Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

13 reviews

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 against another edition

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

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

 How to Say Babylon is a memoir about the author growing up in a Rastafarian family in Jamaica, suffering at the hands of an increasingly abusive father, and then finally figuring out who she is, developing her own voice, and finding a way out. The story was interesting, particularly the insights into Rastafarianism which is a belief system I know little about, and has some obvious parallels to Educated. Definitely a hard read in places with physical and emotional abuse, controlling behaviour and gaslighting. What really stood out though was the writing which was phenomenal - lush, lyrical and evocative. I went into this book blind but within the first paragraph it was obvious that that author was a poet. The audio, narrated by her, was also excellent with the rhythm of the language really coming through. The book was a real pleasure to listen to but it also left me with plenty to think about - things like the intersections between religion and men trying to control women, the difficulty of escaping a traumatic upbringing, the factors that enable some people to succeed in a world that they’d been led to belief was evil, the ability to forgive, and the healing power of writing and of poetry. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gaslighting

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

sapphire's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual assault

mondovertigo's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Child abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy, Racism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Racial slurs and Death

miss_elease's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

elliez's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

emzireads's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry

bookdragon217's review against another edition

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

5.0

"There is an unspoken understanding of loss here in Jamaica, where everything comes with a rude bargain—that being citizens of a 'developing nation', we are born already expecting to live a secondhand life, and to enjoy it. But there is hope, too, in our scarcity, tolerable because it keeps us constantly reaching for something better." 

There are not enough words to describe the beauty that is found within the pages of How To Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair. She cracks herself open to show us the deep roots of her family trauma but still manages to hold the ones she loves tenderly with her poetic prose.  Her words are captivating & in true poet form, she delivers magical sentences that dance off the page & stick with you. She interrogates the misogyny of the Rastafarian lifestyle her father subjected their family to while at the same time connecting it to the history of colonialism in Jamaica. She calls out the mental abuse she was subjected to but also gives greater context & explanation about how her father could also be viewed as vulnerable to a corrupt system that is fueled by patriarchy. 

What struck me deeply was how Sinclair explores such deep themes through a child's perspective. She places us in her stream of conscience and allows us to see her observations and how she comes to make sense of her world in order to save herself. You see Sinclair develop an astute emotional intelligence that allowed her to survive her circumstances on a daily basis. Sinclair's mother offers poetry & literature as a form of liberation & this was so beautiful to see, especially since her own choices were limited by her own father. The books she read opened doors to understanding the world & provided the keys to free herself from her circumstances. This act of love from her mother is what ultimately helps her find her voice in the midst of chaos. 

I can still feel the power of Sinclair's narrative voice. This memoir is not only a testimony but an indictment on the systems of oppression that enforce & perpetuate patriarchy. It also serves a reminder that the consequences of colonialism are still being felt today. Sinclair is an author to watch in the future.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

Minor: Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Body shaming, Cancer, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Colonisation, Classism, Infertility, and Pedophilia

katiewhocanread's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Bullying, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Self harm, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Racial slurs