Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Transcendent Kingdom, by Yaa Gyasi

13 reviews

silverrose187's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Racism, Mental illness, Addiction, and Death

paulasnotsosecretdiary's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense 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

3.5

Transcendent Kingdom is an intimate portrait of a young Ghanaian scientist trying to care for her severely depressed mother. As Gifty hopes her mother will come out of her struggle with mental illness, she reflects on her upbringing and how religion and emotional neglect keep her from having friendships and relationships with her peers and colleagues. The book explores the question of the soul as it relates to science and if religion has a role in scientific inquiry. It also explores facets of racism in the sciences and religion. These are the best bits. Although it's a far more personal story than Homegoing, there are a lot of plot points that feel not only familiar but well-worn. The writing draws the reader in and proves once more the talents of the author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Emotional abuse

pagesofkenzie's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Medical content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death, Racism, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Violence, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

reddeddy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body shaming, Sexual content, Cursing, Pregnancy, Violence, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Classism, Dysphoria, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Bullying, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Animal death, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Blood, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

tawneylee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

5.0

This was an emotional and beautiful experience to read. The detailed and in depth exploration of family trauma, grief, addiction,religion and finding meaning was phenomenal. I loved the non linear fashion of the narrative and felt being inside Giftys’s head to be so realistic and raw. Her journey of self discovery was harrowing at times but I loved seeing her find herself and start to open up and work through her and let go of her trauma. An important glimpse into the life of a immigrant family from Ghana. Also loved the family dynamics between characters and how it showcased hoe they affected eachother. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Addiction, Racial slurs, Racism, Mental illness, Grief, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

aseel_reads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

hello my first five star fiction read of 2021 😍 this book was something else, it keeps coming to my mind randomly through my day.

a lot of this is to do with the adjacent relations I have to certain parts of the book, I'm doing a PhD, in psychology, looking at depression, I am a person of colour, I am religious. I just relate to a lot of different parts of the book, in slightly different ways so a lot of it hits me. 

the writing was phenomenal, the weaving style of narration was powerful, the plot was heartbreaking, the occasional psychology/neuroscience facts were lovely. big fan.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

emmagreenwood's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Minor: Cursing, Excrement, Pregnancy, Infertility, and Vomit

amberinbookland's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

emilyhawk's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

4.0

Gyasi's second novel is not as gripping as Homegoing, but that's not a fair metric because in my opinion, Homegoing is about as close to perfection as a novel could be. This book is excellent and I recommend it to anyone, but particularly those wanting to think through faith, family, and belonging. I am continually amazed by Gyasi's ability to crate surprising, complex characters not typically represented in literature -- a first-gen, formerly Southern evangelical, Black woman in STEM? Fascinating to learn about the world through Gifty's lens. Yet even though I don't share a lot of identity markers with Gifty, her story gave me to much to think about. That's the beauty of Gyasi's storytelling: she tells specific stories with universal truths about human nature embedded within. This book cemented Gyasi's place as one of my favorite contemporary authors, and I can't wait for her next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Drug use, Addiction, and Grief

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Racism

kikiwi's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Child death, and Emotional abuse