Four Star review, originally posted here on June 18, 2014.
The writing in this book is severely lacking, and for the first half or so I would have rated it at three stars. But the truth of the matter is, this book, no matter how well or poorly written, is SUPER INTERESTING. The subject matter is fascinating, Malala’s story is fascinating, the setting and history are fascinating, etc. So subject matter gets five stars, but I had to drop a star because it just really needed some serious editing. It feels like a solid rough draft, written by a smart highschooler who is still learning the ropes. My high school English teachers would have red-penned all over this book, then had me fix it for an A. My hunch is that they rushed to get this to print, and the editors did more of a quick skim than any sort of serious rework.
So should you read this book? YES. ABSOLUTELY. YOU ARE GUARANTEED TO LEARN A LOT! And Malala is seriously, seriously awesome and badass. Just try to think of it more as a several hundred page journal entry than a work of professional nonfiction.
Helga without the H 