A Most Beautiful Thing by Arshay Cooper

4.24 AVERAGE

akduryea's review

4.0
The writing wasn't great but the story more than made up for it. I really enjoyed it and plan to watch the documentary.

kkempisty's review against another edition

4.25
emotional informative inspiring medium-paced
shelley__rose's profile picture

shelley__rose's review

4.0
hopeful informative inspiring reflective
kalisaur's profile picture

kalisaur's review against another edition

3.25
emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced
Sports books nor memoirs are something I typically read, so I only picked this up for a reading challenge. That said, it was a much easier and enjoyable read than I expected. The language is very approachable and it is equally or more so about growing up in a rough neighborhood and overcoming hardship as it is towing.

bingo_reads_books's review

3.75
emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

pecatonicagirl's review

5.0
Inspirational account of the first all Black rowing team developed at Manley Vocational High School on Chicago’s West Side. Mr. Cooper’s family life was chaotic, he was trying to keep his head above water and survive at his high school, and Arshay had dreams of more than what surrounded him. Along comes Ken Alpart who has a dream of improving life on Chicago’s West side by getting kids into rowing. A fun read—very fast paced.

rob_bot13's review against another edition

4.5
emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

knitncycle's review

5.0
Fantastic story!

anjalikhetan's review

3.0
Definitely worth reading!! A quick read and a very very powerful story. I was really invested in each character and couldn’t put it down. The book itself was a little too linear and repetitive. Felt like it lacked depth and it felt like the retelling of some parts of the story were with rose colored glasses.

If you have ever rowed or been on a crew team I think you would enjoy this book a lot more! I used to row and teetered on a 4star because of the relatability and familiar emotions.

elieli4's review

3.5
inspiring reflective medium-paced
It is a nice book and story, but it seems that the author runs out of things to say and the story becomes repetitive. Also note that this book is about religion, which was not clear to me from the summary.