Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

12 reviews

karleeread's review against another edition

emotional informative tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Infertility and Miscarriage

jgrayreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Gaslighting

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Miscarriage

internationalreads's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage

solenodon's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Racism, Bullying, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Grief, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, and Misogyny

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Colonisation

Minor: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Miscarriage

cnlarge's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Racism, Physical abuse, Drug use, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

corinth113's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Heartbreaking, poignant, and lovely. Raw, painful, bleak, abundant, a song, and a prayer. Beautiful prose, poetic and lyrical beats, this woman’s family’s story pushes and pulls at something deep inside of anyone who has ever had to deal with unsettling family dynamics and the  way we wrestle forever with forgiveness and reconciliation—not just with others, but with who we become because of our parents and who we want to be despite them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Bullying and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Self harm, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Drug use, and Sexual assault

ireanirean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Infertility, Death of parent, Drug use, Colonisation, and Self harm

Minor: Sexual harassment, War, Slavery, Pregnancy, Cancer, and Miscarriage

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

dark inspiring slow-paced

4.5

Context: I chose How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair as an add-on to my Book of the Month box in October 2023. 

 

Review:

 

Safiya Sinclair delivers a beautifully written and powerful memoir of her life growing up under the tyranny of her abusive father, who uses his interpretation of the Rastafari faith to control Safiya, her siblings, and her mother. Although Sinclair got her start as a poet and frequently uses metaphor and figurative language in How to Say Babylon, her memoir is immensely readable and pulls the reader in with its literary quality. Sinclair is a master of language, but her memoir also reveals her mastery of storytelling structure, as each chapter feels like a cohesive whole that seamlessly builds upon the story of her life, her family, and her roots. Her retrospective on her upbringing demonstrates a keen awareness of the forces and personalities that shaped her life—nurturing and destructive, fleeting and abiding. She reminds us that above all else, courage and empathy are necessary to free ourselves from people and situations that work to keep us silent. 

 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Sexism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, Classism, Racism, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, and Bullying

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Colonisation

Minor: Miscarriage, Abortion, Cancer, and Deportation

sillyduckie's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Infertility, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Drug use, Confinement, and Blood

znvisser's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

Beautiful memoir that taught me a lot while drawing a picture of the authors life: Safiya Sinclair manages to interweave personal memories seamlessly with Jamaican and Rastafarian history, making her story a whole. Her childhood memories are detailed and lively, drawn poetically with childlike wonder, shamelessness and parental worship, after which you feel complexity grow and doubts creeping in as she gets older. Sinclair is so proficient with language and I loved taking this in through audio as well, because her voice is gorgeous and she had great melody to her storytelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Misogyny, Violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Racism, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Colonisation, Pregnancy, and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Miscarriage, Drug use, Racial slurs, Body shaming, and Cancer