tayrod4594's review

Go to review page

emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

This memoir is absolutely stunning. It's an unflinching, honest portrait of South Africa, of how the various influences might combine to create a man whose greatest quality is his empathy. He makes no bones about the harsh realities of poverty, racism, domestic abuse, and crime; however, he doesn't position himself or his loved ones as victims or martyrs. It's simply the reality, and humor and hope are an ever-present thread weaving together his history.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

gwenswoons's review against another edition

Go to review page

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 💜

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

samanthaleeshea's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

elyssajoh's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

zoegupta's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ressicajicks's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Yeah okay survivor of an abusive alcoholic stepfather figure take my 5 star rating. I finished this book sobbing

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

taibreakfast's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Somehow manages to be massively funny and easy to read while delving into serious topics with incredible clarity and insight. Highly recommend!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

miggyfool's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

spellygirl's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

3.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

saskiahill's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging funny reflective medium-paced

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings