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adeselnaferreira's review against another edition
5.0
The review is huge so follow the link:
http://illusionarypleasure.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/eu-malala-2/
http://illusionarypleasure.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/eu-malala-2/
spencervail's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing Book
I had heard about her news and followed it a little bit but finally got around to reading her story. She is such an incredible person and I feel very lucky to read it.
I had heard about her news and followed it a little bit but finally got around to reading her story. She is such an incredible person and I feel very lucky to read it.
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5
I had only recently really heard about Malala and some of her story so I found her book and decided to read it as soon as I could. I found the book very interesting and informative.
I had only recently really heard about Malala and some of her story so I found her book and decided to read it as soon as I could. I found the book very interesting and informative.
rsuray's review against another edition
5.0
I went into this book with no expectations. All I knew was that Malala was the girl who got shot in the head by the Taliban for attending school. I was ignorant of her accomplishments and surprised that she was a known activist before the attempted murder even occurred. I listened to the story on audiobook while running and am so glad I did. Though Malala herself does not narrate further than the introduction, Archie Panjabi's narration was so poetic that she brought Malala's words to life in clear, vibrant way.
The book is what is promises: a story of a girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban. But what I really enjoyed was that so little of the book focuses on the shooting and the aftermath. Malala winds us through her childhood through the lens of the Taliban's rise to power in Pakistan's Swat Valley, her homeland. She had the immense blessing of growing up close to her father who encouraged girls' education and had very progressive ideas for the country. The book really focuses on their relationship, and she tells us his backstory and arduous journey to open a girls' school in Swat. Even when she describes what went on while she was flown to Birmingham, it's told almost as a dual-narrative between father and daughter. This helps cement Malala not only as a social activist but as a teenage girl. She narrates in a way a child would--by asking questions. This childlike innocence heightens the severity of the crime committed against her and her valley, and it heightens the entire reading experience.
I highly recommend this book. Though critics thought the co-writer thinned down a lot of Malala's substance, her voice still rings strong. It's a quick read and introduces a perspective most Westerners only read about second-hand in papers. Malala is refreshingly raw, and I will likely turn soon to her recent book on refugee displacement.
The book is what is promises: a story of a girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban. But what I really enjoyed was that so little of the book focuses on the shooting and the aftermath. Malala winds us through her childhood through the lens of the Taliban's rise to power in Pakistan's Swat Valley, her homeland. She had the immense blessing of growing up close to her father who encouraged girls' education and had very progressive ideas for the country. The book really focuses on their relationship, and she tells us his backstory and arduous journey to open a girls' school in Swat. Even when she describes what went on while she was flown to Birmingham, it's told almost as a dual-narrative between father and daughter. This helps cement Malala not only as a social activist but as a teenage girl. She narrates in a way a child would--by asking questions. This childlike innocence heightens the severity of the crime committed against her and her valley, and it heightens the entire reading experience.
I highly recommend this book. Though critics thought the co-writer thinned down a lot of Malala's substance, her voice still rings strong. It's a quick read and introduces a perspective most Westerners only read about second-hand in papers. Malala is refreshingly raw, and I will likely turn soon to her recent book on refugee displacement.
s_sanfor907's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
3.75
knod78's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to read this book for so long now and I'm glad I did. She had an interesting story and life and I loved reading about Pakistan history. I honestly didn't know that the area was of Buddhist religion.
My problem with the book was the writing itself. It was equivalent to what I do when I first write a draft of anything...I word dump. I'm actually surprised they published the book written the way it was written. Where was the editor? I mean she would be talking about competing with her friend on a test or how she liked mangoes and then the next sentence (same paragraph) talk about the military dictator in exile. It didn't have any transition at all. There was no organization to the chapters. It wasn't until the last couple of chapters where it followed the timeline of her being shot, the various hospital stays, and then her life in England. In fact, the Epilogue was the only chapter to have less word dump.
I kept reading the book, because like I said, the story is interesting. But I'm not sure I recommend it. The book was at times hard to follow and I was annoyed most of the time reading it, because of the sentence structures alone. But it does give you an insight to Pakistan after 9/11 and how girls / people were treated and how the Taliban took over so easily.
My problem with the book was the writing itself. It was equivalent to what I do when I first write a draft of anything...I word dump. I'm actually surprised they published the book written the way it was written. Where was the editor? I mean she would be talking about competing with her friend on a test or how she liked mangoes and then the next sentence (same paragraph) talk about the military dictator in exile. It didn't have any transition at all. There was no organization to the chapters. It wasn't until the last couple of chapters where it followed the timeline of her being shot, the various hospital stays, and then her life in England. In fact, the Epilogue was the only chapter to have less word dump.
I kept reading the book, because like I said, the story is interesting. But I'm not sure I recommend it. The book was at times hard to follow and I was annoyed most of the time reading it, because of the sentence structures alone. But it does give you an insight to Pakistan after 9/11 and how girls / people were treated and how the Taliban took over so easily.
caroline_hotz's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.75