Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

139 reviews

emilyosterloh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

The plot description was super enticing and I'm very glad that I read this book. Gyasi is a talented writer, with just enough detail to make a reader feel as if they're present but also concise. The concept of reading through the family lines of two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, from Ghana in the 18th century who end up in different circumstances makes for a story that covers a wide range of themes, all of which are incredibly important and worth discussing. This book was not light, per se, but it wasn't overbearing either. Learning more about the history of a voice that is so missing from our typical educational curriculum is essential in my opinion, so I appreciated all the items this novel explored. It was an insightful collection of stories that I found created one cohesive story and the connections between each were plentiful. Each chapter is a glimpse into the life of members in Effia and Esi's lineage, and I loved the format of this book. 

Effia has an unfortunate past, especially seeing the way most of her family treats her, and though she lives well in a castle after being married off to a British soldier, her life is far from perfect. Esi may have had it even worse, as we see how young she was brought into the dungeon of the castle and traded as a slave, after watching it happen secondhand as a child. 

From then on, we switch back and forth between the descendants of each sister, which I loved because it allows the reader to draw comparisons and contrasts. In their lived experiences, they come upon themes such as exploration of sexuality, colorism, the absolute treachery of slavery, complicity, true love, independence, family ties, self-discovery, fatigue, privilege, persistence, superstition, police brutality, convict labor, unions and strikes, influences of religion (especially Christianity), colonialism, imperialism, loss, the continuation of evil, closure, addiction, and most of all, TRAUMA. The final descendant we read about really indicates the beginnings of a full circle completion, though I will not say much more than that. While I have just given a laundry list of themes, I was appreciative of their incorporation into these stories and found that each descendant brought great impact upon their offspring. It was also really fascinating to learn about cultures including Asante and Fante, and to see the stories spread over so many areas - we start in Ghana (and we come back to it), but we also travel to many cities in America, from the south to the north and even to the west when we look at every descendant's vignette. 

I've read reviews saying people believed the stories were too separated and not enough happened - and while I do admit there is a part of me that wishes I could have read more about many of the characters' lives, I also think it is valuable to have read what we received and I sometimes find that leaving things open can be good to turn the gears in our brains, at least in my opinion. My first 2025 book club read and the year is off to an excellent start. This read is important, especially in our political climate, and I would recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Death of parent, and War

meghancolbert's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Read this book, because it contains the raw truth that white supremacists are still trying to ban. Gyasi reveals the ugly legacy of slavery and colonialism that white historians would prefer to sugarcoat. Each character refuses, in their own way, to be a passive victim of white supremacy and their stories are told from their own perspectives, rather than that of their oppressors. 

This is the first family saga I’ve read that is done well. Each successive generation gets an equal amount of attention. Yaa Gyasi has succeeded in showing how the choices of each generation (and the choices that are made for them) impact the lives of their descendants. Yes, there were a lot of generations and yes, it would have been nice to spend more time with each of them. But I feel like the intellectual and emotional effort Gyasi demands of her readers is well rewarded at the end of the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide and Police brutality

mskog's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Everything about this book is masterful. There are a bunch of characters, many of whom have stories that skip large parts of their lives, but Gyasi manages to make the reader care about each one and understand each one. Addressing the myriad ways that slavery, racism, and trauma have generational effects is a difficult enough task already and handling it in this way is brilliant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Child death

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

joelcharig's review

challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.75

A fascinating (and disturbing, on occasion) journey down the lineage of two intertwined Ghanian families.

My main gripe is that it was occasionally hard to keep track of the characters. There are so many different lives you follow, and each with unfamiliar names. 
It maybe could've been better with fewer characters, swapping back and forth between their perspectives, rather than just a single chapter for each when there are as many as there are.

I kept a bookmark on the family tree page, which definitely aided me with keeping track.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Trafficking, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child death and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

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

kyrag96's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Slavery

Moderate: Death and Torture

Minor: Addiction, Child death, and Abandonment

kollieollie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

To me, this book is a must read. It is a highly reflective book on the inter generational trauma of the Atlantic Slave trade as shown through different generations of two connected families. The emotions make it a challenging book to read, and I found that I read these chapters much slower than normal with far more breaks than I would usually take. That said, I thought this book was so well done. I particularly appreciated seeing the parallels of the impact of the Slave trade not just in the US, but in Western Africa as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Pregnancy