start and projected a mix of emotions that made me glued to its pages not wanting to drop it.
The author was so horrified by everything she witnessed in reality and felt compelled to shine a light on it in this fictional form to raise awareness about the direness of the situation. The author's description of the pains and complications of patients who went through the COVID-19 virus was too real and could bring about a spike of emotions for someone who was a fighter or families of those who could not make it.
The book was professionally edited, and I found no errors. In my opinion, this book deserved the perfect rating, and I would give the book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.
The book has a great mix of fiction and reality and as such, I would recommend the book to everyone who likes to interact with reality while reading and to everyone who does not mind knowing a little more about what the health workers went through in ensuring the safety of their patients especially when the COVID-19 virus broke out. Although Jong Yi's use of profanity was huge in a particular chapter but quite understandable as it fully describes the reality of someone under the influence of alcohol, but this means reading with the supervision of parents for children under the age of 13. I would also recommend it to everyone who likes to think outside the box and dare it all.
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Fighting To Breathe
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