Reviews tagging 'Death'

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

34 reviews

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Hate crime, Abandonment, Rape, Pedophilia, Racism, Racial slurs, Gore, Grief, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Car accident

A very thoughtful, caring, emotional memoir with exquisite prose, but mind the warnings. The way she describes being SA’d as a child is extremely graphic, disturbing, and heartbreaking. I am grateful for her honesty and bravery telling exactly how all the victims of such a horror have to walk a tightrope of expectations, and how adults often make it harder for a child to tell anyone if they are harmed. Best part is how much love overflows in the pages for everything dear to her. Maya Angelou is a wonderful soul.

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

very profound and necessary, everyone should read this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Rape, Violence, and Death

chriswoody94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Murder, Violence, Sexism, and Pregnancy

a_bloom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

It took a little while for me to get used to the writing and actually interested in the story, but within a hundred pages it REALLY captured my attention. Her writing is beautiful and descriptive and painfully aware of how her younger self perceived the situation of her birth and life. However, the last few chapters come off awkward as it strays from the usual pacing, but considering she had more autobots it makes sense.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Sexual violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Grief, Death, Blood, Abortion, and Addiction

Minor: Infidelity, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, War, Incest, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, and Slavery

passionatereader78's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

Maya let's us into her past. This book was inspiring. I enjoyed learning more about this great lady.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Abandonment, Racism, Slavery, Addiction, Death, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Rape, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Classism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body horror, Hate crime, Pregnancy, and Slavery

Moderate: Death and War

Minor: Abortion

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Rape, Violence, Racism, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Body shaming, Ableism, Sexism, Grief, Mental illness, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Medical content, and Child abuse

Minor: Child death, Bullying, War, Infidelity, Car accident, Police brutality, Torture, Slavery, Infertility, Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Drug use, and Classism

Poverty, WWII, concentration camps, Japanese displacement, homelessness, d slur.

mrsdarcylynn's review against another edition

slow-paced

4.0

I think I’m going to bump up my star rating- I had an average reading experience, but that may have been due to the darker elements of the book. In the end, I had a really hard time connecting to the narrative and the “so what”- maybe because I have read other narratives/stories like this one. Or maybe because so many memoirs today take the individual experience and connect it to larger world/societal events. Or maybe I don’t find memoirs about one’s childhood that interesting? 

I struggled with some of the authors outdated views regarding fatness,  being gay, and a few other issues that really took me out of the reading experience. I definitely recommend looking at trigger warnings before diving in- there’s some heavy topics. 

I think I would have benefited from reading some of her other work before her autobiography. Maybe then I would have connected to her writing on a deeper level. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Body shaming, Rape, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Racism, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, and Death

mayavd's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Death, Incest, Child abuse, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

michaelion's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

4.25

One thing that makes it hard to get through nonfiction is that it is often pure and objective fact, nothing but hard statements and the evidence to back it up, but Angelou writes in a way that doesn't just feel the way a memoir / autobiography would, like someone telling their life story, but in a way that is colorful and bright and fluid like fiction usually is. Well, good fiction at least.

And on a personal note a lot of moments hit a little tew close to home. I'm not gonna list them but not me and Miss Dr Angelou living the same life having the same experiences feeling the same feelings!!! I had to put the book down a couple times and cover my face!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Child abuse, Racism, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Ableism, Classism, Grief, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Murder, and Xenophobia

Minor: Hate crime, Abortion, Fatphobia, and Police brutality