Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Becoming by Michelle Obama

17 reviews

cats33's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Eating disorder, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Miscarriage, Body shaming, Bullying, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Murder, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Islamophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Child death, Death, Deportation, and Mass/school shootings

mattyvreads's review

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

A profound and indefatigably hopeful piece of literature. Michelle Obama is a consummate storyteller. 

She interweaves each memory and insight with purpose in order to reveal a larger message of resilience, hope, kindness, love, and empowerment. 

This is a wonderful read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Gun violence, and Racism

Moderate: Slavery, Sexual harassment, Rape, Hate crime, Violence, and Police brutality

laurajordensharris's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Hate crime, Misogyny, Slavery, Sexism, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Chronic illness, Classism, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Racism, War, and Terminal illness

merrynthomas's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Police brutality, Racism, Child death, Death, War, Death of parent, Violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Bullying, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, and Terminal illness

marlee_grace's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Really enjoyed this! Was great to hear about Michelle and Barack's stories before being in the public eye, the struggles they endured and the changes they made :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, War, Miscarriage, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Grief, Cancer, Death, Police brutality, Murder, Islamophobia, Rape, Suicide, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Infertility, Sexism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Hate crime, Medical content, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

bashsbooks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.5

This is an exquisitely written and narrated memoir. I do think it's funny that she doesn't think of herself as a politician when she's the most politically active First Lady I've seen in my lifetime, and I find her brand of respectability politics not relatable, but I understand where both of these things are coming from.  Also, I deeply respect that she didn't want her husband to become a politician for personal reasons, I would also not be pleased if my partner wanted to do that. Overall, I found her very down-to-Earth and her story extremely interesting. Would recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Chronic illness, Racism, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Mass/school shootings, War, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Gun violence, Islamophobia, and Miscarriage

eib_21's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Gun violence, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Murder, Police brutality, and War

anomadicnarrative's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Exceptional!! Please just read it

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, and Hate crime

leonormsousa's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

TRIGGER WARNINGS 

racism, sexism, death, death of a parent, child death, mass/school shootings, police brutality, gun violence, hate crime, chronic illness, cancer, miscarriage, grief 

REVIEW 

Michelle Obama is the GOAT and that is a fact. So obviously her memoir had been on my wishlist since… well, since I knew it existed. It was recommended to me by a multitude of people who give great recommendations and I feel kind of stupid that I didn’t get around to reading it sooner (although I do think that I read it at the perfect time of my life so I might have been consciously stupid but unconsciously smart :p). 

First of all, Michelle (yes, I will call her by her first name because in my mind we’re friends <3) has a hell of a life story so it’s hard not to feel grasped by it. We follow her from childhood to the end of Obama’s presidency, while she grows up through hardness but also happiness and lots of love. 

The book is very well written, including historical contextualization as we move through time, something that is especially relevant for someone who is not super familiar with US history/geography (like me). I read the book in audiobook (which I think is definitely a plus) and so it felt like she was right in front of me, just telling me her story, with emotion showing every once in a while and her strength always present. 

There is a part of the book in particular where Michelle shares her struggles with finding a purpose. After accomplishing everything she had planned (becoming a good layer with a good job), she feels like maybe being a layer is not what she wants. At 27 she shifts her career and once again finds her path but before that, she goes through a period of insecurity and confusion. This in itself is already something interesting to read about but the thing is: I was/am going through something similar in my own life. So you can imagine how reading how the GOAT dealt with and overcame this was so important to me. 

There is also some romance in this memoir and it’s so cute that you almost forget you’re not reading fiction. But it’s also very real and I love how Michelle is not afraid to expose how their relationship wasn’t perfect but it was something they both worked for. It makes me believe that maybe real love does still exist. 

The only little thing I can point at this book is that there are some parts that are a bit repetitive, namely when she’s talking about her work as a first lady. It’s nothing too much and it really is such a small thing compared to the greatness of the book but I always like to give some constructive criticism :p (like she’s actually gonna read this :p) 

Last but definitely not least, this is a book written by a Black woman so expect (great) notes on feminism and racism marking every step of Michelle’s life. It’s of course, one of the best parts of this memoir, especially because it is non-fiction so it can’t get more real than this… 

No decent conclusion: just go read this! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Cancer, Gun violence, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Hate crime, Chronic illness, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Sexism, and Police brutality

molly_rose's review

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Racism, Pregnancy, Sexism, Cancer, Miscarriage, and Misogyny

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Child death, Gun violence, and Mass/school shootings