Reviews

Non dimenticare chi sei by Yaa Gyasi

lucyvf's review against another edition

3.0

Really interesting book, almost more like a collection of short stories than a novel. It follows several generations of a Ghanaian family through from the 1700s to the present day. I felt the chapters were too quick, you barely got to know each character before you then had to move on to the next.

cgriffiths4's review against another edition

emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

4.0

oliviahoffmann's review against another edition

4.0

I loved the network of characters - only rated it a 4 because I took way longer to read it than I would've liked and the connections got a little fuzzy.

laurenellen's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-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? No

5.0

mackplank30's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I’m a sucker for multigenerational stories and this one was absolutely amazing. While I do partially agree with other reviews that the time spent with each generation felt short, I think that giving us only a brief glance into each generation was exactly the impact the author intended. We don’t need to sit in the highs and lows of each character in each time period because there are countless similar stories for families reeling through the generational impacts of slavery. We instinctively know the horrors that many of them face and they are simultaneously unique and typical in the most tragic way. 

The author creates a strong emotional impact by centering the story around the sense of loss and belonging that comes from being ripped from your homelands whether by choice or the horror of slavery. Each generation feels disconnected from their place in the world whether it’s in their ancestral homeland or in America, because the truth about their family eventually becomes lost to all of them. But it’s still something both sides desperately need to find peace in themselves. 

This was a fantastic story with such a strong sense of history. The ending was touching and you could really feel  the author’s own experiences in the final generation. Feelings of not being able to belong to a place but having no choice, something that I think most immigrants and descendants of immigrants feel but is even more intense when paired with the history of forced migration through slavery. There is a grief and a guilt on both sides, those who stayed and those who were taken away, that can’t ever be fixed but can only be understood and felt. 

bolzano_ed's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

mariab27's review against another edition

4.0

You can start anywhere in this book, go forward or backward, and end up at the same place. Extraordinary!

ratareader's review against another edition

5.0

my only complaint was that I wanted more!

bradslil's review against another edition

4.0

A little bitty, but once you get in then it flows

kcmoss's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

So, I bought Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi last summer and it's been sitting on my bookshelf for a year because I think I've avoided reading it because of the anticipated emotional intensity of it, plus, so many people said that I was going to love it, and so I wanted to hold off for as long as I could (IYKYK). I'm happy to report that it is officially the best book I've read in 2024 (and now one of my favorite books of all time). This book is objectively a masterpiece and that still feels grossly understated. The story begins with two half-sisters in 18th century Ghana, who do not know their half-sisters, where one gets sold into slavery while the other marries a slaver. Each chapter focuses on a family member from each generation underneath them, from which you get to learn about other characters from different perspectives. I really liked each vignette, as the book kind of read like a collection of interconnected short stories and I was constantly referring back to the family tree in the front of the book. Homegoing is remarkable as it covers almost 300 years of history in about 300 pages beautifully and accessibly. I don't want to give too much away but I would highly recommend this book, especially if you love historical fiction. As for the content warnings, obviously this book is centered around the history of slavery and many chapters depict the trauma, pain, and suffering endured by our ancestors in great detail. Still, the easiest 5 stars I've ever given.