Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

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

326 reviews

clarabooksit's review against another edition

funny inspiring reflective fast-paced

3.5

This is good—not as good as the hype claims, but enjoyable. If you like Noah’s comedy and especially his delivery style, you’ll like this.

Noah is clever, nerdy and funny and this memoir showcases that. His love of South Africa, where he came from and his mother are apparent on every page, even as he’a cracking jokes about them. I especially enjoyed learning a lot about South Africa.

Where the book let me down is in its lack of emotional resonance. That and it was very obviously written for a U.S. American audience, which felt confining even if I’m a part of that audience.

Noah has lived a fascinating life full of sticky, incredible and awful moments, but his voice remains distant like the person at a party who tells wild and traumatic stories for laughs without registering how deeply personal they are. While there’s a great deal of reflection in the book, it all felt anecdotal to me. The format of the book also makes every story feel like a lesson and that didn’t quite work for me.

To be fair, that may be more of a reflection on me than the book. I did like it: it’s zippy, I learned a lot, it made me laugh and at the very end, it made me cry. But it didn’t thrill me. Would still recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Slavery, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty and Rape

_bxllxe_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

3.75

Trevor Noah has lived a big life full of adventure, mischief, heartbreak, hilarity, and love. His admiration for his mother absolutely radiates through each chapter. I learned more about apartheid and how truly evil and insidious it was to live through. So happy my Story Graph ABC challenge inspired me to finally pick this up! Shout-out to the app Tiny Decisions as well for helping me choose which “B” Book on my shelf to choose!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Racism

taryngoehrig's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence

yodaddy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Tell your mum you love her.
I cried for the first time in a year after reading

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder

nils_0's review against another edition

adventurous informative reflective tense medium-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Kidnapping, Murder, and Pregnancy

awaywiththefairies's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Murder, and Colonisation

emilymhb's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Blood

nastia_abubakar's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Full of jokes and humor, I love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

nnia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Abandonment

nemonobody11's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I have so much to say after finishing this book, but it will come later when I compose my thoughts. All you need to know for now is 5/5 incredible read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail