Reviews tagging 'War'

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

153 reviews

nerp's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

WOW. The hype is not wrong. This isn’t a traditional story with plot and character development and what have you—it’s a family epic spanning generations and countries to paint a picture of African and American Blackness. This is a book about pain and intergenerational trauma, but it’s also a book about intergenerational survival and contentment, about the knowledge and stories held in blood and ancestry. This book is about the realities and legacies of colonialism—but more than that. This is a book worth studying for craft, as the storytelling structure and the feeling of the story being told in circles so neatly works with its thematic concerns.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Violence, Religious bigotry, and War

nataliecoyne's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

The 4.5-star rating instead of a 5-star rating is because it was a bit difficult to really get into at the beginning. But I quickly fell in love with it and the dual storylines of the two branches of the family (one branch that ended up staying in Ghana vs one that ended up enslaved in America). I would definitely recommend this to others, though urge others to keep in mind this is more character-focused than necessarily plot-focused (which is why I think it was a bit difficult to initially get into).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and War

rizky's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

petrareads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

The first half of the book is solidly 5 stars, absolutely excellent. It trails off a little bit (for me personally) in the second half. Still very good. I loved the writing. I often couldn't put the book down, I picked it up before even checking my phone one morning. I learned a lot about history, and the thing about historical fiction is that you can the feel history, viscerally, instead of it being just facts and statistics. I loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Blood, Excrement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: War

Minor: Vomit

miyajensen13's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Death of parent, and War

aunlc's review against another edition

emotional informative sad 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

5.0

nothing i say here will even begin to describe how incredible this story is. illustrating the lasting impacts of the transatlantic slave trade, this is honestly a tough read at times. the way gyasi managed to weave together an epic of several generations into 300 pages….? amazing. and the final chapter wraps all of it up so beautifully. just WOW.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Violence, Excrement, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, and War

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

clovetra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

i have never in my life read a book where the story spans the perspectives of more than three generations. to follow seven generations, fourteen individuals, each with their own story, was mesmerising. gyasi has such a way with words, and i was enamoured.

the amount of history intertwined with stories that are fictional in nature but very likely true in facts was amazing to witness. i only know bits and pieces about history — a fact there, a war here, an eventful date occasionally. so i really enjoyed this insight into a world ive never traversed. 

honestly i was on the fence hearing about this synopsis. honestly, i usually am not a fan of stories about families. i find them to be offensive contrived and generic. but this? this needs to be hung up in a museum. holy shit. i really felt like i was there. i felt like i was with H in the mines. i felt like i was there with marjorie in the water. i was able to see the scenes laid before me so vividly at times i forgot i was reading. like ofc i know im reading im using my eyeballs but like i was that immersed in the story nothing around me mattered. 

the only thing holding this book back for me is, funnily enough, the format. did i absolutely adore following this family through seven generations? yes! did i also feel like almost nothing i was reading truly mattered because the next generation had to come, meaning the chapter i was reading would always have the same resolution - a child. yes hardships would occur and the events that occurred were very different between chapters. but for me i felt like the stakes were quite low even when the book was trying to tell me they weren’t, and it was hard for me to be concerned for the characters. i still felt anguish, joy, anger, etc., but i was never truly worried for the characters, as i knew they had to persevere until they had a child so the next chapter could continue and on and on.

ya gyasi is, dare i say it, one of the best writers of this generation. go and read this god damn book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, and War

Minor: Police brutality

eliisar's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Slavery

Moderate: Racial slurs, Rape, and War

Minor: Homophobia

frida_epilogo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War

entropyseeker's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I really enjoyed this book, but much like history, it wasn't exactly fun. The story traces the family line of two sisters over 20+ people and 300 years. Starting in Africa and ending in America. I loved that each of the characters felt so distinct. That each person had their own arcs and struggles, but we're still somehow rather short. Some lives were absolutely tragic and some were hopeful. I don't think I could re-read this, but great book nonetheless. Read the content warnings tho

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism