Reviews

Butterfly: From Refugee to Olympian - My Story of Rescue, Hope, and Triumph by Yusra Mardini

laura_corsi's review against another edition

3.0

My favorite part of this book was the beginning where Yusra tells what life was like in Syria before the civil war. I find that I have a hard time imagining a Middle Eastern country that is prosperous and at peace. Yusra's Syria is beautiful and prosperous. A country with a rich heritage, an ancient history, that has been taking on the modern world just fine thank you very much. Of course, the war puts all of that in jeopardy and damages heritage sites all over Syria. Yusra, and her sister Sarah, leave Syria because they both dream of a better life than they will be able to have in their now war torn country. A war that is still going on to this day. I also loved hearing about Yusra and Sarah's athletic training and routine both in Syria and in Germany. As Yusra says, "Being a refugee is not a choice. We, too, can achieve great things."

jess_mango's review against another edition

4.0

Butterfly is the memoir of a Syrian refugee who went on to be an Olympic swimmer. Yusra was a teenager living in Damascus, Syria when ware broken out in her nation. At first Yusra and her family attempted to carry on their normal lives of attending swimming practice and going out with friends. But, soon it became clear that they must try to leave Syria for someplace safer.

I enjoyed this book. It really brought a light to a refugee crisis through the eyes of a refugee. A must read for anyone in today's world.

This counts towards the Reading Women 2019 Challenge task #10: A book about a woman athlete

katiclysmic42's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

3.5

lisa_lsrs's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

sassimb's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

5.0

mariannevoyager's review

emotional informative medium-paced

4.25

katelynanton's review against another edition

fast-paced

5.0

julics's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

4.5

anjanjanja's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

encgolsen's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

3.75

I read this for a book club, and while it was not something I would have picked up on my own, it was definitely a powerful and memorable read. Yusra Mardini was 17 and a competitive swimmer in Syria when the war started and she lost her home. She and her sister Sara made the long journey to Berlin via Istanbul, including a perilous trip by dinghy from Izmir to the Greek island of Lesbos. She tells the story of her journey in simple language, in a way that makes the reader feel as if they were on the journey with her. While she ultimately makes it to the Olympics, her decision to embrace her role as a voice for refugees is the pivotal point in her journey. A poignant and sadly necessary reminder that refugees are human beings who just want to pursue their dreams in safety.