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Life as a Unicorn: A Journey from Shame to Pride and Everything in Between by Amrou Al-Kadhi
octavia_cade's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
I can't honestly say that I've ever been to a drag show, but they sound fun. I'd be interested in going. And given that drag is in the news right now, due to absolute cretins objecting to drag queens reading to children in public libraries I thought I'd give this a go. (Literacy! The horror! Like The Very Hungry Caterpillar is suddenly irredeemable perversion if read by someone in a colourful wig. I mean seriously, get a grip. Anyone who's willing to spend time teaching kids to read can dress as whatever the hell they want, signed someone-who's-actually-worked-in-a-library.)
I enjoyed it. Mostly I just felt sympathetic to this poor kid who was really suffering at the thought of going to hell and losing their family and just being generally unworthy of any good thing. I'm glad they grew up to find something that made them happy and gave them a sense of self-worth. We could all use some more hopeful stories these days. And the cover is gorgeous; I love the sparkly tentacles.
I enjoyed it. Mostly I just felt sympathetic to this poor kid who was really suffering at the thought of going to hell and losing their family and just being generally unworthy of any good thing. I'm glad they grew up to find something that made them happy and gave them a sense of self-worth. We could all use some more hopeful stories these days. And the cover is gorgeous; I love the sparkly tentacles.
thearieslibrary's review against another edition
I’ve been debating about DNFing this book or whether I should continue but the more and more I think about this book, the more annoyed I feel because I found so many things insufferable/problematic and I just couldn’t look past them so I thought it was time I cut my losses despite being 81% done.
I tried with the audiobook but found the author (who narrates the audiobook) to be one that I couldn’t listen to - I couldn’t get the speed right to work with my brain and take any information in from the memoir but I also didn’t like how it was narrated so I found myself not being interested in picking this up. So I tried with the ebook and I found myself not caring, which is a shame because I think their perspective could have been very unique as a nonbinary, queer, Muslim drag queen but I think I expected more from it - more about being a drag queen, seeking/receiving therapy and the impact that had on their lives (instead of a one sentence mention about it changing their life) and how they coped with their mental illnesses, especially OCD as it sounded quite detrimental to their health at times and it felt like it was mentioned a few times then forgotten about.
I think what solidified this for me was how awful Amrou has been to some people featured within this book and the poor animals (who deserved a way better life than being neglected and left to die). I just couldn’t move past some of those things especially the animal abuse as I felt like there was no accountability taken for the things they had done - it felt like everything was blamed on everyone else instead of recognising the harm that they have also done within their life.
I also think for someone who recognises the privilege that others have, they completely neglected to recognise their own privilege especially as a lot of people from minority backgrounds don’t have parents who can bail them out when they’ve got no money in their bank account or be able to attend Eton, which is extremely expensive to attend. From what I’ve been able to find online, the percentage of Muslims that live in poverty is between 40% to 50% so Amrou’s experiences are very unique and not generalisable/relatable, which made me have a harder time connecting to them or their story as they could have highlighted this and how they had access to such an influential and prestigious education at Eton.
I’ll be honest in saying that I don’t know whether they are completely healed in their journey from shame to pride because a lot of things written sounded extremely bitter, particularly with their treatment of Dennis. Like I could understand feeling like rubbish because your friend can be openly gay and has an accepting family but you could still show happiness and be there for them. Or even discuss how you are feeling with them instead of closing off? Also, the way that Amrou didn’t even let Dennis say that he was gay and literally asked him if he was after Dennis said he had something to tell Amrou, really annoyed me. Maybe it touches on this more in the last 19% but I feel like if that’s the case, it should have been introduced way earlier on.
A lot of this memoir felt like filler, like it was added to try and make the book sound more interesting than it was and there was a lot of trauma dumping that I hadn’t necessarily anticipated. I really thought that I would have enjoyed this book as it sounded right up my alley but unfortunately, it wasn’t for me.
I tried with the audiobook but found the author (who narrates the audiobook) to be one that I couldn’t listen to - I couldn’t get the speed right to work with my brain and take any information in from the memoir but I also didn’t like how it was narrated so I found myself not being interested in picking this up. So I tried with the ebook and I found myself not caring, which is a shame because I think their perspective could have been very unique as a nonbinary, queer, Muslim drag queen but I think I expected more from it - more about being a drag queen, seeking/receiving therapy and the impact that had on their lives (instead of a one sentence mention about it changing their life) and how they coped with their mental illnesses, especially OCD as it sounded quite detrimental to their health at times and it felt like it was mentioned a few times then forgotten about.
I think what solidified this for me was how awful Amrou has been to some people featured within this book and the poor animals
I also think for someone who recognises the privilege that others have, they completely neglected to recognise their own privilege especially as a lot of people from minority backgrounds don’t have parents who can bail them out when they’ve got no money in their bank account or be able to attend Eton, which is extremely expensive to attend. From what I’ve been able to find online, the percentage of Muslims that live in poverty is between 40% to 50% so Amrou’s experiences are very unique and not generalisable/relatable, which made me have a harder time connecting to them or their story as they could have highlighted this and how they had access to such an influential and prestigious education at Eton.
I’ll be honest in saying that I don’t know whether they are completely healed in their journey from shame to pride because a lot of things written sounded extremely bitter
A lot of this memoir felt like filler, like it was added to try and make the book sound more interesting than it was and there was a lot of trauma dumping that I hadn’t necessarily anticipated. I really thought that I would have enjoyed this book as it sounded right up my alley but unfortunately, it wasn’t for me.
applefritter7's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
fiercereadsfiction's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Islamophobia and Sexual content
Minor: Drug use
rebeccazh's review against another edition
4.0
Funny, irreverent and brutally honest, Amrou Al-Kadhi talks about living with identities that are shamed and unaccepted in both societies they grow up in - Saudi Arabia and England. I enjoyed their hilarious narration. Their descriptions of childhood are poignant, funny, but also terrifying and depressing because of the warnings about queer folk going straight to hell. Amrou is brutally honest about their motivations and actions, and it was hard to read about their shame and self-loathing and simultaneously the way they would lash out at others. The path to healing is difficult and painful, but Amrou's reconciliation with their mother and brother (if not their father) was very hopeful and moving. A really good memoir.