Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

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

29 reviews

horizonous's review against another edition

emotional funny medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Racism

Moderate: Colonisation, Medical content, Police brutality, and Violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Racial slurs

shebke_21's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Racism

purplelake's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

Wow. Just wow. Born a Crime might be the best book I’ve read in the last couple years.
While novel centers around Noah’s childhood in South Africa, he and his mother are a binary star system, revolving around each other. The amount of respect Noah has for his mother, for all her strengths and weaknesses, charms and faults, is apparent in every word. And Noah’s mother is truly an incredible woman, providing wisdom and opportunity even during apartheid.
The story unfolds through witty vignettes, weaving the timeline back and forth, both non-sequential and somehow the way Noah’s tale is best told. Noah’s candid and irreverent voice is what truly puts this book over the top, guiding his audience through the race struggle of post-apartheid South Africa with grace and humor.
It comes as no surprise that Born a Crime is a comedic masterpiece, but it is the heart of the novel that makes it worth the read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Cursing, Excrement, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Sexism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, and Suicide

delilahreads's review against another edition

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Medical content

epellicci's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

This is such an incredible book, made all the more rich by Noah's performance of it. Born a Crime details stories from Noah's youth as a mixed child during Apartheid. Noah's natural wit is present throughout the whole book, balanced expertly with honest, insightful, and emotional storytelling. It was an eye-opening view into the real and personal experience of living through pre- and post-apartheid. Despite the serious and emotionally taxing nature of the stories, this book is easy to read due to Noah's effortless storytelling. The running narrative surrounding him finding his place in a world were he shouldn't have existed, and constantly pushed back against him because of this, was deeply moving. Noah's personality and the strength of his relationships with his family - particularly his mother -  shone throughout. 
I found that listening to this book brought to life the characters and language of Noah's life in a way that I could not have done justice to by reading it in paper format, and so would wholeheartedly recommend the audiobook if you can access it.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence and Medical content

Minor: Alcoholism and Police brutality

empathephant's review against another edition

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

4.0

This book was different than I expected it to be (in a great way). I thought it would be more of a linear story that focused a lot on how he got to be a comedian/TV personality, but after reading I still have no clue about his early career. What it did talk about was his childhood. I knew it would discuss the effects of Apartheid, but each chapter was organized somewhat topically, string together personal stories examples and jumping in time to illustrate concepts of what South African life was like more than "his life story." I learned so much that I hadn't known previously about South Africa as an American. I highly recommend the audiobook. It is narrated by Trevor himself and he tells his story emotionally and powerfully, speaking many languages and even singing at one point. He made me laugh and feel sorrow and fear in the same book, making it easier to approach the heavy topics found within.

I think what another review said is a perfect description: "I...admired how he [told] his story as it is. He had every chance to glorify the life he lived in South Africa and he did not. To me, it was more like he wrote the book to shed light on the circumstances that kids like him grew up in rather than talk about his own life."

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Police brutality, Rape, and Slavery

The last chapter contains the most graphic descriptions of violence.

befreckledbookworm's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Wow.
Just wow.
This book was absolutely amazing.
I’m not a huge nonfiction reader, but I love Trevor’s comedy specials and I’d heard good things about his book, so I picked it up from my school library. 
He’s a mama’s boy, but not in the way where he’s thirty-something and living in his mom’s basement. Their relationship is like Lorelai and Rory from Gilmore Girls, kind of. They fight and yell at each other, but in the end, they love each other and can always make each other laugh. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gun violence, Medical content, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Racism

kelseyrodgers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Medical content

grei's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

So, so worth anyone's time if you can read it. Even if you don't get the audiobook you can hear him telling the story in your head.

I don't know a better way to describe this book, it is absolutely an amazing read that defies categorization, other than to say it is the story of Trevor Noah growing up as the son of a black mother and white father during apartheid, when it was illegal to have such a child.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Medical content, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Slavery, and Violence

If you want to skip the part about excrement, once Trevor starts talking about needing to go to the bathroom just skip to the end of the chapter. The last few paragraphs provide enough context and a good punchline for you to skip all the graphic detail and embarrassment of it.