Reviews with content warning for Mass/school shootings - Becoming

Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

bashsbooks's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.5

This is an exquisitely written and narrated memoir. I do think it's funny that she doesn't think of herself as a politician when she's the most politically active First Lady I've seen in my lifetime, and I find her brand of respectability politics not relatable, but I understand where both of these things are coming from. Also, I deeply respect that she didn't want her husband to become a politician for personal reasons, I would also not be pleased if my partner wanted to do that. Overall, I found her very down-to-Earth and her story extremely interesting. Would recommend.

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imnotadorableimpunk's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring medium-paced

5.0

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nebraskanwriter's review

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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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atintera's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

This was very much what I expected. I learned a lot about Michelle Obama and her family, as well as the strict limitations the first family has to adhere too. Incredibly well written, but I was encouraged to finish this (quite long) book not by my genuine enjoyment of it, but mostly by my interest in learning more about Michelles life.

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wholeottabooks's review

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inspiring slow-paced

5.0

Am I Michelle’s friend now? I felt so close to Michelle and her family through every page. Even though I knew how most chapters ended, I was still rooting her on through every new obstacle. Michelle’s writing and careful choice of words is so powerful. She places emphasis on the importance of language and she truly lives by it. I loved every second of this book and am thrilled she wrote another one. Thank you, Michelle, for your honesty and for sharing your hope.

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kirkspockreads's review

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

I appreciated this. Mrs. Obama is a good writer and listening to her narrate the audiobook was a pleasure. What sticks out the most to me is her thoughts/feelings of her husband verses the things he did as President I did not agree with (bombings, drone attacks, allowing ICE to deport more immigrants than any President before him). It was also hard not to feel a little nostalgic for the 8 years the Obama were in the White House, but then I had to remind myself of the things I mentioned above that occurred under his watch and remember that not everyone was thriving under his Presidency. However, I really did enjoy the story of how they met, fell in love, and started their family. It was all VERY cute.

My other issue was her championing of dealing with “the childhood obesity epidemic in America.” BMI is not a significant way to determine someone’s health. I could rant on about this but many other fat activists already have. I will say that her putting a garden in the White House (no easy feat) and her championing of gardening in general were commendable, as well as how she took on fast food corporations and highlighted the “food desert” issue. We all should certainly have access to fresh produce and good home cooked meals. I just wish it wasn’t all wrapped around in BMI and the weight loss industrial complex.

That said, this is definitely worth a read/listen.

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