salam_'s reviews
572 reviews

This is a book I would (and did) recommend to everyone. I think anyone can find something useful in it. Whether it’s someone trying to implement good habits, quit bad ones, or even a person suffering with time management and balance in their everyday lives.

The book gives tips that are actually practical, easy to apply and can make a difference.

I found myself already familiar with these concepts- Instinctively been applying them, or seen them on some short form on Youtube, social media, TV, articles. It was interesting to me to understand the psychology behind why I do what I do, and the thought process that is happening subconsciously. To also find out that it can be applied elsewhere in my life.   

The negative side of “knowing” is that to me every poing felt overly explained. I found that every chapter was stretched with unnecessary charts, and on-the-nose graphs when it could’ve been more concise with only one example. You understand the already well explained point right away, but the author doesn’t think so, so this over-explanation feels almost patronizing. It didn’t help that each chapter ended with a summary, making it look like a middle school book.

This is my main issue with Self-Help books, the need to drag out every single point in order to create a book out of a simple concept (because let’s be honest it could’ve easily been a Ted Talk).

I understand, however, that this could not be an issue for all, the target audience is the public, and it is a writing choice to make the information presented as be simple as possible for the masses.

What I didn’t have a problem with, in fact quite enjoyed were the anecdotes about the authors’s his life. that gripped me from page one! It was the perfect beginning to build a relatable and sympathetic atmosphere. To make every approach presented after that to seem tried and true.

The research and example given of studies were also interesting, and I appreciated the author having a page where he keeps updating it. 

And lastly, I liked that the reader is given a printable list of to apply what you learn, making it *easy and obvious* ;)

« For my mother. My first fan. Thank you for making me a man. »
Tell me why this line, and the dedication being at the end of the book, made me tear up 🥺
This felt like a love letter to his mother.

I wanted to read this book not because I am Trevor Noah’s biggest fan (I like him, but I’m no stan), but because of my interest on the apartheid in South Africa, and the state of affairs between the different racial groups. Noah did a good job explaining it to someone with little background. I appreciated that. His explanations served as a door to learning and researching more in depth about it, while still being interesting.

I laughed out loud twice in the beginning of the book, but I’d say in the third half the high school stories get a bit too long, so I was glad when he addressed the domestic abuse and opened up more about that situation.

”the traditional man wants a woman to be subservient, but he never falls in love with subservient women. He’s attracted to independent women. “He’s like an exotic bird collector,” she said. “He only wants a woman who is free because his dream is to put her in a cage.”
This line had me pondering the stories I’ve heard from women who went through this experience. And it made me really understand that an abusive man can only feel in power when he changes the status quo. There is no satisfaction in controlling a woman who is already in line.

This memoir was equal parts enjoyable, heart-wrenching, and amusing. I only wished to see more of Trevor Noah’s success story. How he started up in comedy, how and why he moved to America, and the whole story of his success. But maybe that’s a story for another book.

The racial commentary, especially in this political atmosphere hit hard. Here are some of the things I highlighted:

“What was ironic to me was that white people had spent years seeing video of black people being beaten to death by other white people, but this one video of a black man kicking a cat, that’s what sent them over the edge.”

“The genius of apartheid was convincing people who were the overwhelming majority to turn on each other. Apart hate, is what it was. You separate people into groups and make them hate one another so you can run them all.”

“All nonwhites were systematically classified into various groups and subgroups. Then these groups were given differing levels of rights and privileges in order to keep them at odds.”

“I often meet people in the West who insist that the Holocaust was the worst atrocity in human history, without question. Yes, it was horrific. But I often wonder, with African atrocities like in the Congo, how horrific were they? The thing Africans don’t have that Jewish people do have is documentation. The Nazis kept meticulous records, took pictures, made films. And that’s really what it comes down to. Holocaust victims count because Hitler counted them.”

“If you’re Native American and you pray to the wolves, you’re a savage. If you’re African and you pray to your ancestors, you’re a primitive. But when white people pray to a guy who turns water into wine, well, that’s just common sense.”

“People love to say, “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” What they don’t say is, “And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.” That’s the part of the analogy that’s missing.”

 

The tally of how I felt about each individual story put the rating at a 2.6

1- Animal: (4/5) love the concept, could’ve used more finessing. 
2- Jacob: (2/5) cute, but could’ve been deeper.
3- Plum Pie Zombie Green Yellow Bee Purple Monster: (2/5) interesting facts and myth but felt disjointed
4- In The Dark: (2/5) meh 
5- Margaret and Mary and the End of the World: (4/5) liked the use of biblical metaphors and the interlacing of them with modern day. It’s had the strongest plot. 
6- Little Deaths: (3.5/5) fun and sweet!
7- The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night: (2/5) I didn’t like the way the couple talked to each other, and the conversation wasn’t as deep, and their imaginations weren’t as alluring as the story set it out to be.
8- Pebbles: (1/5) I was dragging myself through it.
9- Aunt Libby’s Coffin Hotel: (5/5) my favorite!! All the elements exactly how I liked them to be. Idea, execution and all ❤️
10- Sea Devils: (4/5) it got dark, in a good way.
11- Human Satellites: (3/5) Reminded me of the pandemic days and the world’s reaction to it, knowing it was written way before Covid made it even darker. 
12- Bright White hearts: (3.5/5) I appreciated all the myths and information but they felt disconnected from the story, more like an info dump, instead of woven in to the story. 

Re-reading it cemented it as one of my favorite books. I think about it all the time, and I’m glad to have finally visited it again.
I loved the writing style and the story touched my heart. 


The only reason I cannot give it 5 stars is the blatant misogyny and some transphobic comments. 

2 stars seem too low, while 3 seem too high. 
It is precisely 2.5! 

I buddy-read this book with my friend Salam, and I’m glad we did because this book was thrilling and a page turner, and as a buddy-read it was nice having someone giving me that extra push because I was medium-hooked, it wouldn’t be the first book I would wanna pick up when I’m reading others, but when the mood kicks in I do feel like reading it, and by the end fly through it, even though it got too long by the last third. 
To it’s credit I did not see the plot twists coming, even the ending still had a twist I fell for, even though I would’ve preferred if they went with the melancholy route instead. 

Now the first thing that irked me was our MC. Unlikable from the get-go, and even though she gets a character development and a redemption arc throughout the book, I did not like her. And amongst the characters UNBELIEVABLE dynamics. I couldn’t suspend my disbelief to imagine this occurring IRL, it actually read like a horror movie (which cheapened it), and I also could not keep track of what was happening in the action scenes (don’t know if that’s on me or if it’s poor writing).
I sensed that the author added weird freaky stuff for the sake of being weird like

The villain kissing his brother on the lips!

It meant nothing, and was never explored again.  just an added shock factor for the sake of it. Another example is

the crush/love subplot

which came out of nowhere and did not align with the character’s motives or personal agenda. 

And this final point is just because the audacity of it pissed me off- Someone (an author) in the blurb compared this book to Agatha Christie and I think.. he just didn’t read it (or didn’t read anything by Agatha Christie) because there’s absolutely no comparison, not just in quality but it is a completely different vibe. It isn’t even trying to compete with that. Simply not on the same league!

I can’t tell you why I liked this book as much as I did. I can’t even recommend it with my whole chest to anyone.
I both get and don’t get the Sally Rooney cult following. 

I disliked the characters, they frustrated me. There was this ongoing Will they-Won’t They potential dangling in front of me, so close yet, almost impossible. 
There is no plot, just vibes. So tell me why I couldn’t wait to pick it up, why I enjoyed reading about these unlikable characters so much? 
This book is weird, but I guess in a twisted way- a kind of Weird that worked for me.
The one answer I have and what makes this book unique is how it reveals a person’s inner most thoughts and feelings, how it reflects and discusses the human experience with such delicacy, and how raw and honest it was to the point of literal intimacy.
I’ve never read anything like this, and I can’t wait to read another Sally Rooney book.

I’ve honestly expected more of this collection. 
Being a Somali British poet, and hearing all the praise about it, my expectations were so high, and sadly not met. 

I wanted heart-wrenching, deep punches. I wanted to cry and feel a longing, I wanted this to be my favorite read of the year. I did not get that, however it started off strong with “I have my mother’s mouth and my father’s eyes; on my face they are still together.” And the shock value of the second poem, I also appreciated her use of culturally relevant things, things no one would understand except us (Somali/Sudan), like the line “front teeth stained from the fluoride in the water back home.” This line specifically made me feel SEEN. 
Another one about the diaspora dilemma “I think home spat me out, the blackouts and curfews like tongue against loose tooth.” 

And just the beautiful prose and language in:

“I’m bloated with language I can’t afford to forget.”

“In Love and In War 

To my daughter I will say, ‘when the men come, set yourself on fire.”


“Apathy is the same as war, it all kills you, she says. Slow like cancer in the breast or fast like a machete in the neck.”

I would still recommend this poetry collection, and I will be devouring Shire’s other works, with more reasonable expectations this time around.

This book was a journey! A beautiful and wild journey!

As someone who was made aware of the PCT in the last year, I immediately added this major hike to my bucket list. I was fully invested in consuming everything about it, and this book kept coming up in every conversation about the PCT, so I had to check it out. 

This is not my first read of Cheryl Strayed, I had read « Tiny Beautiful Things » previously, and I thought it was intimate and raw, but getting to know her through the lens of her PCT hiking experience felt even more raw and honest. So raw that she sounded to me like an unlikable narrator of her own life. She didn’t cover he flaws or wrongdoings, she didn’t shy away from voicing how she felt and the emotions one would not utter, she would write about bravely. Because of this transparency I grew to appreciate and love her, and saw how much the PCT was affecting her from the inside out, and see her beautiful unraveling.

This book gad also strengthened my wish to go through this hike one day too, and experience it fully as it is.

In a embarrassing way, it reminded me of my own writings as a teenager. Ones I am now too shameful to share. The forced rhyme for the sake of rhyme, and the short prose with a hit or miss. It is also an unsettling feeling to see a work similar to that I could produce as a teenager is being critically acclaimed and winning prizes and getting widely published. 

There were some poems that landed with me, I did not absolutely hate it all, but a lot of them (especially in the beginning and towards the end) made me cringe and felt as amateur as what I had on my tumblr blog.