Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

558 reviews

an_finsceal's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Slavery

caits_lh's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Vomit, and War

cristhebird's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

torie01's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Slavery

Moderate: Drug use

getyourghosts's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery

karkeyheadrest's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, and Kidnapping

aliteraryescape's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, and Slavery

Minor: Rape

baearles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Mental illness, Rape, Excrement, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

ravina_b's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I’ve heard a lot of mixed reviews about this novel and as someone that loves historical family epics, I wasn’t sure how a telling of multiple generations could be conveyed completely within 300 pages.  HOMEGOING is about two sisters, one who marries a merchant and one who becomes enslaved.  Yaa Gyasi takes us through seven generations of each woman, exploring the different journeys their lives take and providing an insight into the extent of the damage that the slave trade inflicted on African communities.

I learnt a bit about how the Fante and Asante people dealt with British colonisation, and actually how little I knew about what exactly was happening when Europeans arrived in regions of Africa — gaps that I now know to learn more about.  In fact, I’ve read that Gyasi tied each character to a significant historical event and I’m not sure yet that I’m able to identify them all, so there’s a bit more work to be done on my part.

This was a tough read and some parts were extremely upsetting but, whilst I would have liked to learn a bit more about each character than I was able to with each getting roughly 20 pages each, it’s something I would turn to again.

📌 Set across Ghana and the United States.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Rape

dowleyrachel's review against another edition

challenging hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I liked the structure of the book, staying on a single character for only a chapter before moving onto their child. The book covered a myriad of topics and fully explored blackness both in the US and for those who stayed in Africa. Some chapters were very dark but the book had a hopeful ending where the two sides of the family meet and explore their roots together.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Slavery, and Trafficking

Moderate: Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation