Reviews

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

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maisiereads1895's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

mewpre's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

caitlyn_baldwin's review against another edition

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emotional 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? No

5.0

“We believe the one who has power. He is the one who gets to write the story. So when you study history, you must ask yourself, Whose story am I missing? Whose voice was suppressed so that this voice could come forth? Once you have figured that out, you must find that story too. From there you get a clearer, yet still imperfect, picture.”

A beautifully moving generational saga. The narrative unfolds in a clear nod to the traditional oral storytelling style and the writing paints such vivid snapshots of the family’s history. I think it’s a really creative way to view the generational effects of imperialism.

bmunsh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Incredibly challenging book. Only reasons I took off points were:

1) the formatting, as a collection of short stories, was a powerful tool. However, as it progressed, it did feel like it fizzled out slightly. The emotion of the first few chapters was so fresh and jarring that it felt like the latter chapters couldn’t quite keep up.
2) I get that it’s a novel and novels need interesting things to happen, but it felt slightly non-immersive that each character was so spectacular and present for so many famous things.

Content Warnings

dream_attack's review against another edition

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5.0

wowww

emeereee's review against another edition

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5.0

this reminds me a lot of the love songs of web du bois but so much shorter and spanning more generations (if i’m remembering correctly). i love a multi-gen book and this was no exception. masterful.