Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

93 reviews

grumpyreading's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-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

4.0

📚 Review: This book was devastating and beautiful. Gyasi’s writing is amazing, and the way she chose to give the characters familial ties and make this an intergenerational saga raised the stakes so much. There are long chapters and it’s slow-paced, but still hard to put down. Gyasi told these stories in a beautiful way and I’m glad I read this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

akinyiakinyi's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This is a beautifully crafted story that poignantly captures the adversities and trials faced by generations. It begins with the birth of Maame (the Firewoman's) firstborn daughter, Effia. Effia's father had relations with a captured slave who served as a housemaid. Before running away to freedom, Maame leaves a black stone as a keepsake for her daughter.
Effia marries a white man who, without guilt, participated in the slave trade. Her descendants remain in Africa, striving to overcome the legacy of slavery while embracing their traditions amidst the Scramble for Africa, colonization, religious change, education, and the ongoing search for a sense of belonging.
Maame's second daughter, Esi, a high-born woman, is tragically captured by slave traders. Her descendants endure a harrowing journey through the horrors of slavery, grappling with racism, segregation, forced labor, limited opportunities, poverty, drug abuse, and even prostitution to survive.
It is a profound relief to witness Marcus and Marjorie reconnect and return to Africa, leaving their fears behind and embracing a newfound sense of freedom.
This story is undoubtedly worth the read. I would love to know where Esi's black stone went, or did I miss it?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, 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

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

noble_editorial's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

Brilliant! It was challenging to keep characters straight with such frequent generational shifts though, and I just wanted "more" from each storyline. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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

minnow's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

A stunning, heartbreaking book. This book follows two branches of a family throughout generations, telling heartbreaking story after heartbreaking story. We see slavery at its peak from the viewpoints of both the slaves and the African slavers, and then we follow the echoes of those experiences through multiple generations. The story is lush and vivid, graphic scenes are delivered with an edge but never go too far. 

I deducted a partial star only because there is one storyline that was paced too slowly, in my opinion. I found myself caring a little less about that character and the story dragged in that part. All other storylines were perfectly paced and engaging.

The ending of this story is beautiful, and very satisfying. All in all, a masterpiece of a book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Vomit, and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying

thursdd4y's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

merakiforest's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Gore, and Mental illness

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail