When I read and review a book that I love, one of the most common compliments I give is “I read this in one sitting” or something similar. Born a Crime was quite the opposite. It’s a book that I love that took me forrrevvvverrrrr (in my world) to read. My husband actually commented about how few pages I was able to read in one sitting each night.

So why did it take me so long? I think that, for a humorous book, it was heavy and it felt too dense to read quickly. I wanted to take it one chapter at a time and really sit with what I’d read. Obviously, apartheid and racism are not new to me, but South African history is certainly not my area of expertise and a lot of the details were new. I just needed time.

{Spoiler alert: this paragraph has them!} Noah’s story is simply incredible. That one person lived all of those stories is almost mind-boggling. And even more so when you think about the fact that there are definitely stories and parts of his life that are missing from the book. And when you get to that last chapter – wow. Early on in the book, he casually mentions that Abel would at some point shoot his mom in the back of the head. I remember catching my breath and thinking how sad that his mom was murdered by his stepfather… but she wasn’t (thank God) and that makes the story even crazier! I won’t spoil it more than that, but the entire situation with Abel just made me angry and disgusted.

And now I am going to say the most cliché thing I can (and something I am fairly certain I said in my review of The Hate U Give as well). If you’re looking to read a book that is inspiring, funny, thought-provoking, and (here it is) relevant – Born a Crime has you covered.