Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, Jens Rösener

51 reviews

alisonannk's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Genocide, and Kidnapping

maddiearthur's review against another edition

emotional funny informative tense fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Blood and Antisemitism

Minor: Rape

kiwichill's review against another edition

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

5.0

This was one of the best memoirs I have ever read.  I have never seen Trevor Noah on TV, I'd never heard of him.  I just kept seeing this book come up in Facebook groups etc.  At times shocking and disturbing,  other times humorous,  it opened my eyes to what life is like in South Africa, both during apartheid and after.  Poverty, domestic violence, crime, racism and government laws that support these ideals are a way of life over there. Noah's mother must be commended for the strength of character and resilience she displays.  I recommend listening to the audiobook as it is excellent 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tayrod4594's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

This memoir is absolutely stunning. It's an unflinching, honest portrait of South Africa, of how the various influences might combine to create a man whose greatest quality is his empathy. He makes no bones about the harsh realities of poverty, racism, domestic abuse, and crime; however, he doesn't position himself or his loved ones as victims or martyrs. It's simply the reality, and humor and hope are an ever-present thread weaving together his history.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Police brutality, Car accident, and Alcohol

gwenswoons's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Liked this a lot - lots of beautiful storytelling, tons of deep history about South African apartheid told in really personal ways, and an unusual balance of comedy and vivid, traumatic, clear information that Trevor Noah does so well. The structure, for me, wasn’t totally successful - I think the word “Stories” in the title is key, and it’s definitely built more like vignettes - to my reading, it was often not entirely successful from the extent of the non-sequitur - than like a traditional memoir (I’m not a major memoir reader anyway, so I was ok with this! But the timeline leaps and unrelated stories sometimes felt like they could have been built into a slightly more effective arc). I listened on audio, and can’t recommend it enough - he’s obviously such a great narrator, so funny, so inflected and beautiful (and, so amazing hearing him switch between different languages in different stories - I loved!!). Can’t imagine reading this NOT on audio! I’ll def read more of his books as he writes them 💜

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

elyssajoh's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit

zoegupta's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

natashaball's review against another edition

challenging funny informative inspiring fast-paced

4.5

So interesting reading about Trevor’s childhood and the people surrounding him.   What a mother, her personality and charm shine through the book! I feel like the book was an introduction to living under apartheid, would need to read more about it, but it’s clear how the laws and racism affected his life and the country in general. A little confusing with the chapters being themed and not in chronological order, but nothing that stops  the enjoyment of the book. The writing reminded me a lot of his intros on his show - serious subjects dealt with irony and humour to make them more accessible.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Racism

miggyfool's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

spellygirl's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, and Colonisation