hazeyjane_2's review against another edition
DNF’d... very early in. Second verse same as the first - technically good writing, time skips, diaspora. This felt a lot like a litfic novel trying too hard to be lit and not telling much of a story.
I’m getting tired of reading all these award-winning novels about the immigrant experience which are just bleakness after bleakness. They are Deadly Serious Novels about tiger parenting/parental abuse, a first-generation immigrant trying to assimilate to (almost always) America and facing opposition from their (invariably conservative) mother and father, constant peppering of the narrative with discrimination against the main character, continual references to how they were the only Black/Indian/Jamaican/Chinese/Czech child in the class, and adult children grappling with mummy/daddy issues. It’s what I disliked about Amy Tan and it’s what I disliked about this. It’s as if once Gyasi set out to write a novel about The Immigrant Experience, she forgot that we come in as many colours as a patchwork quilt. We are (to flip that word, so beloved of novels like this) diverse in every way, as different from each other as a pangolin is from a pygmy marmoset.
There’s a sentence about how Gifty (the MC) isn’t sure if she’s “too black” for one of her dates to call her back or whether it was because she studied neuroscience, or a combination of the two. Couldn’t possibly be because she and the first guy weren’t romantically compatible, or because regaling your date with a jargon-filled explanation of your job is generally considered gauche. She does admit her explanation "bored him stiff”:
"We know that the pre-frontal cortex plays an important role in suppressing reward seeking behaviour, it’s just that the neural circuitry that allows it to do so is poorly understood.”
She sounds like Spock, Sheldon or Janine Kishi.
He looked like a SoCal surfer. The entire time we’d messaged back and forth I’d wondered if I was the first black girl he’d ever asked out, if he was checking some kind of box off his list of new and exotic things he’d like to try, like the Korean food in front of us, which he had already given up on.
There were only five women in my lab of 28, and I was one of three PhD candidates in the entire school. I had told Surfer I was getting my doctorate but didn’t tell him what I was getting it in because I didn’t want to scare him away. Neuroscience might be smart, but it isn’t sexy.
What? Since when did ‘smart’ play second fiddle to ‘sexy’? Are the two binary opposites now? Is it mandatory for a female character who brags about her intelligence multiple times to suddenly turn on the “Hee, neuroscience, sexy? What are you talking about?” switch? It’s the way this is said - flatly, baldly - that I take issue with. Gifty‘s just congratulated herself at length on being a neuroscientist, and she’s suddenly all “All the menz I date think neuroscience isn’t smexy!!1
I’m getting tired of reading all these award-winning novels about the immigrant experience which are just bleakness after bleakness. They are Deadly Serious Novels about tiger parenting/parental abuse, a first-generation immigrant trying to assimilate to (almost always) America and facing opposition from their (invariably conservative) mother and father, constant peppering of the narrative with discrimination against the main character, continual references to how they were the only Black/Indian/Jamaican/Chinese/Czech child in the class, and adult children grappling with mummy/daddy issues. It’s what I disliked about Amy Tan and it’s what I disliked about this. It’s as if once Gyasi set out to write a novel about The Immigrant Experience, she forgot that we come in as many colours as a patchwork quilt. We are (to flip that word, so beloved of novels like this) diverse in every way, as different from each other as a pangolin is from a pygmy marmoset.
There’s a sentence about how Gifty (the MC) isn’t sure if she’s “too black” for one of her dates to call her back or whether it was because she studied neuroscience, or a combination of the two. Couldn’t possibly be because she and the first guy weren’t romantically compatible, or because regaling your date with a jargon-filled explanation of your job is generally considered gauche. She does admit her explanation "bored him stiff”:
"We know that the pre-frontal cortex plays an important role in suppressing reward seeking behaviour, it’s just that the neural circuitry that allows it to do so is poorly understood.”
She sounds like Spock, Sheldon or Janine Kishi.
He looked like a SoCal surfer. The entire time we’d messaged back and forth I’d wondered if I was the first black girl he’d ever asked out, if he was checking some kind of box off his list of new and exotic things he’d like to try, like the Korean food in front of us, which he had already given up on.
There were only five women in my lab of 28, and I was one of three PhD candidates in the entire school. I had told Surfer I was getting my doctorate but didn’t tell him what I was getting it in because I didn’t want to scare him away. Neuroscience might be smart, but it isn’t sexy.
What? Since when did ‘smart’ play second fiddle to ‘sexy’? Are the two binary opposites now? Is it mandatory for a female character who brags about her intelligence multiple times to suddenly turn on the “Hee, neuroscience, sexy? What are you talking about?” switch? It’s the way this is said - flatly, baldly - that I take issue with. Gifty‘s just congratulated herself at length on being a neuroscientist, and she’s suddenly all “All the menz I date think neuroscience isn’t smexy!!1
gabbyonelove's review against another edition
2.0
This book took me so long to read because there were so many details. I honestly couldn’t invest myself fully into the book. I understood the struggle Gifty faced with her brother passing from addiction, her mother’s grief, and her personal relationship with God. But it didn’t pull me in. It didn’t speak to me.
zyread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.25
sjmcdonald's review against another edition
4.0
Once again, Yaa Gyasi fills the story with the complex reality of family, addiction, and loss. A stunning narrative that leaves the reader thinking about how our childhood experiences influence the adults we become.
alogaysia's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
This book was a gut punch. The intricacies of grief, mental health, and ripples caused by addiction within a family. I loved the way Gifty was so tied to her scientific research that connected so deeply with what she had gone through with her brother’s death and addiction. It is hard to deal with grief head on, and I think showing how someone can be processing things without actually processing them is important.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Racial slurs, and Grief
michellekmartin's review against another edition
4.0
There is no doubt that Yaa Gyasi can write, this was a wonderfully written novel and I was impressed by how different it is from her debut, Homegoing. I devoured this story in 24 hours and while it was certainly heavy, I loved that she focused so much on painting a vivid portrait of Gifty and her immediate family and their experiences.
I will say that I struggled with the science versus religion aspect of this story. As someone who didn't grow up in a very religious family, I found it hard to connect with the struggle that Gifty goes through when she is pursuing science. I found it very interesting, but sometimes it went too in-depth to keep my interest.
I will say that I struggled with the science versus religion aspect of this story. As someone who didn't grow up in a very religious family, I found it hard to connect with the struggle that Gifty goes through when she is pursuing science. I found it very interesting, but sometimes it went too in-depth to keep my interest.
fclancy93'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
4.75
sadi9954's review against another edition
4.0
I almost feel guilty giving such an incredible writer only 4 stars. This book touches on religion, choice, addiction, mental illness etc but the book just too short for my liking and doesn’t really go in depth about things the way I would like them too. Side bar- The many many paragraphs with the mice were a bit weird since they only seemed to be there to remind us Gifty is a scientist... but I liked how she used them to show the pain vs pleasure issue with addiction.
prairiefibrewitch's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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? Yes
4.5