Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

81 reviews

loxeletters's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death and Suicide

wisewise's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

vanesst's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal cruelty, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Alcohol

readingwithgoose's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, and Grief

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal death

ollie_again's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death and Grief

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, and Abandonment

mirandalikesbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

This book read like a memoir or a stream of consciousness. Like memories pieced together. It was an intimate POV of a first generation experience, of growing up black in the south, of the changing nature of faith and religion, of what it's like to see your family struggle with mental health issues and addiction. You really get to know who Gifty is and what drives her throughout this novel. 

I would recommend this if you're drawn to memoirs or particularly reflective fiction. 

My biggest qualm with this book is that I felt like I was waiting for the book to pick up a plot line that it never did. I also don't read a lot of books this tied up in Christianity, so I may have not been the perfect audience.

The hard cut at the end to her being in a relationship with Han having already experienced her mom's passing felt too sudden for me too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death

leonormsousa's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

I really liked this one. It is beautifully written, and the constant time jumps were done perfectly, which is something quite rare. It hooked me from the start, and I found myself wanting more at the end, even though I know this was the perfect size for this story.

Small note that I was pleasantly surprised by the queer representation in this one (MC is queer). 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

violerwolf's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

Realistic fiction, especially as slow paced as the “plot” is in this book, isn’t typically my cup of tea. But Gyasi, through masterful prose and a constantly shifting timeline of events, makes this such an engaging story about addiction, depression, family, and religion. The way she interweaves themes through various points of the main character’s life and places them throughout the narrative is beautifully done. My one critique is that the main character’s internal reflection can be a bit heavy handed at times, but don’t let that stop you from checking this book out.

I picked up this book because Homegoing had such a long waitlist at my library, and I’m so glad I did. I can’t wait to read Gyasi’s other works.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

gottheblues's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Racism and Sexism

ramreadsagain's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A beautiful novel with gorgeous writing, and characters and events that leap from the page.

I particularly enjoyed the content about Gifty's research as well as her thoughts and struggles with the science:religion binary. While I very much fall on the science side, the emotional depth of the novel and the way it portrays how one can exist on a 'spectrum' of belief was incredibly well done.

I do not understand how such a relatively short novel could have managed to cover so many topics in such a profound way. I'm annoyed I put off reading this for so long, and I'm now excited to read Homegoing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death, Racism, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Minor: Religious bigotry