Reviews tagging 'Racism'

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

35 reviews

malackalharaizeh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs

jodiesbookishposts's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Domestic abuse

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

soojin12548's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Racism, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Physical abuse

aweekinthelife's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

4.25

i knew absolutely nothing about Rastafarianism and found Safiya Sinclair's writing to be really compelling and engrossing. for how long the book was, i did find the ending to be a little sudden/unexpected, as i expected the level of detail from her childhood and earlier experiences to carry into the more recent parts of her life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Racism

bookmaddie's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

GORGEOUS!! BANGER!!! Maybe I should finally try to get into poetry…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Racism

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

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

mondovertigo's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Child abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy, Racism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Racial slurs and Death

miss_elease's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse