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A review by angelbabe_cj
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
Not an easy read for the contents, but beautifully written and important. There's a lot to unpack in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Ableism, Death, and Violence
Rape: It does mention in the blurb but the rape is of a minor, the first person child, Angelou being the victim. It is explicitly on screen and in a fair amount of detail, although relatively brief.
Outcomes of rape: Perpetrator is reported, tried, jailed, and somehow let out before being killed (implied by Angelou's Uncles)
Violence is mostly off-screen or the results described after the fact, but there are several instances.
Racism: A major theme of the book. Includes both more major and minor events, featuring both systemic and more direct racism, to varying degrees of detail. Setting 1930s and 1940s.
Death: doesn't happen on screen but some dead bodies described.