Reviews tagging 'Death'

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

16 reviews

litliz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Animal death, Body horror, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Blood, Classism, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Slavery, Grief, Stalking, Mental illness, Infertility, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Colonisation

alisonannk's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Cultural appropriation, Physical abuse, Animal death, Alcoholism, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, and Sexism

Minor: Genocide, Kidnapping, and Addiction

gwenswoons's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Liked this a lot - lots of beautiful storytelling, tons of deep history about South African apartheid told in really personal ways, and an unusual balance of comedy and vivid, traumatic, clear information that Trevor Noah does so well. The structure, for me, wasn’t totally successful - I think the word “Stories” in the title is key, and it’s definitely built more like vignettes - to my reading, it was often not entirely successful from the extent of the non-sequitur - than like a traditional memoir (I’m not a major memoir reader anyway, so I was ok with this! But the timeline leaps and unrelated stories sometimes felt like they could have been built into a slightly more effective arc). I listened on audio, and can’t recommend it enough - he’s obviously such a great narrator, so funny, so inflected and beautiful (and, so amazing hearing him switch between different languages in different stories - I loved!!). Can’t imagine reading this NOT on audio! I’ll def read more of his books as he writes them 💜

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Medical content, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, Child abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Classism, Sexism, Stalking, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Alcohol, and Blood

elyssajoh's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Alcohol

Moderate: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Slavery, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Classism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Bullying

Minor: Vomit, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

dalek_caan's review

emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

I feel a bit weird reviewing an autobiography, because it is the account of someones life, so most adjectives feel a bit empty to use. But what I will say is that I'm grateful to Trevor Noah for having the courage to share these pieces of himself with the world, and I feel like I learned a lot about his home country and his family.I'm very glad I read this book and would highly recommend to other readers.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Classism, Colonisation, Murder, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Gun violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, and Racism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, and Gore

jenn_jean's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

This was a great listen. I got to hear what South Africa was like (as much as I can) during apartheid and after. I’m glad it was part of the Reading Around the World Challenge from StoryGraph, it makes me want to learn more about it as well as other African countries. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: War, Racism, Hate crime, Violence, Gun violence, and Death

laurataylor's review

challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Addiction, Blood, Alcohol, Classism, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Racism

lectrixnoctis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

Trevor Noah's strange path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with an illegal act: his birth. Trevor happened to be born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother when such a union was criminal by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents' recklessness, Trevor was kept frequently indoors for the most prime years of his life, obliged by the extreme and often irrational measures his mother took to hide him from a state that could, at any moment, take him away. Eventually liberated by the end of South Africa's tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living fully and freely and embracing the chances won by a centuries-long conflict.

"Born a Crime" is the tale of a prankish young boy who grows into a wandering young man as he strives to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to live in. Additionally, it is the story of that young man's connection with his fearless, rebellious, and highly religious mother—his teammate, a woman settled to save her son from the circle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would eventually threaten her own life.

The narrative was written in the first-person point of view by the author himself, and it was said in the past in South Africa.

Moreover, the motives of this book, in particular about racism and how apartheid, one of the worst crimes committed in South Africa, has affected the country and its people, although the system never truly worked at all. By casting black people away from white people and having no room for mixed children, who by law did not exist. I am a massive advocate for constantly educating yourself, especially racism, even more, if you are white. For me, a woman who has never lived outside of Germany and is broad, it is important to recognise my privilege and think about the system my ancestors have created and how I stop thinking that favours the system and even breaking out of it.

Not to forget to mention the love of Noah's mother was impeccable, and although I disagreed with her tough love method, I know it came from the heart, and I know she only wanted to do the best for him, which she enviably did. I loved reading about the relationship between the author and his mother throughout his whole childhood and his early 20s. Although I do not know these people personally, I felt connected with them because of the writing style, which hit me very hard and was witty at the same time.

A friend bought this as a gift for my 19th birthday, and I cannot be happier to read this book finally. I did not imagine it to hit that hard but in the best way possible. I laughed out loud because of it, and I cried at the end of the book. I did not think that autobiographies could make you feel something this deep like this one does. I highly recommend this book to anyone. You're probably going to cry, but you will love this book, and it will give you extreme joy.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Antisemitism, Child abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

breadwitchery's review

emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Animal death, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: War, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Death, Violence, Misogyny, Excrement, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Blood, Slavery, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Cursing, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Genocide, Antisemitism, and Rape

purplelake's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

Wow. Just wow. Born a Crime might be the best book I’ve read in the last couple years.
While novel centers around Noah’s childhood in South Africa, he and his mother are a binary star system, revolving around each other. The amount of respect Noah has for his mother, for all her strengths and weaknesses, charms and faults, is apparent in every word. And Noah’s mother is truly an incredible woman, providing wisdom and opportunity even during apartheid.
The story unfolds through witty vignettes, weaving the timeline back and forth, both non-sequential and somehow the way Noah’s tale is best told. Noah’s candid and irreverent voice is what truly puts this book over the top, guiding his audience through the race struggle of post-apartheid South Africa with grace and humor.
It comes as no surprise that Born a Crime is a comedic masterpiece, but it is the heart of the novel that makes it worth the read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Cursing, Excrement, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Sexism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, and Suicide