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minnow's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
merakiforest's review against another edition
- 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
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
kristicanread's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and War
rhi_'s review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Grief
Minor: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Classism
chelle22's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism
readingwithcoffee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
Many of the chapters felt like they were shoehorning American milestones or historical events or topics surrounding racism. As well as in my opinion using Ghanaian faith and religion at multiple points it mystically move a plot point forward the author clearly wrote herself into a corner for. I hated the mother burning all of her children but one alive scene in a dream, bc I don’t think the book took the murder of the daughters seriously especially to insist spirits made her do it when she literally did not know she did it. Also at times her protagonists had very ahistorical social norms where they’d either be the most special or educated or the most suffering or ostracized person among their environmental or all those things at once while clearly trying to represent general Ghanaian and Black American history it was very lazy and off putting to see constantly.
After reading it I’m not surprised to see a lot of reviews by Ghanaian nationals disliking the book or thinking it’s at least a mess of the Ghanaian cutler and history it tries to represent.
Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, and Drug use
Minor: Infidelity
fionafsw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation
crybabybea's review
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
noahsingh's review against another edition
4.25
- Love a family/generational story.
-Colonial resistance storylines were really interesting.
-Felt like I heard some perspectives I hadn't heard before, and learnt some historical stuff about the exploitation of black people post-slavery I hadn't heard about before.
Ending was a lil disappointing to me tho,
Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Excrement, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Suicide, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War
sidekicksam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Following the line of descendants of two sisters who never met, each chapter is a snapshot of the life of another generation. One sister is sold into slavery, one marries a white man and remains free.
Now *this* is what I mean when I say I want to read a multigenerational family saga! Phenomenal. Astounding. Compelling. Captivating.
I already knew I loved Gyasi's writing style because Transcendent Kingdom is one of my favourite books, and I've been seeing nothing but raving reviews for Homegoing, but they all are true. The story is, despite it only showing a glimpse into every generation's descendant's life, so layered. It is incredible how she's able to write a character so well, despite only reading about their lives for about 20 pages.
Some multigenerational family sagas are daunting because of their size (The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois & Pachinko are both 500+ page chonkers and thus, quite intimidating), but this one is both manageable and easy to follow, so a great place to start if you're looking for a thought-provoking, immersive read that spans multiple decades.
Some quotes:
Quey sighed. So he would be here forever. The birds had stopped singing. Perhaps they sensed his exasperation. He looked at them, their blue, yellow, orange wings, their hooked beaks.
"Theere were no birds like this in London," Quey said softly. "There was no color. Everything was gray. The sky, the buildings, even the people looked gray."
"We believe the one who has the power. He is the one who gets to write the story. So when you study history, you must always ask yourself, Whose story am I missing? Whose voice was suppressed so that this voice could come forth? Once you have figured that out, you must find that story too. From there, you begin to get a clearer, yet still imperfect, picture."
Forgiveness was an act done after the fact, a piece of the bad deed's future. And if you point the people's eye to the future, they might not see what is being done to hurt them in the present.
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Slavery