Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou

4 reviews

tetedump's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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eveybrittin's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

4.0

This book made me aware of a lot of cultural similarities and differences between Angelou and I. I understood her struggles as a woman (and was often infuriated at her romantic interests). However, her struggles as a black American were harder to connect with but important for me to learn about regardless. As much as the book educated me culturally, this story was one of a black woman in a constant state of figuring things out, and her ability to succeed (career wise, socially, or as a mother) despite the odds being against her was very inspiring.
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sakisreads's review against another edition

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inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

3.5

I had to take some time with this Angelou autobiography, because there were some triggering topics 🥲 The content warnings will be included below!

Maya Angelou really has lived a life. In this part of the collection, we meet some incredible icons (e.g. James Baldwin, Billie Holiday, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X)! 😳 We also get more of an understanding of Guy’s mind and his undying love for his mum 🥹

Although I love Angelou’s writing, this book was tricky to read in parts. Someone wrote that they felt she was being ‘aloof’ which was a great way to describe it. 3.5 out of 5 stars for me, thank you ✨
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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

I decided to read this book because I bought a poster with 100 books to read in your lifetime. I read the first four in this series and I'm just inspired and in awe of her. I knew I wanted to carry on with this series and learn more about her life.  

This book is the fourth of seven volumes of Maya Angelou’s autobiography. It is a testament to the talents and resilience of this writer. She knows that this world has love as well as cruelty. As a black woman she has known discrimination and extreme poverty, but also hope, joy, achievement and celebration. In this book Maya focused on her work in becoming a writer and the artists in Harlem, as well as working in the civil rights movements with Martin Luther King Jr.  

Usually I struggle with non-fiction books, I find them slow, boring and I can never really dig into them and thoroughly enjoy it. However, this book I managed to enjoy. This book still discusses serious and difficult topics but it’s a journey of her finding her voice and becoming a writer. It’s almost as if she was writing about a fiction character in a storyline that I had to remind myself several times that she was the main character she is talking about and that she is talking about her life. She was talking about the struggles of being a woman in 1957 to 1962. The fact that her son is growing up and she is wanting to find herself and then she just gets used by men just broke my heart. I really want her and her son to be happy and at peace. This book wasn’t as heavy has her other books and I think that’s because a portion of the book is her discussing her career and the movement of Martin Luther King Jr. I would have loved to see some chapters from her son as he was at an age where he remembers it now, especially when the ending was about him getting injured.  

Again, with the previous book when it gets towards the end it feels rushed. I think it’s the gripping factor to get you to read the next book. I am sort of hoping with me having three books left in this series that this stops and comes to a point because I am hoping that she finds happiness and peace. 
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