Reviews

Butterfly: From Refugee to Olympian - My Story of Rescue, Hope, and Triumph by Yusra Mardini

coreylanesmith's review against another edition

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

5.0

mppilk's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

alongreader's review against another edition

3.0

Not at all my usual style of book, and I'll be honest; not following sports at all, I'd never heard of Yusra. If I hadn't been offered this one I probably wouldn't have picked it. It's an interesting read, though, written in a way that makes it clear how young she was when she crossed borders. It would work well in a classroom setting when talking about war or refugees.

Receiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.

martim_lopes's review against another edition

5.0

Definitely the best book I've read this year. An amazing story that everyone should read.

cmorrisclark's review against another edition

3.5

7/10 stars. Yursa Mardini didn't asked to be a refugee. She didn't ask for the war that tore her country apart and forced her family's continued relocation until they finally made the choice to flee. Nor did she seek to become an international spokesperson for refugees. But that is exactly what she became. First her story was captured by several journalists during her trip from Syria to Germany, and then she was catapulted to international fame after she became part of the first Olympic Refugee Team.

I appreciate Yursa telling her story, and I hope the world continues to be willing to consider these challenging issues of homeland, belonging, open borders, welcome, and freedom.

leonorcferreira's review against another edition

5.0

Definitely the best book I've read this year. An amazing story that everyone should read.

diedunklelordnudl's review against another edition

5.0

>>Keiner sucht sich aus, ein Flüchtling zu sein. Ich hatte keine andere Wahl. Um zu überleben, musste ich mein Zuhause verlassen, selbst wenn das bedeutete, mein Leben auf der Flucht aufs Spiel zu setzten.<<

Es fällt mir schwer meine Gedanken in Worte zu fassen. Dieses Buch wird mich wohl noch eine ganze Weile beschäftigen. Was Yusra und ihre Familie erlebt haben ist schockierend und trotzdem auch schwer vorstellbar für mich. Es ist unglaublich wie viel ein Mensch aushalten kann, wie grausam und hilfsbereit andere Menschen sein können. Es ist eine wirklich inspirierende und bewegende Geschichte, die es verdient hat gehört (gelesen) zu werden. Große Empfehlung!

naomiallen's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

5.0

vlafreek's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

kaffee_auf_ex's review against another edition

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

4.5

This book is hard to rate as it's a personal life story of a person who's had it really tough. I think everyone should read this book in order to develop some empathy for refuges. I do, however, don't like the marketing and framing of this book. The quotes on the back are only about Yusra although her sister Sara is still a hero who fights for the rights of refuges. Yusra herself is just a normal girl who is therefore relatable. She also acknowledges her privilege. She's very apolitical person despite everything she's lived trhough which irritated me a little.

To sum it up: This is a story worth telling about a girl who did a really brave thing. It doesn't really adress systemic issues, which is okay as it never set out to do that.