Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

114 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

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

confexxi_history's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

The book is as captivating as it is heartbreaking. We find ourselves thinking of all these families and all these people who have been in the same situation and who have lived and live the horror of History.

I learned a lot from the different historical periods narrated in this novel. I highly recommend it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Homophobia, Torture, and Police brutality

Minor: Violence and Sexual harassment

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

fearlessandfluff's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative 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? No

5.0

Such a great book. Such a hard story. Such a sense of hope at the end. It's trauma porn. But by Black people, for Black people 🖤

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Police brutality, Death of parent, Gaslighting, War, and Classism

All the characters have an extreme painful life and die quickly. Don't get attached to them

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

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

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

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

hannah_the_bookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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? N/A

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Excrement, Trafficking, and Colonisation

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy