*Many thanks to Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, and Netgalley for an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) of this book**

Everyone knows the name Muhammad Ali. Titan of the Ring. The Greatest. Boxer Royalty. There isn't a boxer better than him. He was the great equalizer, the one so many looked up to (even from the mat), and this biography of what he meant outside of the ring shines light on what truly made him great- his kindness, and deep soul of compassion.

BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLIES
1. I loved learning more about Ali. I'm not a boxer, or an aficionado of the sport. I know very little about it, but I enjoyed mixing the sport with the spirituality of the man that means so much to it. I knew he was great, but not HOW GREAT. I had no idea about the taunting, about him calling out the opposition. I had no idea about many of his philanthropic efforts. It was nice to learn more about him, and how close he was to racial equality movements, and to historical figures like Malcolm X and Dr. King.

2. For the most part, I liked the way this book was written. The word choices and prose was very clear.

3. I liked the research that was put into this book. You can tell that the author was very passionate about displaying how "The Greatest" was not just because of his ring-side presence, but how large he looked in real life.

BEE STINGS
1. One of the hardest part about reading this book is that some phrases are repeated over and over. There were passages that were in the book that had already been stated in a few pages before it, so to read them a second time so close together was a bit jarring.

2. The chronology of the book is a bit too loose. Most of the story is told linearly, but there are times where passages flash back to the beginning of Ali's life, and when they pop up seemed out of place. A great example is Ali's relationship with Sister James Ellen. We are introduced to her in snippets throughout the book, through her letters to him, but we never fully know how they met until someplace towards the end of the book. If the book was meant to be told linearly, I would have liked to see that more towards the beginning.

3. I would have liked to see more about his philanthropic efforts over time, and how that work impacted him. Several times, it mentioned that he went on trips that were "life-changing", and it made him want to give back to the people because of them. But, nothing was said about HOW or WHY that trip, or that experience, was life-changing. It was more "telling" than "showing". More details would have made more of an impact on me.

CONCLUSION
I liked the book, and I learned quite a bit about Ali, but the book did not stand out to me as a whole. If you are interested in a book to read that does not go in depth about Ali, but highlights some of his greatest moments, then this book will be great for you. I would recommend this for someone who is an entry level or casual watcher of boxing, and someone who is familiar with Ali. If you are a devout boxing fanatic, who watches old Ali clips over and over (because you admire the man so much), I feel this book will not teach you much of anything that you didn't already knew.