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kenzieniiixhike's review
I will not rate a memoir ever. memoirs are a special type of literature that i cannot speak on. these are peoples experiences. this one had such a beautiful dance between political commentary and personal experience. it was a lot of comments on political atmosphere, but that’s what happens when you grow up black. the two are so intertwined that they are the same. this book does a fantastic job at showing that without being too in your face.
tripleareads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
alelubets's review
5.0
I would give this book more than 5 stars if I could. This book touched me so deeply! I came to it interested in learning about a black queer boy's childhood and was totally blown away with topics that were sensitive to me. The way the issue of abuse was addressed brought me bitter memories that I have to work on.
Hari's experience with his grandmother, who suffered from bipolar disorder, made me see in him a friend with whom I could share the same worries I went through with my mother. I felt as if I could communicate with Hari during the narrative of his grandmother's crises and the mixed feelings we get when we have someone with a mental illness in the family. Is she being mean or is the disorder a cry for help?
The book also shows the author's views on the police and the prison system as a continued intent on keeping black people contained, cast out of society and under control, with the state's unwillingness to promote any rehabilitation.
*
Daria mais de 5 estrelas se pudesse. Esse livro me tocou tão profundamente! Cheguei a ele interessada em saber sobre a infância de um rapaz queer negro e fui surpreendida com tópicos muito sensíveis para mim.
A questão do abuso levantou um poeira que já tinha abaixado há anos em mim e a vivência de Hari com sua avó, que sofria de transtorno bipolar, me fez ver nele um amigo com quem compartilhar essas angústias. Senti como se pudesse me comunicar com Hari durante sua narrativa das crises da avó e o mix de sentimentos que temos quando temos alguém com uma doença mental na família. Será que ela está sendo má ou o transtorno é um pedido de ajuda?
O livro também mostra a opinião do autor sobre a polícia e o sistema carcerário como intenção continuada em manter os negros contidos, lançados fora da sociedade e sob controle, com o desinteresse do Estado em promover reabilitação.
Hari's experience with his grandmother, who suffered from bipolar disorder, made me see in him a friend with whom I could share the same worries I went through with my mother. I felt as if I could communicate with Hari during the narrative of his grandmother's crises and the mixed feelings we get when we have someone with a mental illness in the family. Is she being mean or is the disorder a cry for help?
The book also shows the author's views on the police and the prison system as a continued intent on keeping black people contained, cast out of society and under control, with the state's unwillingness to promote any rehabilitation.
*
Daria mais de 5 estrelas se pudesse. Esse livro me tocou tão profundamente! Cheguei a ele interessada em saber sobre a infância de um rapaz queer negro e fui surpreendida com tópicos muito sensíveis para mim.
A questão do abuso levantou um poeira que já tinha abaixado há anos em mim e a vivência de Hari com sua avó, que sofria de transtorno bipolar, me fez ver nele um amigo com quem compartilhar essas angústias. Senti como se pudesse me comunicar com Hari durante sua narrativa das crises da avó e o mix de sentimentos que temos quando temos alguém com uma doença mental na família. Será que ela está sendo má ou o transtorno é um pedido de ajuda?
O livro também mostra a opinião do autor sobre a polícia e o sistema carcerário como intenção continuada em manter os negros contidos, lançados fora da sociedade e sob controle, com o desinteresse do Estado em promover reabilitação.
sanmeow's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
a truly amazing memoir about being a black queer person in the usa. a beautifully written and really insightful exploration of growing up / coming of age, discovering your identity, and the ways societal standards around you and religion can influence you as you grow. i do think some parts were repetitive though, but it's not a huge issue at all.
chadh878's review
4.0
I love how it was a love letter to himself as a kid! There are quite a few things I resonated with!
caedocyon's review against another edition
2.0
It's no fun to be aware of how much work an author is putting into their prose and be unimpressed by the result. The repetition was supposed to be poetic; instead it was boring. The whole book, but especially the first 70 pages, reminded me of an AI trained on a certain genre of instagram posts (radical woo?). The result is dense and hard to parse without advancing many new ideas. I occasionally caught a glimpse of an interesting story or idea buried under all that. But: I'm not the target audience, so YMMV.