Who knew me and Malala had so much in common!? What a great memoir to demystify "Malala". I cannot imagine what it is like to be a household name for surviving femicide and in that becoming possibly one of the most famous faces and voices for the education of girls, but I can understand a bit hearing it in her own words. The most powerful aspect of this memoir is Malala's humanisation of herself. Perfection is a prison and no idol can escape captivity. There is unfortunately always someone to piss off in just being yourself, being human and being a developing, growing, curious, imperfect person and Malala fucking knows it. It was great to see that Malala is just like me - I saw myself in her experiences with anxiety (especially in an academic setting), with her struggles with her mother, with her exploration of her own moral code and values, where she is a woman, where she is a feminist and where she is just human. I especially loved seeing learning about her thoughts on marriage and children, many that I too share. This memoir is also an excellent lesson in western privilege. Feminism is a worldwide mission but we do sometimes lose sight of what really fucking matters. Who would've known it would be so controversial for a woman to wear jeans? In seeing our similarities, I also saw our differences by product of our different countries of birth and it was a splash of cold water.

This book really surprised me for the best. I think this may be my first "hard" sci-fi book and it was definitely a little daunting at first to get a bunch of science jargon and a lot of cultural context i'm unfamiliar with but the author and translator did a great job in making it all accessible. The story definitely took an unexpected turn and once the main "reveal" happens, there is still a bit unanswered and the story begins unravelling in a new way. I'll definitely check out the sequel!