Review of They Love You Until You Start Thinking for Yourself

[Andrea Paravano]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "They Love You Until You Start Thinking for Yourself" by Monica Omorodion Swaida.]

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2 out of 5 stars

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They Love You Until You Start Thinking for Yourself by Monica Omorodion Swaida is a memoir of the author’s life: how she moved around as a child and her family dynamic, finally coming to America and beginning her business ventures while also following her passions in film and music.

The book is very repetitive; the author states the same information over and over. It seems like the author rambles, reciting the same stories or looking back on the same memories again and again.

The book was long and way overdrawn; it could have been a lot easier of a read if the author had shared her story in a correct timeline. The book is a bit all over the place. It’s almost as if the author jotted down her thoughts as she wrote and then never went back and organized them into a timeframe. Instead, she just jumped back and forth between time periods and memories. The book would have made more sense if it began in her childhood and she discussed her most core memories before moving on to becoming a teenager and then adulthood.

Unfortunately, while this book is supposed to be inspiring, it falls very flat in that aspect. Instead, it’s more of a show-and-tell for the author of all her accomplishments, making her seem very full of herself.

The author talks about how she became a mom but does not go into any detail about her personal relationship with her child or the father of her child. Instead, there is an entire chapter dedicated to telling people how to be a good parent. I can understand wanting to give some tips that the author has come across in her life and how she speaks with children. Unfortunately, the way this information is portrayed in this book is more of “everyone is doing it wrong, and this is how they should be doing it.”

The author speaks about her strict upbringing, where her parents’ paid attention to her and her siblings because there were no electronics to distract them, then goes on to describe all the things she did when she snuck away. There are also entire chapters about how she basically ran away from home during her teenage years without telling her family and was homeless. This gives very mixed messages to readers.

I would rate this book 2 out of 5 stars. I think the author has a very interesting story, but unfortunately, how it is written is very hard to read and follow along with. There were multiple times during reading that I considered not finishing the book, but I ultimately made it to the end.

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They Love You Until You Start Thinking for Yourself
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[Kibet Hillary]

The title is really captivating, but it appears the unnecessary repetitions, which made the book relatively lengthy, had a huge impact on the reading experience and the rating as well. I wish this had been improved to ensure readers not only read this but also enjoy reading it. Thanks for the review, @Andrea Paravano.

[Onyemuwa-dave]

You've clearly articulated the challenges you faced with the repetitive nature and disjointed timeline, which can certainly make a memoir difficult to follow. It's helpful that you shared your perspective on its effectiveness as an inspirational read. Thanks for your honest and detailed feedback!