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anae2le's review against another edition
5.0
powerful stories to make you think about your rights and others in the world and not to take it for granted
emilyjmead's review against another edition
3.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand I think it's great that Amnesty International has commissioned (not sure if it's the right word, but we'll go with it) this book, because there are some really important issues here - death penalty, female genital mutilation, slavery etc. (TW for a whole bunch of things btw).
But at the same time I'm really uncomfortable with the fact that the GREAT majority of the authors are white, and often writing stories that really don't belong to them. Which I think is a problem.
But at the same time I'm really uncomfortable with the fact that the GREAT majority of the authors are white, and often writing stories that really don't belong to them. Which I think is a problem.
bookish_4life's review
4.0
I liked some stories more than others but overall it was a beautiful collection of short stories about freedom and human rights. Very important read if you want to gain some perspective on some issues that happen around the world. Highly recommend.
ellas_escapism's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
4.5
whatjoread's review against another edition
5.0
A collection of incredible short stories! Will definitely be using this as a resource for teaching!
zorhose's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
2.0
Honestly disappointing. I don't usually know how to rate shortstory collections as the quality often differs and while that can also be said here, the better stories/poems seemed to be the exception, not a rule.
With a cover and title like this, I was hoping for stories that would feel me empowered and hopeful that we can create change. The stories inside did not match up. Most of them were incredibly dark and depressing and while I don't mind a few of those, certainly pointing out the freedoms that still don't exist is vital, it did seem to be the majority.
Furthermore, most of the stories seemed uninspired. They depended solely on the shock factor and awfulness of their material and neither the writing nor the story itself were creative. A great counter example from this collection is "The Invention of Peanut Butter"; I loved the folktale feeling and the visualization of capitalism which it provided, but sadly it was of the few stand outs.
Considering how many stories in this dealt with racism and the fact that this is made in support of Amnesty International, I was shocked at how few PoC writers were a part of this (unless I missed someone, there are four). The stories from white people about racism or islamophobia often seemed like they just learned about the issue or that now that they were invited to write about freedom they could bring out some real bummers to show how socially aware they are. I didn't like it.
I also would've appreciated trigger warnings for each story. Some tw just within the first few stories would've been: pedophilia, suicide, rape, homophobia, etc. (during the first few stories I tried to rate them individually and I also noted down trigger warnings for myself but I got lazy). Going into these stories without knowing any of what was gonna happen made me feel physical ill at times, and again I don't think that's due to author's writing talent in many cases.
Last, but not least. I don't want to leave you guys feeling depressed, so here's the list of stories I actually liked:
Dulce et Decorum Est, Chibundu Onuzo
The Invention of Peanut Butter, Matt Haig
Black/White-Amy Leon
Darling, Amy Leon
Robot Killers, Tim Wynne-Jones
Harmless Joe, Tony Birch
The Importance of Screams, Chrisitie Watson
Push the Week, Jackie Kay
With a cover and title like this, I was hoping for stories that would feel me empowered and hopeful that we can create change. The stories inside did not match up. Most of them were incredibly dark and depressing and while I don't mind a few of those, certainly pointing out the freedoms that still don't exist is vital, it did seem to be the majority.
Furthermore, most of the stories seemed uninspired. They depended solely on the shock factor and awfulness of their material and neither the writing nor the story itself were creative. A great counter example from this collection is "The Invention of Peanut Butter"; I loved the folktale feeling and the visualization of capitalism which it provided, but sadly it was of the few stand outs.
Considering how many stories in this dealt with racism and the fact that this is made in support of Amnesty International, I was shocked at how few PoC writers were a part of this (unless I missed someone, there are four). The stories from white people about racism or islamophobia often seemed like they just learned about the issue or that now that they were invited to write about freedom they could bring out some real bummers to show how socially aware they are. I didn't like it.
I also would've appreciated trigger warnings for each story. Some tw just within the first few stories would've been: pedophilia, suicide, rape, homophobia, etc. (during the first few stories I tried to rate them individually and I also noted down trigger warnings for myself but I got lazy). Going into these stories without knowing any of what was gonna happen made me feel physical ill at times, and again I don't think that's due to author's writing talent in many cases.
Last, but not least. I don't want to leave you guys feeling depressed, so here's the list of stories I actually liked:
Dulce et Decorum Est, Chibundu Onuzo
The Invention of Peanut Butter, Matt Haig
Black/White-Amy Leon
Darling, Amy Leon
Robot Killers, Tim Wynne-Jones
Harmless Joe, Tony Birch
The Importance of Screams, Chrisitie Watson
Push the Week, Jackie Kay
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Trafficking, Rape, Islamophobia, and Racism
curlyhairedbooklover's review against another edition
5.0
This book was really good and I enjoyed all of the stories there was not one bad story or poem.
carrotchimera's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Trafficking, and Xenophobia