Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

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

78 reviews

ada_elisabeth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.75

This was my second time reading this: I skimmed through it a few summers ago out of sheer boredom and found it decent, but we were assigned it as summer reading for AP Lang this year so I'm writing it a proper review now. 

I'll start out by saying that I did enjoy this book. I thought the storytelling was good, I thought the way mother-son relationships were highlighted, and I liked that it featured three of my favorite things: race, class, and masculinity. Noah did a fantastic job of balancing the deeper, less funny moments of his childhood with lighthearted stories and memories, which kept this from being too depressing. I also appreciate how short and segmented it was: making non-fiction accessible and interesting is very difficult, but the way this read like a collection of short stories rather than one connected text made it a more enjoyable reading experience.

However, there were a few things I didn't like. It often felt that stories would end without resolution and then the topic would switch to something entirely different, which was a little annoying. Some parts of the story and the usage of certain phrases also struck me as being somewhat misogynistic. I understand that Trevor Noah is a man, and therefore the book centers around his experiences as a man, but there were some parts that felt a little sexist to me. Also, I wasn't always a huge fan of his writing style: I know that he's primarily a comedian, so I wasn't expecting incredible writing or anything, but I still felt like there were certain chapters that fell a little flat. 

I also really liked the final chapter. Although it was heartbreaking and painful to read, I think it was so necessary. Trevor's mother not being able to press charges against her abusive husband because the police told her it would 'ruin his life' was so infuriating to me because it happens to so many women across the world: the minimizing of a woman's fear and pain and suffering to protect a man's ego and reputation.

 

I always appreciate reading about something I don't know much about, and overall, I really enjoyed this, so I'll give it a 3.75 rounded up. Not my favorite, but when is assigned reading ever my favorite? 

“You want to live in a world where someone is good or bad. Where you either hate them or love them. But that's not how people are.”

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Gun violence, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Minor: Rape

kchantry's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Animal death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Racism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Blood, Colonisation, Bullying, Animal cruelty, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Bullying, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Violence

Minor: Vomit and Toxic friendship

whatsmacksaid's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Excrement, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Animal death, Violence, and Bullying

Moderate: Alcoholism and Physical abuse

bisonprints's review against another edition

funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Animal death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Bullying, Violence, Classism, Colonisation, and Domestic abuse

grays_opinion's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

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

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

dawntin's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

5.0

Trevor Noah’s writing is really funny and insightful. It hits you hard. Each chapter has a life lesson, and I learned a lot about South African history too. I thought the chapter about his friend named

Hitler

was hilarious in a messed up way, and the last chapter of the book made me emotional. This man went through so much trauma that all he can really do is laugh about it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Racism, Child abuse, Colonisation, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Alcoholism

Minor: Drug abuse

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Animal death, Body horror, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Blood, Classism, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Slavery, Grief, Stalking, Mental illness, Infertility, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Colonisation

nanjeahug's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexism, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Classism, Colonisation, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Bullying, Slavery, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood

Despite the warnings it is a good read as it is things we should know especially as a white person.

readwith_e's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Racism

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Injury/Injury detail

els4lp's review against another edition

5.0

read the Finnish translation by Jaana Iso-Markku

---

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