Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

7 reviews

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Infertility, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Colonisation

_0_'s review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and War

andylpzgal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Slavery, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

ruthiethetoothie's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Antisemitism

purplelake's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

Wow. Just wow. Born a Crime might be the best book I’ve read in the last couple years.
While novel centers around Noah’s childhood in South Africa, he and his mother are a binary star system, revolving around each other. The amount of respect Noah has for his mother, for all her strengths and weaknesses, charms and faults, is apparent in every word. And Noah’s mother is truly an incredible woman, providing wisdom and opportunity even during apartheid.
The story unfolds through witty vignettes, weaving the timeline back and forth, both non-sequential and somehow the way Noah’s tale is best told. Noah’s candid and irreverent voice is what truly puts this book over the top, guiding his audience through the race struggle of post-apartheid South Africa with grace and humor.
It comes as no surprise that Born a Crime is a comedic masterpiece, but it is the heart of the novel that makes it worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Blood, and Medical content

emberlesage's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt

empathephant's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

This book was different than I expected it to be (in a great way). I thought it would be more of a linear story that focused a lot on how he got to be a comedian/TV personality, but after reading I still have no clue about his early career. What it did talk about was his childhood. I knew it would discuss the effects of Apartheid, but each chapter was organized somewhat topically, string together personal stories examples and jumping in time to illustrate concepts of what South African life was like more than "his life story." I learned so much that I hadn't known previously about South Africa as an American. I highly recommend the audiobook. It is narrated by Trevor himself and he tells his story emotionally and powerfully, speaking many languages and even singing at one point. He made me laugh and feel sorrow and fear in the same book, making it easier to approach the heavy topics found within.

I think what another review said is a perfect description: "I...admired how he [told] his story as it is. He had every chance to glorify the life he lived in South Africa and he did not. To me, it was more like he wrote the book to shed light on the circumstances that kids like him grew up in rather than talk about his own life."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Rape, Slavery, and Police brutality

The last chapter contains the most graphic descriptions of violence.