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housedesignerking's review against another edition
4.0
Let no one say that Barack Obama is unintelligent. This book was clearly written by a well-educated man, and my love affair with his way with words was obvious to my fiancé as we read this together. This president's way with words is not only engaging but also riveting and funny at times. To the dismay of my younger self, I really didn't find many disagreements between this president and myself. The first thing I could really say that I disagreed with him on (as far as the time covered in this book) was on pg 234: one of the first things he did as president was lift President W. Bush's moratorium on federally funded embryonic stem cell research. His words on growing up black were educational and eye-opening. I don't personally agree with some of his viewpoints regarding what is and isn't racially motivated, but being of two 'minorities' myself, I can definitely see how those perceptions can come to be. Aside from those, I could see why he made certain decisions, or my objection was about something so small that it isn't even worth mentioning. With this book, he went from his childhood to political life to his 2008 campaign and election and comes to a close on the death of Osama bin Laden. That final chapter was both harrowing and surreal and probably is for anyone who is old enough to remember September 11th, 2001.
It's 2022 as I type this, and though my younger self would probably be shocked and would protest, I will say that he was a good president. I still maintain that my lack of support for his candidacy had nothing to do with race: it was simply about who I thought was the lesser of two evils, but I will say that today, I somewhat wish I had supported him... At least the first time. I still maintain that Romney would be a great president, and I'm still a moderate republican. I'm not sure how much more praise a formerly unsupportive voter could give after what I've written, so I will end by saying that I give this book 4 stars. It's one heck of a book!
Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, War, and Deportation
drraytay's review against another edition
4.0
Minor: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
eldritch_flower's review against another edition
5.0
And to be transparent, I admired both Obamas long before reading their books(and I still do).
I really enjoyed this. I listened to the audiobook, read by Barack. It details his journey into politics, his marriage to Michelle, the birth of his children, and his career in his first four years as president. He is honest and blunt in his telling of events throughout his career. What I really appreciated though what his willingness to talk about what he wanted to do and the reasons why it couldn't happen, or his thoughts on a situation versus how he needed to conduct himself as President of the United States. It made me admire him all the more because I can actually see his thought process and his feelings when he had to do things he didn't agree with because the options were weighed against what he wanted to do.
I'll also be the first to say that he is in no way, shape or form perfect. But he acknowledges his shortcomings, his mistakes, and his struggles.
Overall, the 30 hour audiobook is well worth the listen. And I know I'll be buying physical copies and this book, and Michelle's book.
Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, War, and Classism
jkiranjot's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Islamophobia, and War
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexism
bookswithsoumi's review against another edition
5.0
Who should read this book: people who want to try memoirs for the first time!
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Sexism and Torture