Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

A Promised Land by Barack Obama

6 reviews

akswhy's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring slow-paced

3.0

Incredibly detailed and important, but just as incredibly slow. I am glad such a detailed account of a world-altering administration exists (and will exist when part 2 arrives on shelves), but it’s clear that it is very difficult to edit a former president. Had to switch from print to audiobook to finish it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Genocide

Minor: Medical content

zara89's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring mysterious slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, War, Gun violence, Chronic illness, Violence, Racism, Grief, Cultural appropriation, and Terminal illness

Minor: Antisemitism and Genocide

eldritch_flower's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

 Last year I read Becoming by the illustrious Michelle Obama. Reading her account of the events throughout her marriage with Barack and her role as First Lady was inspiring and a necessary voice in the world. And I knew I needed to read Barack Obama's book as well to see the other side of the this complex story.

And to be transparent, I admired both Obamas long before reading their books(and I still do).

I really enjoyed this. I listened to the audiobook, read by Barack. It details his journey into politics, his marriage to Michelle, the birth of his children, and his career in his first four years as president. He is honest and blunt in his telling of events throughout his career. What I really appreciated though what his willingness to talk about what he wanted to do and the reasons why it couldn't happen, or his thoughts on a situation versus how he needed to conduct himself as President of the United States. It made me admire him all the more because I can actually see his thought process and his feelings when he had to do things he didn't agree with because the options were weighed against what he wanted to do.

I'll also be the first to say that he is in no way, shape or form perfect. But he acknowledges his shortcomings, his mistakes, and his struggles.

Overall, the 30 hour audiobook is well worth the listen. And I know I'll be buying physical copies and this book, and Michelle's book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, War, Police brutality, Classism, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism

readandfindout's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Knowledge/perspective: 4.5 stars 

This is actually really hard to rate! Because I thought everything was well done, and I really enjoyed Obama's perspective, but I struggled with the pacing and level of detail. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Violence, Islamophobia, Cancer, and Genocide

Minor: Death, Homophobia, and Torture

pagesfromhome's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.25

Barack Obama was the first president I volunteered for as well as the first one I voted for. So naturally, I'm a little biased to liking him and it would come as no surprise that I loved the first part of his memoirs. 

Obama is known for being a little long-winded and that is certainly the case here. He often dives into the political process in ways that can feel a little too heavy in juxtaposition to the moments where he waxes poetic about the love he holds for his family. I'll admit that by far my favorite parts of the book were those moments where he was either speaking about his wife and daughters or the moments where he let his honesty really shine. At multiple points of the book, Obama is clearly saying things that he didn't feel appropriate sharing as President so I really enjoyed that blunt honesty. Unfortunately, having those moments of complete honesty then made those moments of not-so-honest stores felt more cagey. 

Ultimately, this book was a 4.25 star for me. Obama is an incredible writer and I am very much looking forward to the next part of this series. I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in hearing about the goings-on of the modern political process, but as always, be aware that every political memoir is a piece of propaganda even though Obama is exceptionally self-aware of his own flaws throughout the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Genocide, Violence, Torture, Racism, and Racial slurs

Minor: Antisemitism, Death, Genocide, Islamophobia, Homophobia, and Police brutality

alylentz's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

 More readable and engrossing than I expected from a political memoir that's so hefty. Started to feel a little formulaic after a while, but I definitely learned a lot and feel like I got a lot out of reading this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Cancer, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Islamophobia, and Police brutality

Minor: Death, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence