Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

238 reviews

ringofkeyz's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, and Slavery

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Trafficking, and Colonisation

Minor: Physical abuse, Police brutality, and War

aduda06's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

This book is very evocative. It's the type of thing that can be read over a long period of time or in one setting. There is so much detail; it can be overwhelming in all the best ways. It's beautiful in its pain and joy and humanity. There's so much to think about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Slavery

Moderate: Drug abuse

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

elizabethgreads's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

This is a simply not a book for me, however the author shows promise and I will likely pick up another book by her in the future.  What didn't work for me was just how many characters you follow throughout the book and just how little time you have with each of them.  While the author brilliantly showed historical context, events, and the struggles of both the people in Ghana and those that ended up in the US, we weren't with them enough to become emotionally connected.  I did enjoy how intergenerational trauma was explored and felt that it was a strength of the book.  I also enjoyed seeing how the families of the two sisters lives were very different thought out the generations. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read about the multigenerational trauma that colonialism and slavery caused.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Slavery

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Torture, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

bseigel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

whatshanireads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Violence, and Colonisation

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

katlau's review against another edition

dark emotional informative medium-paced

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

4.25

Each character’s story pulled me in and had a distinct voice. Thought-provoking structure, where the final chapters are pretty explicit about what the book is trying to do, put two current day individuals into the context of their ancestors with one path through the Gold Coast and Ghana and one through the U.S. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

paigewarn's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation