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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
I need a hug. How in the world did I just get around to reading this book?
Ishmael's story is so upsetting, and it breaks my heart to know just how many more there are like him. This book is so powerful. From fleeing the rebels to being caught to be rehabilitated, my heart broke for him and I rooted for him every step of the way.
It's not often that I am left speechless, but after reading this book, there are truly no words I have to describe it.
Plenty of disturbing content, even more disturbing since it is all real. I knew child soldiers were brainwashed into doing truly terrible things, but I had no idea the extent of the killing, the drug use, and the fighting. Awful.
Ishmael's story is so upsetting, and it breaks my heart to know just how many more there are like him. This book is so powerful. From fleeing the rebels to being caught to be rehabilitated, my heart broke for him and I rooted for him every step of the way.
It's not often that I am left speechless, but after reading this book, there are truly no words I have to describe it.
Plenty of disturbing content, even more disturbing since it is all real. I knew child soldiers were brainwashed into doing truly terrible things, but I had no idea the extent of the killing, the drug use, and the fighting. Awful.
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
I've had this book on my shelf for quite some time. I knew it would be a tough-read and i think that is why ive waited so long to finally read it. I just finished it and am glad I read Ishmael's tale. His story is very meaningful and heart-wrenching. He literally survived hell on earth. Just when things seemed to improve in the world around him, hell broke lose again. I would definitely recommend this book to someone, but warn that the tale is graphic and, frankly, depressing. But this is a story that needs to be shared. Ishmael told it well as he shared a very honest portrayal of his happy memories with his family, what it meant to be a boy soldier, the challenges he faced during rehabilitation in trying to find a purpose for living, and his eventual journey out of Sierra Leone. I thank him for telling this story.
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
I thought there would've been more detail about his actual hardcore fighting years but as he said, he was very drugged up and doesn't remember a lot of the specifics of those few years.
Sometimes it was hard to follow because he would jump from what he was talking about to a memory a few years back.
I would've also liked to learn a little bit more about what happened after he moved to New York, how he got out of the country he fled to, why this "storytelling woman" became his mother, etc.
Once you know so much about him and what he's overcome, the ending kind of leaves the reader high and dry and ends abruptly.
Sometimes it was hard to follow because he would jump from what he was talking about to a memory a few years back.
I would've also liked to learn a little bit more about what happened after he moved to New York, how he got out of the country he fled to, why this "storytelling woman" became his mother, etc.
Once you know so much about him and what he's overcome, the ending kind of leaves the reader high and dry and ends abruptly.
-Student teaching core-
Fuck this was depressing
Fuck this was depressing
It's taken me a long time to write a review on this book. It is not an easy book to write a review on. I'll start from the end result then and move backwards.
I think this is a very important book and I honestly believe everyone should read it. I finished it a couple of months ago and I imagine that barely a day has gone by without my thinking about it. Ishmael Beah and his horrific story are never far from my mind, but at at the same time I know that he escaped and now tours the world giving hope and guidance to others.
This book has been torn apart by reporters claiming the book to be inaccurate in terms of time frame and events. Other reviewers have criticised Beah's style of writing and emotional involvement in the story. I am not going to defend the author, I'm not going to say that it is okay if only most of the facts are correct and I'm not going to dwell on the fact that he is a human being and not a professional writer.
What I do take away from this book was that this young man was drafted into the war in Sierra Leone as a child soldier. I don't care if he was 13 or 15 when it happened and I don't care if he was a child soldier for two years or six months. The point is that he was pumped full of drugs by adults and he both witnessed the violent deaths of many young friends and personally killed several children and men.
The book left me with a desire to learn much more about Sierra Leone and I now know much more about the war in the region than I did initially. To me that meas that the book fulfilled it's purpose. Read it.
I think this is a very important book and I honestly believe everyone should read it. I finished it a couple of months ago and I imagine that barely a day has gone by without my thinking about it. Ishmael Beah and his horrific story are never far from my mind, but at at the same time I know that he escaped and now tours the world giving hope and guidance to others.
This book has been torn apart by reporters claiming the book to be inaccurate in terms of time frame and events. Other reviewers have criticised Beah's style of writing and emotional involvement in the story. I am not going to defend the author, I'm not going to say that it is okay if only most of the facts are correct and I'm not going to dwell on the fact that he is a human being and not a professional writer.
What I do take away from this book was that this young man was drafted into the war in Sierra Leone as a child soldier. I don't care if he was 13 or 15 when it happened and I don't care if he was a child soldier for two years or six months. The point is that he was pumped full of drugs by adults and he both witnessed the violent deaths of many young friends and personally killed several children and men.
The book left me with a desire to learn much more about Sierra Leone and I now know much more about the war in the region than I did initially. To me that meas that the book fulfilled it's purpose. Read it.
Really poignant and unapologetic account of one child soldier in Sierra Leone in the 90s. Ishmael recounts his time in the bloody civil in the audiobook, sparing no details so it can be squeamish. Really important to bring voice to this story.