Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

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

28 reviews

amelody's review against another edition

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Confinement, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Violence, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Classism, Antisemitism, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Sexual content, Sexism, Racism, and Medical content

litliz's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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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

dragonmagic's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Alcohol, Racism, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Child abuse

Minor: Medical content and Suicide attempt

kiwichill's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This was one of the best memoirs I have ever read.  I have never seen Trevor Noah on TV, I'd never heard of him.  I just kept seeing this book come up in Facebook groups etc.  At times shocking and disturbing,  other times humorous,  it opened my eyes to what life is like in South Africa, both during apartheid and after.  Poverty, domestic violence, crime, racism and government laws that support these ideals are a way of life over there. Noah's mother must be commended for the strength of character and resilience she displays.  I recommend listening to the audiobook as it is excellent 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Cursing, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Colonisation, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, and Physical abuse

gwenswoons's review

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 💜

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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

dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

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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

pomoevareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Trevor Noah’s voice came shining through in this book of essays about his life growing up in South Africa as a mixed race child. It is clear from this book that Trevor Noah became the intelligent, thoughtful and the critical thinker he is, in large part due to his mother and her careful way she imbued Trevor with reason and love. 

Growing up in the waning years of apartheid, Trevor was isolated from society because his mother was a black Xhosa woman and his father was a white Swiss German man. At the time it was illegal for races to mix. With the release of Nelson Mandela and the end of apartheid and the beginning of democracy, Noah still struggled to find where he belonged. He was a child with an unruly Afro and pale skin. He identified as black but was seen as other. 

At many points Noah’s sense of humour burns through the instances of racism, abuse, and poverty he experienced. He tells stories of being a bit of a grifter and a troublemaker with an innocence of someone who doesn’t want to hurt others. He shares what it was like having an abusive step father and moving between times of leanness and poverty. 

Told together, the stories make up a memoir of sorts for the period of Noah’s life up until the time he is beginning to really get noticed for his comedic talent.

Overall, this book of stories feels genuine and honest. I have been a fan of Trevor Noah’s comedy and see him as a modest, smart thinker who has surpassed the life of many who have had more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gun violence, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Police brutality, Misogyny, Medical content, and Animal cruelty

voicenextdoor's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Racism, and Medical content

Moderate: Police brutality, Antisemitism, Alcohol, Classism, and Animal cruelty

ashleycmms's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Domestic abuse, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: Racial slurs, Police brutality, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Medical content and Sexual violence

noahsingh's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexism, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Misogyny, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, and Gun violence

Moderate: Medical trauma, Bullying, Stalking, Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Addiction, Animal death, Medical content, Confinement, Classism, Rape, and Kidnapping

Minor: Slavery and Suicidal thoughts