Reviews

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

jaynamihalick's review against another edition

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5.0

Such a good and important book! I loved the way Trevor Noah tells his experiences with the humor and the seriousness in a good balance. Very authentic and genuine

deckanddaughter's review against another edition

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5.0

Wow. As one who doesn’t normally enjoy non-fiction, especially biography style stuff…this was incredible. I’ve been a fan of Trevor for awhile so that isn’t entirely surprising. He’s got a talent for injecting what may be a simple story with humor, heart, intrigue, awe, grief. Just everything. The full spectrum.

I particularly enjoyed the chapters about the covert poop that caused an exorcism and the ones explaining the community supportive based “money lending” through street hustling and piracy.

And the last chapter regarding his mother and her harrowing experiences- wow. The best punchline for a fantastic memoir.

(Also, I listened to this as an audiobook and very grateful it was narrated by Trevor himself. I don’t think anyone else could have done it. Not only because of all the linguistic aspects (loved hearing snippets of all the languages that he experienced and learned growing up) but because of the emotional nuance. The audio version is super worth it!)

claudiabookturtle's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.25

arcielle's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

4.5

biffylal's review against another edition

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5.0

I loved this book. As a Trevor Noah fan I loved reading about his upbringing, and as someone who is fascinated by various cultures it just added that special it factor.

I would highly recommend this to everyone and anyone. Especially in the current race movement. He speaks about what it was like growing up mixed race in a South Africa and just about race in general.

Some pages had we glued, others had be cry laughing, others had me relating, worrying or sad.

It's definitely a must-read for everyone and I have no doubt I will be rereading it in the future.

hli's review against another edition

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5.0

Not only was this an insightful read from his perspective growing up during the apartheid of Africa, but he is a terrific and hilarious story teller. I haven’t laughed out loud reading a book in such a long time. He is street smart, intelligent and what a beautiful testimony of his life to share.

lizbeachy's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

5.0

I read this book before travelling to South Africa for field school. It was really helpful in learning about the lived experience of South Africans during apartheid and set me up with knowledge to reflect on while I learned and experienced things on my trip. Trevor Noah’s writing combines elements of humour and emotion in a way that blend seamlessly and make this biography such an enjoyable read.

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maribee3's review against another edition

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5.0

I loved this autobiography! “Born a Crime” is a very informative and informative biography that tells about Trevor Noah’s childhood in South Africa. There is so much I didn’t know about South Africa and apartheid that is included in this book. Along with being educational, this biography can be funny, sad, and relatable at times. Many times I found myself being so excited to start a new chapter and learn about a new story from Noah’s life.

books_w_bex's review against another edition

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5.0

Fantastic memoir. Trevor Noah is such an interesting unique person. His mom tho. OMG. Highly recommend listening to the audiobook.

scohen_'s review against another edition

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4.0

I understand i am like 10 years late to this but ummm i learned so much about south africa. Just saying i literally never learned about apartheid in school…??