Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

12 reviews

crybabybea's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad

4.5

Beautifully written, if a bit long-winded at times. I was really taken aback by how similar stories of abuse are, even though the circumstances vary from person to person. I connected it with my own life a lot, and I saw the resemblance to similar memoirs such as Educated

I also appreciated that Safiya Sinclair included information about Rastafari and Jamaican history, so we would have proper context as we read.

Safiya is clearly an incredible writer, and she does a wonderful job weaving together the complex emotions that come from experiencing abuse. On top of that, the complexity is deepened even further by the generational trauma of colonization and poverty. I found it to be a very well-rounded memoir with a great balance of personal experience and historical research.

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sadhbh2525's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0


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readandfindout's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

4.75

Style/writing: 5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Perspective: 4.5 stars

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himpersonal's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Oh wow. Speechless. Ending was not what I expected. So much intergenerational anguish and fighting for survival. And I loved all the poetry too. Hoping to read more of her works after having finished this one.

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honeyvoiced's review against another edition

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medium-paced

4.5


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deen734's review against another edition

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

5.0


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ireanirean's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.5


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creativerunnings's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0


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thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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dark inspiring slow-paced

4.5

Context: I chose How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair as an add-on to my Book of the Month box in October 2023. 
 
Review:
 
Safiya Sinclair delivers a beautifully written and powerful memoir of her life growing up under the tyranny of her abusive father, who uses his interpretation of the Rastafari faith to control Safiya, her siblings, and her mother. Although Sinclair got her start as a poet and frequently uses metaphor and figurative language in How to Say Babylon, her memoir is immensely readable and pulls the reader in with its literary quality. Sinclair is a master of language, but her memoir also reveals her mastery of storytelling structure, as each chapter feels like a cohesive whole that seamlessly builds upon the story of her life, her family, and her roots. Her retrospective on her upbringing demonstrates a keen awareness of the forces and personalities that shaped her life—nurturing and destructive, fleeting and abiding. She reminds us that above all else, courage and empathy are necessary to free ourselves from people and situations that work to keep us silent. 
 
 

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ittywitty's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0


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