jenny_d's review

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challenging emotional reflective

5.0


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adiajamille's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

“Heavier than the blood in our veins, are the stories we inherit about ourselves”

This book is so hard to read/ listen to knowing that ultimately he lost to his demons. It’s heartbreaking that he wasn’t able to find the peace he deserved in life. But I think that ultimately that’s part of the gift he’ll always leave with us. This tragic story of an imperfect person who spent his life trying to find his voice and space, while simultaneously struggling. It’s a portrait of the ups and downs of healing, and how it’s not linear. And it serves as a reminder that you can never get too comfort in your healing, remembering there’s always more. And I think the gift for him is that now he has this beautiful legacy of complex and compelling characters that helped reshaped Black identity as seen on film. He’s left behind this legacy of lives he impacted directly. And with his life and memoir a reminder of how we can do more within our communities. And he’s given a multifaceted view of addiction, humanizing it in a way many Black folks are never afforded. His final, public, words being words of love and encouragement. 

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audiobukky's review against another edition

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hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5


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dpearson5257's review

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0


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jadahreads's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Michael K Williams’ is a pure soul who left Earth too soon. His memoir is so profound and bittersweet. Wish he was still here to share his wisdom, art, love, and kindness with the world. 😢

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skeltzer's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

What an immeasurable loss. This memoir is honest, raw, tragic and hopeful. MKW had been through so much pain and yet ended the book on such a hopeful note. They way he describes bringing Omar Little to life and how he brought the character to him gave me chills - he put so much into his craft. I listened to the audiobook and man I wish he could have been here to read it. A beautiful book about a beautiful man.

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micklesreads's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

This was a beautiful memoir and so bittersweet knowing he died just before it was published. There is so much we didn't get to see from him, not just as the incredible actor he was, but in his work with youth of color who are over-policed.

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ashp's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

5.0

Michael’s memoir gets to the point without shying away from his childhood, pursuing his dreams, and enduring from addiction. This book is a gift that encapsulates his legacy as an artist, advocate, and Brooklyn king. 

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naturalnyla's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0


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mrigbybarington's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

I picked up this book at a Little Free Library, not having any idea who Michael K. Williams was or what his story might be about. Let me tell you, this was a rollercoaster, covering dark topics that need to be addressed such as addiction and racism. I think that this memoir was written in such a manner that it could be accessible to anyone who didn't already know the author, such as myself, and is written in the style of fiction. This book was easy to get into, and I think rather important, considering all of the things that were covered. The writing style was not particularly memorable, but hey, he was an actor, not a writer, and he was not a bad writer by any means. Rest in peace, Michael Williams, and thank you for sharing your story with the world. 

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