Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Becoming by Michelle Obama

38 reviews

kdailyreads's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexism, Cancer, Racism, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Violence, Infertility, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Medical content, War, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Police brutality and Xenophobia

marlee_grace's review

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Really enjoyed this! Was great to hear about Michelle and Barack's stories before being in the public eye, the struggles they endured and the changes they made :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, War, Miscarriage, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Grief, Cancer, Death, Police brutality, Murder, Islamophobia, Rape, Suicide, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Infertility, Sexism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Hate crime, Medical content, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

faithaforman's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

If listening on audiobook I'd recommend 1.15x speed. :)
Michelle's story is inspiring, empowering, and at times heartbreaking. A true testament to hard work, perseverance, and a desire to help people and how much of an impact one person can have.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, and Terminal illness

Minor: Infertility, Police brutality, Slavery, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Fire/Fire injury

Pacing begins quite slow but does pick up progressively as the book goes on.

jbabbm's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Gun violence

Moderate: Racism, Child death, Death, and Chronic illness

Minor: Miscarriage, Grief, and Police brutality

akvolcano's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I remember being in late elementary/middle school  and hearing about Barack Obama. Growing up,  I have slowly gain more knowledge about his family and his work. I have much more to learn! Michelle Obama has written this book beautifully. I could completely see her perspective and get a fuller understanding of the effect of the presidential term. And seeing their family’s experience as a family, not as the presidential family, was a refreshing new perspective.  I also have never heard much about her, besides that she was the reason nutrition changed so abruptly in my cafeterias. I really enjoyed learning more about her. Definitely would recommend this book! She is a truly amazing person and so is her family.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Police brutality, Gun violence, and Mass/school shootings

missrosymaplemoth's review

4.5

I switched to the audiobook on page 262. I was having a weird week and could not bring myself to read the rest with my eyes so I read with my ears. :) I just listened to my first audiobook in several years as well so I thought of this option.

I loved this book and I’m glad to have read it. The writing style was pleasant, although the pace was often slow which I think contributed to my inability to continue in print. That is my only “complaint.”

I enjoyed learning about some events from Michelle Obama’s perspective, about her childhood and the circumstances in which she grew up. It was nice to hear her narrate the audiobook, as I thought it brought an personal touch and elevated the listening experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death and Racism

Minor: Police brutality

imnotadorableimpunk's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Classism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Racism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Sexism, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Bullying, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infertility, and Misogyny

nebraskanwriter's review

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

“I’m an ordinary person who found herself on an extraordinary journey.” 

Though I am not super into politics, I found this memoir interesting, heartbreaking and enlightening. Michelle tackles the monumentous task of encompassing her entire life as well as her husband’s presidency into this book. She begins by talking about growing up in Chicago, going to law school, becoming an attorney, how her and Barack met. 

She talks about how her and Barack were always passionate about helping others and making things better for people. Which then over time led Barack to go into politics which then eventually catapulted him into the role of becoming President of the United States.

Throughout it all, from moving into the White House to traveling over to England to meet the Queen, Michelle’s focus was always on her children and making sure they could live the best life possible.

I feel like that is my biggest take away from this book. No matter what party you align yourself with, at the end of the day, Michelle was a mother and a wife. She and her husband did what they thought was best for America for their girls’ future. Whether that was successful or not is of your opinion but the love Michelle feels toward her husband and her children was evident and beautifully written. Trying to grapple with any little bit of sense of normalcy with the secret service never letting you leave their sight, aids leaving a thick binder every night for you to review and be briefed on the next day, going to funerals of gun violence victims. The weight of what any world leader goes through is immense, at times soul crushing like with the Sandy Hook shooting. But then there were also moments of happiness and success. 

Being president and a president’s wife is not a glamorous job. Everyone projects their problems onto you. These people believed so passionately in making a difference in the world that they gave up 8 years of normalcy, of privacy, of having a simple life, to make America a better place. Or at least they tried to. And I find that admirable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Death, Gun violence, Racism, War, Cursing, Misogyny, Violence, Abandonment, Bullying, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, and Panic attacks/disorders

sakisreads's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring slow-paced

5.0

I have always admired and adored Michelle Robinson Obama from afar. This book, however, got me feeling very close and cocooned in her light! 🥹 She is strengthened by her truth and the messages of bravery and hope throughout this book made me cry and laugh ❤️

‘Sameness breeds more sameness, until you make a thoughtful effort to counteract it.’

and ‘Becoming is never giving up on the idea that there’s more growing to be done.’ became two of my favourite quotes, although I wouldn’t quote me on that one as I could open the book and give you a different answer every time 😂

I loved how she was unafraid to include everything, from her dad’s MS to her feelings about Trump. I gasped at her candour and appreciated her so much more for it 👏🏼

Truly a fan of this book (and the author!) ✨ Would highly recommend ✨

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Police brutality, Death of parent, and Racism

eib_21's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Gun violence, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Murder, Police brutality, and War