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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
Okay, let me preface this review by saying that I am aware that I am a white woman and therefore not the target audience for this book. However, if we break the book Slay in Your Lane down to its parts there are still some sections of this book that I found applied to me and I took an awful lot from it.
Slay in Your Lane is a book about racism, feminism, the patriarchy and just what it is like to be living day to day as a black girl. How your everyday culture is questioned in modern (and predominantly white) society. It reveals the shocking day to day battles that black women face and how our two authors Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinene respond to difficult situations. It is a powerful and empowering read.
Slay in Your Lane is not just Uviebinene and Adegoke’s experience. Slay in Your Lane is sprinkled with the same, similar or downright shocking experiences of many famous black women throughout the world of TV, music, politics etc. You will not b forgiven for thinking that Slay in Your Lane is an angry feministic rant. It is not. It is a call to arms to stand up and be counted.
As I prefaced this review, I am not the target audience for this book. However, I did feel that after reading in that I am more equipped to fight for things I deserve and that I deserve to believe in myself more.
For an empowering read then you must pick up Slay in Your Lane.
Slay in Your Lane by is available now.
Slay in Your Lane is a book about racism, feminism, the patriarchy and just what it is like to be living day to day as a black girl. How your everyday culture is questioned in modern (and predominantly white) society. It reveals the shocking day to day battles that black women face and how our two authors Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinene respond to difficult situations. It is a powerful and empowering read.
Slay in Your Lane is not just Uviebinene and Adegoke’s experience. Slay in Your Lane is sprinkled with the same, similar or downright shocking experiences of many famous black women throughout the world of TV, music, politics etc. You will not b forgiven for thinking that Slay in Your Lane is an angry feministic rant. It is not. It is a call to arms to stand up and be counted.
As I prefaced this review, I am not the target audience for this book. However, I did feel that after reading in that I am more equipped to fight for things I deserve and that I deserve to believe in myself more.
For an empowering read then you must pick up Slay in Your Lane.
Slay in Your Lane by is available now.
While I recognise that I am not the target audience for this book I learnt a lot about the everyday racism that black women face today.
As a white woman, this book is not for me. However, I would consider it essential reading for all white woman, especially those who consider themselves feminists. To gain an in depth and comprehensive understanding of the realities of living as a British Black woman is of the upmost importance. This book provides both anecdotal and statistical evidence of the racism and sexism facing Black women in the UK, something which is so important for us all to understand.
informative
reflective
fast-paced
I am not the target demographic for this novel - being of no black descent - you need only read the tagline to notice this and I'm sure this had some sort of effect on my enjoyment reading this, as some tips etc. are not particularly relevant to my life. However, I still think I gained a fair bit from this book: knowledge as well as a new perspective. Admittedly, I skimmed a few chapters of this book - marriage is not currently something I am worried about - but I found the chapters regarding the make up industry and the social media world very interesting and relevant.
In addition, they mention of sickle cell disease, which was in last week's Call the Midwife! Just thought that was interesting.
I had the privilege of meeting the authors and listening to them on a panel recently, and they were lovely.
In addition, they mention of sickle cell disease, which was in last week's Call the Midwife! Just thought that was interesting.
I had the privilege of meeting the authors and listening to them on a panel recently, and they were lovely.
I'm a white woman who lives in an almost overwhelmingly white part of the UK. I read Slay In Your Lane with the wish to understand the challenges experienced and documented by the authors.
This is a clear-eyed unflinching look at the exhausting, demoralising, seemingly endless challenges facing black women in their daily lives, simply because they are black women. From school and family, through University then out into the working world, the weight of expectation - both good and bad - is huge. There are coping strategies, humour, irritation, resignation and some anger in every chapter, but I never felt that the authors strayed into pathos or self-pity.
The writing is effective and engaging, drawing the reader in immediately. There are plentiful anecdotes, quotes and interviews from a range of women which add to the chatty readability of the book.
At no point did I feel harangued or lectured, even when picking up on one or two "microaggressions" I have carried out in the past: unthinkingly commenting on a black colleague's new hairstyle where I wouldn't have mentioned a white colleagues, for example. I will not do so again, and was left feeling retrospectively mortified for my own ignorance.
A minor irritation - the authors refer back and forth to other chapters and sections as if they are presenting a lecture, or writing a dissertation, which I found distracting. It felt rather self-conscious and forced, and interrupted the flow of the narrative for me.
That aside, it is a well-written book which provides insight into a set of experiences I have never shared, and given me a lot to think about for the future.
Anyone who is remotely interested in feminism, society and race (ie pretty much anyone, I hope!) ought to read this.
Note: I have not read the entire book from cover to cover, but the writing style is so accessible and interesting that I could have done so easily.
This is a clear-eyed unflinching look at the exhausting, demoralising, seemingly endless challenges facing black women in their daily lives, simply because they are black women. From school and family, through University then out into the working world, the weight of expectation - both good and bad - is huge. There are coping strategies, humour, irritation, resignation and some anger in every chapter, but I never felt that the authors strayed into pathos or self-pity.
The writing is effective and engaging, drawing the reader in immediately. There are plentiful anecdotes, quotes and interviews from a range of women which add to the chatty readability of the book.
At no point did I feel harangued or lectured, even when picking up on one or two "microaggressions" I have carried out in the past: unthinkingly commenting on a black colleague's new hairstyle where I wouldn't have mentioned a white colleagues, for example. I will not do so again, and was left feeling retrospectively mortified for my own ignorance.
A minor irritation - the authors refer back and forth to other chapters and sections as if they are presenting a lecture, or writing a dissertation, which I found distracting. It felt rather self-conscious and forced, and interrupted the flow of the narrative for me.
That aside, it is a well-written book which provides insight into a set of experiences I have never shared, and given me a lot to think about for the future.
Anyone who is remotely interested in feminism, society and race (ie pretty much anyone, I hope!) ought to read this.
Note: I have not read the entire book from cover to cover, but the writing style is so accessible and interesting that I could have done so easily.
informative
medium-paced
I picked this book up on Kindle Unlimited as part of my efforts to try and read more books about racism and forgotten history in Britain. We hear far too much about America and how racism works over there, that I don't know much about my own country. So I wasn't the designated audience for this book but I picked it up anyway.
I did really enjoy this book. The authors put together statistics and personal anecdotes in a way that kept me reading, it was a very accessible book. I liked how the chapters were split up, between school, work, dating and healthcare (as well as quite a few others). It felt very up to date for 2018 but now I can't help but wonder what the authors would write about the world today. It really hit everything home how much everything can change in two years, like every time they mentioned about things changing by 2020, I kept thinking that the authors back then did not know how much things would change in 2020 (no one did after all).
This book also looked at how racism and sexism can meet to bring black women down, as well as how racism was different for black women compared to British Asian women. It was also backed up by an incredible amount of research, which I really appreciated.
That said, I was not the intended audience for this book but it felt like I was all the same? And this isn't just based on my personal opinion, when I read some reviews by young black British women (the intended audience), they all said the same thing. It was very good for me because it was educating me on exactly how racism can impact British women (like how it talked about teacher's attitudes can affect what exams they take, which affects what uni they go for and what job they do), but from what I read in the other reviews, this wasn't really telling black women anything they didn't already know.
From a person who works in the NHS, I found the healthcare chapter particularly interesting and made me look at my own practice and see if there was anything I could improve on. At the end of the book, there are pictures of everyone who was contacted to help with this book, as well as the links to the studies.
Despite not being intended for me, I found this book very useful and interesting to read. 4 stars!
I did really enjoy this book. The authors put together statistics and personal anecdotes in a way that kept me reading, it was a very accessible book. I liked how the chapters were split up, between school, work, dating and healthcare (as well as quite a few others). It felt very up to date for 2018 but now I can't help but wonder what the authors would write about the world today. It really hit everything home how much everything can change in two years, like every time they mentioned about things changing by 2020, I kept thinking that the authors back then did not know how much things would change in 2020 (no one did after all).
This book also looked at how racism and sexism can meet to bring black women down, as well as how racism was different for black women compared to British Asian women. It was also backed up by an incredible amount of research, which I really appreciated.
That said, I was not the intended audience for this book but it felt like I was all the same? And this isn't just based on my personal opinion, when I read some reviews by young black British women (the intended audience), they all said the same thing. It was very good for me because it was educating me on exactly how racism can impact British women (like how it talked about teacher's attitudes can affect what exams they take, which affects what uni they go for and what job they do), but from what I read in the other reviews, this wasn't really telling black women anything they didn't already know.
From a person who works in the NHS, I found the healthcare chapter particularly interesting and made me look at my own practice and see if there was anything I could improve on. At the end of the book, there are pictures of everyone who was contacted to help with this book, as well as the links to the studies.
Despite not being intended for me, I found this book very useful and interesting to read. 4 stars!
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
10's all round. An excellent book to grace any womens library, but for the Black Brits this is our section at last.