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kinseyrubio's review against another edition
5.0
A beautifully interwoven memoir that blurs childhood memories, time, and perspective.
bookofcinz's review against another edition
4.0
Liberia went through its first Civil War from 1989 to 1966, during that period over 250,000 were killed and numerous families displaced and destroyed. The civil war was long and was devastating for many Liberians, including Wayteu Moore and her family. In The Dragons, The Giant, The Women: A Memoir is Moore’s second novel and first memoir that details in a very rich and moving way how the Liberian Civil war affected the trajectory of her family and how their lives were changed.
The memoir opens on Wayetus Moore’s fifth birthday celebration. She is at home in Monrovia, Liberia with her siblings, father, grandmother and extended family. Her mother is not present for the celebrations because she is studying on a scholarship in New York. In the middle of the celebration war breaks out and the family is forced to flee without any warning. They leave on foot with a bag each, walking and hiding until their reached the village of Lai. The three week journey is grueling, heart breaking, and captured so vividly in Moore’s writing. The family arrives in Lai, and waiting their next move. Weeks into their stay at Lai a rebel solider shows up to let Wayetu know her mom sent for them family and she will be smuggling them across the border into Sierra Leone.
While a lot of the book surrounds Wayetu’s experience in the civil war, how being displaced affect her, how to this present day it still affects her- the book is also way more than that. It gives insights into mother-daughter relationship, living like an immigrant and what is it like for a black woman growing up in a country that doesn’t value the blackness of her skin.
I absolutely enjoyed this memoir. I read, loved and was blown away by Moore’s She Would Be King so I was super excited to see that she would be releasing a Memoir because I STAN! Nothing could prepare me for how beautiful this memoir was, I wanted sooooo much more. Moore’s writing is so personal, so unforgettable, so beautiful and deeply nuanced. To go through this trauma, I cannot being to imagine, but how Moore explored it in her memoir was beautiful.
You NEED to read this!
The memoir opens on Wayetus Moore’s fifth birthday celebration. She is at home in Monrovia, Liberia with her siblings, father, grandmother and extended family. Her mother is not present for the celebrations because she is studying on a scholarship in New York. In the middle of the celebration war breaks out and the family is forced to flee without any warning. They leave on foot with a bag each, walking and hiding until their reached the village of Lai. The three week journey is grueling, heart breaking, and captured so vividly in Moore’s writing. The family arrives in Lai, and waiting their next move. Weeks into their stay at Lai a rebel solider shows up to let Wayetu know her mom sent for them family and she will be smuggling them across the border into Sierra Leone.
While a lot of the book surrounds Wayetu’s experience in the civil war, how being displaced affect her, how to this present day it still affects her- the book is also way more than that. It gives insights into mother-daughter relationship, living like an immigrant and what is it like for a black woman growing up in a country that doesn’t value the blackness of her skin.
I absolutely enjoyed this memoir. I read, loved and was blown away by Moore’s She Would Be King so I was super excited to see that she would be releasing a Memoir because I STAN! Nothing could prepare me for how beautiful this memoir was, I wanted sooooo much more. Moore’s writing is so personal, so unforgettable, so beautiful and deeply nuanced. To go through this trauma, I cannot being to imagine, but how Moore explored it in her memoir was beautiful.
You NEED to read this!
bookofcinz's review against another edition
4.0
Liberia went through its first Civil War from 1989 to 1966, during that period over 250,000 were killed and numerous families displaced and destroyed. The civil war was long and was devastating for many Liberians, including Wayteu Moore and her family. In The Dragons, The Giant, The Women: A Memoir is Moore’s second novel and first memoir that details in a very rich and moving way how the Liberian Civil war affected the trajectory of her family and how their lives were changed.
The memoir opens on Wayetus Moore’s fifth birthday celebration. She is at home in Monrovia, Liberia with her siblings, father, grandmother and extended family. Her mother is not present for the celebrations because she is studying on a scholarship in New York. In the middle of the celebration war breaks out and the family is forced to flee without any warning. They leave on foot with a bag each, walking and hiding until their reached the village of Lai. The three week journey is grueling, heart breaking, and captured so vividly in Moore’s writing. The family arrives in Lai, and waiting their next move. Weeks into their stay at Lai a rebel solider shows up to let Wayetu know her mom sent for them family and she will be smuggling them across the border into Sierra Leone.
While a lot of the book surrounds Wayetu’s experience in the civil war, how being displaced affect her, how to this present day it still affects her- the book is also way more than that. It gives insights into mother-daughter relationship, living like an immigrant and what is it like for a black woman growing up in a country that doesn’t value the blackness of her skin.
I absolutely enjoyed this memoir. I read, loved and was blown away by Moore’s She Would Be King so I was super excited to see that she would be releasing a Memoir because I STAN! Nothing could prepare me for how beautiful this memoir was, I wanted sooooo much more. Moore’s writing is so personal, so unforgettable, so beautiful and deeply nuanced. To go through this trauma, I cannot being to imagine, but how Moore explored it in her memoir was beautiful.
You NEED to read this!
The memoir opens on Wayetus Moore’s fifth birthday celebration. She is at home in Monrovia, Liberia with her siblings, father, grandmother and extended family. Her mother is not present for the celebrations because she is studying on a scholarship in New York. In the middle of the celebration war breaks out and the family is forced to flee without any warning. They leave on foot with a bag each, walking and hiding until their reached the village of Lai. The three week journey is grueling, heart breaking, and captured so vividly in Moore’s writing. The family arrives in Lai, and waiting their next move. Weeks into their stay at Lai a rebel solider shows up to let Wayetu know her mom sent for them family and she will be smuggling them across the border into Sierra Leone.
While a lot of the book surrounds Wayetu’s experience in the civil war, how being displaced affect her, how to this present day it still affects her- the book is also way more than that. It gives insights into mother-daughter relationship, living like an immigrant and what is it like for a black woman growing up in a country that doesn’t value the blackness of her skin.
I absolutely enjoyed this memoir. I read, loved and was blown away by Moore’s She Would Be King so I was super excited to see that she would be releasing a Memoir because I STAN! Nothing could prepare me for how beautiful this memoir was, I wanted sooooo much more. Moore’s writing is so personal, so unforgettable, so beautiful and deeply nuanced. To go through this trauma, I cannot being to imagine, but how Moore explored it in her memoir was beautiful.
You NEED to read this!
lisettemarie's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
2.0
kristinisreading's review against another edition
4.0
Very powerful book about a young girl who experienced the displacement and trauma of war at five years old in Liberia. The first section of the book, in that perspective was amazing. So vivid in detail. Even though it is written from the five year olds perspective, the mature telling of the story reveals the horror the father and grandmother must have dealt with escaping with three young children. The later parts of the book were less strong. There’s this whole side bit about a breakup later in life that seems irrelevant. Those chapters focus on the move to the United States and life there. One strange element in the book, a self identified memoir, is a chapter written by the author from her mother’s point of view. It certainly challenges the idea of memoir. But, despite that, the story is very compelling and worth reading.