Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

24 reviews

erickaonpaper's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

"Anything else you'd like to add?" Storygraph asks, unknowing that I may have many, many things to add re this memoir... 

part love letter to jamaica, part good-bye letter to her rastafarian upbringing, part forgiveness letter to her parents (particularly to her father), part prayer, part poem, this memoir from safiya sinclair moved me to tears multiple times over the course of journeying through everything mentioned earlier. every time i finish a memoir, i'm grateful for the writer who delivered, and this time is no different. although i refuse to rate a memoir, i will effusively thrust this one into many readers' hands. bear in mind: some of the writing is so obviously coming from a lauded poet, and if poetry isn't your jam, some of the long, meandering sentences and narrative throughlines may ward you off. but do not let that deter you from wading through churlish moments, as safiya herself did not. to face your upbringing, to face your oppression in this way... what a gift. what a gift!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Bullying, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Misogyny, Death, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Infidelity, Car accident, Drug use, and Physical abuse

deen734's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Gaslighting, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death, Slavery, Grief, Infidelity, Racism, Mental illness, Bullying, and Drug use

Minor: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, and Cancer

ireanirean's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Infertility, Death of parent, Drug use, Colonisation, and Self harm

Minor: Sexual harassment, War, Slavery, Pregnancy, Cancer, and Miscarriage

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

dark inspiring slow-paced

4.5

Context: I chose How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair as an add-on to my Book of the Month box in October 2023. 

 

Review:

 

Safiya Sinclair delivers a beautifully written and powerful memoir of her life growing up under the tyranny of her abusive father, who uses his interpretation of the Rastafari faith to control Safiya, her siblings, and her mother. Although Sinclair got her start as a poet and frequently uses metaphor and figurative language in How to Say Babylon, her memoir is immensely readable and pulls the reader in with its literary quality. Sinclair is a master of language, but her memoir also reveals her mastery of storytelling structure, as each chapter feels like a cohesive whole that seamlessly builds upon the story of her life, her family, and her roots. Her retrospective on her upbringing demonstrates a keen awareness of the forces and personalities that shaped her life—nurturing and destructive, fleeting and abiding. She reminds us that above all else, courage and empathy are necessary to free ourselves from people and situations that work to keep us silent. 

 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Sexism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, Classism, Racism, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, and Bullying

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Colonisation

Minor: Miscarriage, Abortion, Cancer, and Deportation

louiepotterbook's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Drug use, Gaslighting, and Self harm

sillyduckie's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Infertility, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Drug use, Confinement, and Blood

minareadsa19e1's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Child abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

ittywitty's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Bullying, Drug use, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Self harm

Moderate: Racism, Abandonment, Body shaming, Classism, Confinement, and Racial slurs

Minor: Cancer

randisworld's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

This was an excellent memoir and may be the best of the year. The language and writing is divine. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Sexual harassment

znvisser's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

Beautiful memoir that taught me a lot while drawing a picture of the authors life: Safiya Sinclair manages to interweave personal memories seamlessly with Jamaican and Rastafarian history, making her story a whole. Her childhood memories are detailed and lively, drawn poetically with childlike wonder, shamelessness and parental worship, after which you feel complexity grow and doubts creeping in as she gets older. Sinclair is so proficient with language and I loved taking this in through audio as well, because her voice is gorgeous and she had great melody to her storytelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Misogyny, Violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Racism, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Colonisation, Pregnancy, and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Miscarriage, Drug use, Racial slurs, Body shaming, and Cancer