Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

18 reviews

shadow_cat94's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

I've only started to dip my toes into realistic fiction, but this one didn't really strike my attention. I felt like I'd rather read Ifemelu's blog than this book as it bounced around from her drama. I also felt like Obinze's story was underdeveloped as a mirror to Ifemelu's as an immigrant experience. His deportation was lacking exploration and the afterwards was ignored entirely.

It did explore the existence of race in America and the various nuances (or lack thereof) that it exists in the American society from a black person's perspective while not being an African American.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Deportation

Moderate: Infidelity, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Death of parent

sarasimper's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide attempt, and Deportation

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol

pandaplantain's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Death of parent

havennnofjoyy's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Very beautifully written, only the ending was a bit unsatisfying. I just expected more an explosion, a bit more into how it began again for Obinze and Ifemelu. But I give it five stars anyways, for the journey.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol, and War

hjb_128's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual content and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Death, and Death of parent

fkshg8465's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad 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

4.75

Having been through several relocations myself as immigrant, expat, repatriated, work visaed, and soon to be overseas retired in multiple countries, so much of this book touches me and speaks to me on multiple levels, including race as a western (American) construct. Some of it is obviously only what I can imagine or empathize with since I’m not Black, but it was illuminating to me in many ways because of that reason too. Brilliant!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting

jg34's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny 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? No

3.75

There was a lot of little stories within this book and some where interesting but I honestly could have done without obinze’s story line I found them boring, maybe just because I liked ifemelu so much I wanted to get back to her. So because of this it felt long and dragged out at times. A sort of satisfying ending. Really interesting take of American blackness vs non American blackness I learned a lot!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Rape and Deportation

Minor: Excrement, Abortion, and Death of parent

ruthmoog's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective slow-paced

4.75

I took away a heartwarming love story of the one who got away, yet it's all the while filled with gritty realism and the flaws of humanity.
It's full of observations and discussions on race and honesty, and, living amongst a variety of cultures and places, which add depth to the storytelling and complexity to the characters' life journeys.
A great book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Deportation

Minor: Slavery and Police brutality

Sexual coersion

vas_17's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Classism, and Deportation

kathis_wonderland's review

emotional informative 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

3.75

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a novel about life in Nigeria, experiencing race and racism in the US and trying to find oneself. Ifemelu and Obinze grew up in Nigeria together but saw no opportunities for themselves in this country. Ifemelu managed to move to the US and had to leave her love Obinze behind. There she experienced race and racism for the first time and had trouble adapting to her new life. After years in America, she moved back to Nigeria and realized how different she had become.

I wanted to read this book for a very long time. And now I am not fully sure what to think about it. In general, I liked the book. It felt very authentic and gave me a new insight into Africans’ experiencing racism in the US and Europe. It really broadened my horizon. The plot was very diverse. We heard about race and racism, about everyday racism, normal life, struggles, love and relationships.
 
However, the story was very long. Some scenes were not interesting at all and seemed to make the story longer. I was very confused at the beginning of the book. The author was jumping around within the plot, talking about the present and then jumping back to the past, writing several chapters about Ifemelu's youth and then suddenly jumping back to the present again. This confused me a lot in the beginning. Therefore, it took me ages to get into the story and to start liking it. I found Ifemelu's actions often questionable. She was cheating on her boyfriends a lot. And if there is one trope I don't like in books, it is cheating!
 
In the end, I started to like the book more and more. We got different perspectives and read about lots of different experiences. The love between Ifemelu and Obinze was really nice. I expected something different from the book, but in the end was pleased. I can recommend it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide attempt, and Deportation

Moderate: Chronic illness, Racial slurs, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Colonisation