Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

178 reviews

swjessie10's review against another edition

funny hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

This book is as so well written. It was hard to out down. It was entertaining and funny. I learned so much about life during and after Apartheid. Trevor’s story is especially unique because he is mixed. He shared about his struggles growing up mixed, without his dad, his mom’s faith in God, an abusive step father, being poor, moving and changing schools multiple times, surviving from his different jobs, friendships, and various family dynamics of immediate and extended family. You really felt part of the story. I was cheering Trevor and his mom along the whole time. Wishing the best for them and amazed at how they scraped by through hard times. 
The boom has some language but I would recommend everyone read this book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, and Gun violence

els4lp's review against another edition

5.0

read the Finnish translation by Jaana Iso-Markku

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Racism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Domestic abuse, Cursing, and Physical abuse

Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Colonisation, Bullying, Sexual content, Misogyny, and Slavery

j_c_a's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

alisonannk's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Cultural appropriation, Physical abuse, Animal death, Alcoholism, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, and Sexism

Minor: Genocide, Kidnapping, and Addiction

boekenalsontbijt's review against another edition

challenging funny sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Domestic abuse

maddiearthur's review against another edition

emotional funny informative tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Addiction, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Colonisation, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Alcohol, Gun violence, Sexism, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Blood and Antisemitism

Minor: Rape

kiwichill's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This was one of the best memoirs I have ever read.  I have never seen Trevor Noah on TV, I'd never heard of him.  I just kept seeing this book come up in Facebook groups etc.  At times shocking and disturbing,  other times humorous,  it opened my eyes to what life is like in South Africa, both during apartheid and after.  Poverty, domestic violence, crime, racism and government laws that support these ideals are a way of life over there. Noah's mother must be commended for the strength of character and resilience she displays.  I recommend listening to the audiobook as it is excellent 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Cursing, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Colonisation, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, and Physical abuse

malleykde's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Racism, and Domestic abuse

tayrod4594's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

This memoir is absolutely stunning. It's an unflinching, honest portrait of South Africa, of how the various influences might combine to create a man whose greatest quality is his empathy. He makes no bones about the harsh realities of poverty, racism, domestic abuse, and crime; however, he doesn't position himself or his loved ones as victims or martyrs. It's simply the reality, and humor and hope are an ever-present thread weaving together his history.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Classism, Misogyny, Child abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Racism, Blood, and Colonisation

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Addiction, Sexism, Car accident, and Child abuse

gwenswoons's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Liked this a lot - lots of beautiful storytelling, tons of deep history about South African apartheid told in really personal ways, and an unusual balance of comedy and vivid, traumatic, clear information that Trevor Noah does so well. The structure, for me, wasn’t totally successful - I think the word “Stories” in the title is key, and it’s definitely built more like vignettes - to my reading, it was often not entirely successful from the extent of the non-sequitur - than like a traditional memoir (I’m not a major memoir reader anyway, so I was ok with this! But the timeline leaps and unrelated stories sometimes felt like they could have been built into a slightly more effective arc). I listened on audio, and can’t recommend it enough - he’s obviously such a great narrator, so funny, so inflected and beautiful (and, so amazing hearing him switch between different languages in different stories - I loved!!). Can’t imagine reading this NOT on audio! I’ll def read more of his books as he writes them 💜

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Medical content, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, Child abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Classism, Sexism, Stalking, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Alcohol, and Blood