Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

36 reviews

limonadia's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Bullying

Moderate: Sexual harassment and Sexual assault

creativerunnings's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Violence, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Slavery

Minor: Cancer

shansometimes's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

I love a good memoir, and this one is excellent. From the first page, I was wowed by how beautiful the writing was without being overly flowery. I didn't know anything about the author, Safiya Sinclair, going into this, but when it was revealed later in the book that she's a poet, I thought, "Ohhhhh! That explains it." The prose is seriously stunning.

Sinclair's memoir is about growing up in Jamaica under her strict Rastafarian father's thumb. The Rastafari religion is one we rarely see books about, and Sinclair described her life under its rigorous rules with candor and nuance. Her locs, her sexuality and "purity," her food, her clothing (no pants), her access to family and friends outside the Rasta community...all under the control of her father. The reader watches as the author's life unfolds and her father becomes increasingly volatile, bitter, and abusive.

Despite all of that, Sinclair ultimately inspected her father's actions through a lens of humanity and grace without excusing his mistreatment of her, her siblings, and her mother. And if I get started on the incredible way she portrayed her mother as the strikingly strong overcomer she surely is, I'd be here all night. It's getting to the point in this review where I realize the book was far better than I can describe, so I'll just recommend it. If you're into memoirs, religion/cult analysis, coming-of-age stories, and reading about Black women making something out of nothing, read this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual assault

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

dark inspiring slow-paced

4.5

Context: I chose How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair as an add-on to my Book of the Month box in October 2023. 

 

Review:

 

Safiya Sinclair delivers a beautifully written and powerful memoir of her life growing up under the tyranny of her abusive father, who uses his interpretation of the Rastafari faith to control Safiya, her siblings, and her mother. Although Sinclair got her start as a poet and frequently uses metaphor and figurative language in How to Say Babylon, her memoir is immensely readable and pulls the reader in with its literary quality. Sinclair is a master of language, but her memoir also reveals her mastery of storytelling structure, as each chapter feels like a cohesive whole that seamlessly builds upon the story of her life, her family, and her roots. Her retrospective on her upbringing demonstrates a keen awareness of the forces and personalities that shaped her life—nurturing and destructive, fleeting and abiding. She reminds us that above all else, courage and empathy are necessary to free ourselves from people and situations that work to keep us silent. 

 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Sexism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, Classism, Racism, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, and Bullying

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Colonisation

Minor: Miscarriage, Abortion, Cancer, and Deportation

soojin12548's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Racism, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Physical abuse

adearajean's review against another edition

dark hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Intense but poetic. About finding identity and family dynamics. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Violence

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

louiepotterbook's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Drug use, Gaslighting, and Self harm

sillyduckie's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Infertility, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Drug use, Confinement, and Blood

emilyjmasters's review against another edition

challenging emotional

4.5

Virgin Suicides X Educated X Rastafari culture

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault

znvisser's review

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

Beautiful memoir that taught me a lot while drawing a picture of the authors life: Safiya Sinclair manages to interweave personal memories seamlessly with Jamaican and Rastafarian history, making her story a whole. Her childhood memories are detailed and lively, drawn poetically with childlike wonder, shamelessness and parental worship, after which you feel complexity grow and doubts creeping in as she gets older. Sinclair is so proficient with language and I loved taking this in through audio as well, because her voice is gorgeous and she had great melody to her storytelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Misogyny, Violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Racism, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Colonisation, Pregnancy, and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Miscarriage, Drug use, Racial slurs, Body shaming, and Cancer