I am Malala – An exaggerated biography?

I am Malala, a book I read a while ago and found little difficult to review. I decided to read this book essentially because I heard the name “Malala Yousafzai” so many times in the newspapers and TV channels. The one line description of her “The girl who stood for the right to education for girls and shot by the Taliban”. Which can make anybody interested to know her story. I picked up the book to find out her story and what happened to her.

A little about the book: I am Malala

The book is an autobiography of a 16-year-old girl who lived in Swat valley of Pakistan. She fought for the basic human rights against the oppressors, the local Taliban. The book mainly revolves around her love for going to school and girl education. She refused to follow the orders of the Taliban (the group who does moral policing, oppresses women and banned girls from going to school when they took control over the Swat valley). Later, a Taliban gunman shot Malala Yousafzai. But she survived and currently living in asylum with her family in London. Her story is a collection of her childhood and family memories stirred political and historical events of Pakistan.

Check out my blogs on How I rate a book to see my book rating system and How to write a book review – A step by step guide to see how I review the books.

Disclaimer

I am not reviewing the personality of Malala Yousafzai and I am not trying to malign her image in any way. Definitely, her story is true, inspiring and I admire her. I am trying to describe what I found in this book. Because while reading, I felt some serious problems in this book. It made me think that this book was authentic only up to a degree. After that, it is just a made up reality.

What is so wrong with this book?

The author “Malala Yousafzai” and co-author “Christina Lamb” exaggerate pretty much everything in the story. The book looks like a compilation of her memories and family stories sprinkled with the factual information associated with the history and politics of Pakistan. The way all this relates to her life starts making you feel that there is war all over. The author tried to make everything as sensational as possible in this book. Most of the story is overly dramatic.

All the time she keeps praising her father and belittles her country of origin. She loads the book with the mentions of other people on how great Malala was, self-praise and some quantity of bragging. She desperately tries to make people feel like she is another Anne Frank (which her story never came close to). End of the book is packed with the names of important political people who came to meet her in hospital. It also includes the awards she won and everyone who validated her. Because of all this, I found her little desperate for fame.

Final notes

When it comes to the writing of history. I strictly disapprove of anyone who tries to represent truth in a distorted form. Anyone who tells stories with half-truths and shows one side of the coin. Doesn’t matter if the author does that deliberately or innocently. When you read this book, you’ll start feeling that it is less about her initiative but more about Malala being great.

My Rating: 2/5

How do you rate your books? Share your views with us in the comments section below, please leave a feedback and share if you like this post. You can contact us if you have any questions or requests. Also, have a look at our other book reviews.