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A review by pagesareportals
Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
3.0
Took me a while to figure out how I felt about it......It was very heavy and mildly traumatic to read but very necessary.
There are people who still believe that just because they don’t see something that it didn’t happen. Or that because it seems outrage that’s it’s impossible. And even though this book is very detailed and heartfelt and vulnerable, I have no doubt that some people probably wouldn’t believe her story. They believe that the government and the cops always have their best interest at heart despite SO MUCH EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY. It’s terrifying. Knowing that people are predisposed to not believe you when you tell the truth, not help you when you’re in pain.....the ruthlessness hurts my heart.
I think the book does a great job of showing the growth of two women: a young woman figuring out her way in the world and an slightly older woman dealing with the realization that the only person she can really trust is herself. The switching perspective is little hard to track once the timelines get closer but engaging none the less. I’m coming to really enjoy autobiographies because the voices of the people come through so much. It’s not polished, it’s real.
HOWEVER, the ending really threw me off. It was definitely building up to the escape and then said SIKE. I get why you can’t include the details of that (obviously) but for anybody who doesn’t already know her story, the jump at the end was a little confusing. It feels like she wrote it but originally but then they cut it out like when you watch a movie and you can tell that there was a deleted scene. Like “WAIT WHY ARE THEY IN DIFFERENT CLOTHES? Is this a new day? What’s happening?
There are people who still believe that just because they don’t see something that it didn’t happen. Or that because it seems outrage that’s it’s impossible. And even though this book is very detailed and heartfelt and vulnerable, I have no doubt that some people probably wouldn’t believe her story. They believe that the government and the cops always have their best interest at heart despite SO MUCH EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY. It’s terrifying. Knowing that people are predisposed to not believe you when you tell the truth, not help you when you’re in pain.....the ruthlessness hurts my heart.
I think the book does a great job of showing the growth of two women: a young woman figuring out her way in the world and an slightly older woman dealing with the realization that the only person she can really trust is herself. The switching perspective is little hard to track once the timelines get closer but engaging none the less. I’m coming to really enjoy autobiographies because the voices of the people come through so much. It’s not polished, it’s real.
HOWEVER, the ending really threw me off. It was definitely building up to the escape and then said SIKE. I get why you can’t include the details of that (obviously) but for anybody who doesn’t already know her story, the jump at the end was a little confusing. It feels like she wrote it but originally but then they cut it out like when you watch a movie and you can tell that there was a deleted scene. Like “WAIT WHY ARE THEY IN DIFFERENT CLOTHES? Is this a new day? What’s happening?