Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

45 reviews

abception's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Ableism and Abandonment

Minor: Alcohol, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Dysphoria, Pregnancy, Racism, and Classism

crybabybea's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

3.0

This memoir is incredibly important for its time, and Maya Angelou continues to be an important figure in Black history, not only for her clear technical ability in writing, but for her bravery to speak unabashedly about her life as a Black woman in the Jim Crow south. Published during one of the many dangerous peaks of white supremacy, during a time when civil rights activists were being targeted, harassed, and murdered, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings stands out as one of the most important memoirs ever written.

Despite its importance, I found it a bit of a tough read; probably because of the older style of writing that came across at times as disjointed. As a coming-of-age story, it's enjoyable and easy to get through, with plenty of moments of unbelievably beautiful prose that really showcase Maya Angelou's poetic talents.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, and Alcoholism

litliz's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Dysphoria, Body horror, Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Classism, Pregnancy, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Rape, and Sexual violence

Minor: Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Abortion, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Excrement, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, and Slavery

branamalyssa10's review

emotional funny inspiring tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racism, and Murder

victoriathuyvi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

robinsons515's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Abandonment, Rape, Hate crime, Classism, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Death, Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexual content, and Child abuse

theelliad's review against another edition

3.5

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is Maya Angelou’s autobiography, exploring the challenges and triumphs of her life. 

This was required reading for my module last year and despite really enjoying what I read of it, I never got round to reading the full book until now. Angelou’s writing is so beautiful and captivating, especially when read by herself, I literally had to finish this in one sitting! I’m not typically a non-fiction reader and so the narrative exploration and descriptive attention to detail felt as immersive and entertaining as any fiction. Her coming to terms with herself, her trauma and the struggles of those around her is made both painful and relatable even for those who have never or will never experience the things she did. This is a case study in self writing and Angelou truly is someone to be studied and remembered. I don’t however understand the purpose of making an autobiography 7 <200 books? Perhaps that is just how storygraph classifies it but this book alone definitely didn’t feel complete which was annoying, I would happily have endured a longer cohesive piece instead of having to spread the reading across multiple books. (note post finishing: apparently there is audio editions of all 7 in one so that’s my bad i just didn’t realise it had 7 parts so didn’t think to look) Overall an enjoyable read :))

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Racism, and Ableism

Moderate: Child abuse, Body horror, Body shaming, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Blood, and Gaslighting

Minor: Abortion and War

brynalexa's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

It’s hard to give a poet anything but five stars on their autobiography. I can’t imagine having such a strong memory of my formative years after going through so many transitions and traumas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Abandonment, Medical content, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexism, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, and Murder

Moderate: Slavery, Lesbophobia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, War, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Abortion, Addiction, and Alcohol

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.75

Difficult to read, but in the way that it challenges how you think about things.

In particular this made me consider the times it took place during, the "good ole days" and how shitty they were for a lot people.  I make it a habit to not read much about a book before I pick it up to give everything a fair chance and the reason why I picked those one up was because I saw it on a list of commonly banned books.  While it contains some mature(-ish) content, it is much tamer than many things I read as a youth and the value of showing other-ing on a personal degree is unmatched.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Abandonment, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Grief, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual violence, and War

croww_teeth's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Racism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Hate crime, Cursing, Infidelity, Racial slurs, and Death