Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

69 reviews

mmccombs's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

The writing was very well done and I really enjoyed learning more about Rastafari and the ways in which Sinclair navigated her family life. Making connections between the colonial past and present of Jamaica, the abusive control exacted by her father, and the long line of women who persevered and carried her was very well done. I did think it was fairly repetitive and slow, I most enjoyed the first few chapters and the last because that’s where she was able to round up and bring together her ideas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse

hannahleewhite's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring sad

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Bullying, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault

sbox's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Rich and immersive writing. Such a powerful family story, and story of finding oneself amidst the fire of upbringing. I cried at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

awebofstories's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Child abuse, and Colonisation

ldyockey's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

3.0

Troubling book 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

internationalreads's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage

roguepages's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and Adult/minor relationship

melissamjc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

5.0

I've never read a book that shared a story like mine before. I hadn’t realised how much I needed a book like this. It made my chest ache for my younger self and captured a conflict I've never been able to share. So beautifully written, will definitely be reading again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

caitlinxreads's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, and Self harm

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Abandonment

Minor: Domestic abuse

not_another_ana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.0

After more than nineteen years, my father still could not see me. To him, nothing I wrote would ever matter. Poetry was the voice I had forged because for so long I had been voiceless; I had written every word because I wanted him to hear me. Now I knew he never would.

I find it tricky to cast judgement on a memoir. How can I sit here and judge what happens when it's not just plot but someone's actual life and experience, it feels voyeuristic. At the same time the author is handing me their life on a platter, is asking me to come and see and experience. In How to Say Babylon Safiya Sinclair presents us the story of her life growing up in Jamaica under the control of a domineering abusive father who used Rastafarianism to control and terrorize the family. We're taken on this journey to her childhood, her struggles and how she persevered and became an award winning poet. She also explains what Rastafarianism is, how it got started, what are the practices and beliefs, and how that affected her.

I could not put this down, I read it in four days. The prose is beautiful and fluid, you could probably infer her background as a poet. If you don't enjoy purple prose, this might not be a good fit for you, for me it worked because I felt like I was right there in her head with her as the events happened. And boy did things happen to her, this is a book that deals with such complex and heart wrenching abuse. Verbal abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, spiritual abuse, at times it felt so heavy and anxiety inducing. I was at a roller coaster right before the drop, or a balloon inflating with no sign of stopping and then... Well the drop didn't happen, the balloon never popped.

That was my only real issue with the book. The pacing brught us to this dazzling height only to gently let us down. To me it felt like perhaps she could have waited to write this memoir, there were a lot of painful memories she had to face and put to paper and the more recent ones just didn't come across as robust as the past. By this I mean I felt like she's too close to the point in time where her book ends to have been able to pull it apart and analyze it, process it. There's a lot of silence at the end, like the story was cherry-picked in some spots.

I'm obviously talking about her father. In a horribly distressing scene she depicts a night where he almost killed her, a night that traumatized her youngest sister and put her at odds with her older brother. And yet the book skips any meaningful conversation about this event, jumps right into her life in the USA and then into a reconciliation with her abuser. She spent the whole book painting this boogeyman, this dangerous figure that mistreated her and then did nothing to show the painful path towards forgiveness and personal growth. I don't want to speculate, but I do wonder if she has actually processed everything that happened, if she's been to therapy. It felt like she bent the knee after a full book of standing up for her younger self.

As I said at the beginning, it's hard to judge people's personal choices from my outside point of view but after being so in her head and life the ending felt empty of the same fire.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Bullying, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Cursing