Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Becoming by Michelle Obama

38 reviews

andreamatallin's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Miscarriage and Misogyny

Minor: Police brutality, Sexism, Gun violence, Slavery, War, Violence, Child death, Bullying, and Xenophobia

elisanisly's review

hopeful inspiring slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death of parent, Grief, and Gun violence

Moderate: War, Police brutality, and Fatphobia

Minor: Abandonment and Toxic relationship

leonormsousa's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

TRIGGER WARNINGS 

racism, sexism, death, death of a parent, child death, mass/school shootings, police brutality, gun violence, hate crime, chronic illness, cancer, miscarriage, grief 

REVIEW 

Michelle Obama is the GOAT and that is a fact. So obviously her memoir had been on my wishlist since… well, since I knew it existed. It was recommended to me by a multitude of people who give great recommendations and I feel kind of stupid that I didn’t get around to reading it sooner (although I do think that I read it at the perfect time of my life so I might have been consciously stupid but unconsciously smart :p). 

First of all, Michelle (yes, I will call her by her first name because in my mind we’re friends <3) has a hell of a life story so it’s hard not to feel grasped by it. We follow her from childhood to the end of Obama’s presidency, while she grows up through hardness but also happiness and lots of love. 

The book is very well written, including historical contextualization as we move through time, something that is especially relevant for someone who is not super familiar with US history/geography (like me). I read the book in audiobook (which I think is definitely a plus) and so it felt like she was right in front of me, just telling me her story, with emotion showing every once in a while and her strength always present. 

There is a part of the book in particular where Michelle shares her struggles with finding a purpose. After accomplishing everything she had planned (becoming a good layer with a good job), she feels like maybe being a layer is not what she wants. At 27 she shifts her career and once again finds her path but before that, she goes through a period of insecurity and confusion. This in itself is already something interesting to read about but the thing is: I was/am going through something similar in my own life. So you can imagine how reading how the GOAT dealt with and overcame this was so important to me. 

There is also some romance in this memoir and it’s so cute that you almost forget you’re not reading fiction. But it’s also very real and I love how Michelle is not afraid to expose how their relationship wasn’t perfect but it was something they both worked for. It makes me believe that maybe real love does still exist. 

The only little thing I can point at this book is that there are some parts that are a bit repetitive, namely when she’s talking about her work as a first lady. It’s nothing too much and it really is such a small thing compared to the greatness of the book but I always like to give some constructive criticism :p (like she’s actually gonna read this :p) 

Last but definitely not least, this is a book written by a Black woman so expect (great) notes on feminism and racism marking every step of Michelle’s life. It’s of course, one of the best parts of this memoir, especially because it is non-fiction so it can’t get more real than this… 

No decent conclusion: just go read this! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Cancer, Gun violence, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Hate crime, Chronic illness, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Sexism, and Police brutality

redroseses's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Child death, Violence, War, Racism, Police brutality, and Misogyny

readsipsnuggle's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Classism, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Racism, and War

paperportals's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Becoming by Michelle Obama is my first proper audiobook. The experience of "reading" an audiobook was engaging on its own, making me believe that audiobooks might need to be the golden standard for reading memoirs. There's something about Michelle's voice (at 1.6 speed), relaying to me her journey towards the White House and out of it, that was gripping as much as it was rousing. I didn't expect it, but there were specific moments (such as her childhood, her foray into young adulthood, the inevitable shrouding of death as time passed) that made my eyes water and taught me a thing or two about the gross violence of aging, parenting I might want to one day emulate, the "advantage of an advocate", and what it might mean to be a competent, intelligent, articulate person who cares. 

What an excellent first audiobook. There were some fleeting moments of meandering, where I would tune out, but that fact that her storytelling would make me audibly gasp, or stop washing the dishes to listen more intently, was a new experience for me entirely. Whoever edited Becoming deserves a raise and a tip of the hat. I approached this book not knowing much (or caring, really) about the Obama family, and now on the other side of Michelle's book, I can only really hope that our politicians in the Philippines would have but the same dedication, commitment, and desire to achieve the common good for the Filipino.

I highly recommend this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Police brutality

Moderate: Death of parent and Miscarriage

quejk25's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Racism, Child death, and Gun violence

Minor: Miscarriage and Police brutality

laverlately's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Racism, Gun violence, and Child death

Minor: Grief and Police brutality

potatokao's review against another edition

hopeful reflective slow-paced

4.0

hard to rate and review a memoir, it’s their life story they’re sharing with us after all. i enjoyed the writing, i listened to the audiobook so it was nice to hear michelle’s story directly from her. 

the pace was heavy leaning on her upbringing, her love story was very endearing, and her career change showed me a lot about her personal ambitions i didn’t previously know. giving me even more reason to respect her. her disdain for politics is with good reason. the book gave insight to her work as first lady and made me realize her health initiatives probably made more impact to today’s healthy eating world than we give her credit. 

the latter half was more condensed, squished pacing. a good build up and then a plateau. her hopefulness is not something i can embody but her continuous growth as a woman is a quality i admire. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, and Gun violence

zeenatpatel01's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring slow-paced

5.0

I am a reader and I always have been. However, I decided that this would officially be my first audiobook. Mrs Obama's voice was soothing and stern. This book was raw, real and worth every minute of the 19 hours and 3 minutes it took for me to finish it

I never rush memoirs and believe in taking my time. And wow!!I have a new favourite. 10 out of 10

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Chronic illness

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

Minor: Miscarriage