Reviews with content warning for Slavery - Vända hem

Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Vända hem by Yaa Gyasi

560 reviews

ravina_b's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

I’ve heard a lot of mixed reviews about this novel and as someone that loves historical family epics, I wasn’t sure how a telling of multiple generations could be conveyed completely within 300 pages. HOMEGOING is about two sisters, one who marries a merchant and one who becomes enslaved. Yaa Gyasi takes us through seven generations of each woman, exploring the different journeys their lives take and providing an insight into the extent of the damage that the slave trade inflicted on African communities.

I learnt a bit about how the Fante and Asante people dealt with British colonisation, and actually how little I knew about what exactly was happening when Europeans arrived in regions of Africa — gaps that I now know to learn more about. In fact, I’ve read that Gyasi tied each character to a significant historical event and I’m not sure yet that I’m able to identify them all, so there’s a bit more work to be done on my part.

This was a tough read and some parts were extremely upsetting but, whilst I would have liked to learn a bit more about each character than I was able to with each getting roughly 20 pages each, it’s something I would turn to again.

📌 Set across Ghana and the United States.

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dowleyrachel's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.25

I liked the structure of the book, staying on a single character for only a chapter before moving onto their child. The book covered a myriad of topics and fully explored blackness both in the US and for those who stayed in Africa. Some chapters were very dark but the book had a hopeful ending where the two sides of the family meet and explore their roots together.

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fionamh's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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cal_sno's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Wonderfully written and engaging book. Each generation’s story builds showing the hardships and family relationships

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jennazim's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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sparklefarm's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Really incredible.

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jessieleeh's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-paced

3.5

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3littlewordz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Slow burn at the beginning, but my goodness, once I got to Ness's story, I couldn't put it down! Such an engrossing story that explored the generational trauma that slavery inflicted. It was easy to identify the common familial thread through several generations. It was heartbreaking at times but always hopeful. I would have loved to see each generation more fleshed out for a truly epic novel - I love big books, I can't lie! I'm very ready to Yaa Gyasi's second offering.

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cuartolimon's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective tense medium-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

5.0

This is one of the best books I’ve read. Yaa Gyasi’s prose is fantastic. She managed to convey the deep wounds of the transatlantic slave trade and how they are still open to this day. I know I’ll never be able to fully understand the pain it caused and continues to cause, however this book managed to make so much of that pain resound. There were moments when I had to close the book and sit with what I had just read, moments when it made me audibly gasp, and of course it also made me cry. I am sure I’ll come back to it at some point.

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lanna2000's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

the stories in this novel rooted in so much truth and history were both impossible to stop reading but also the most difficult read ive finished this year. i felt like i could continue reading every descendants story passed where the book ends. writing everything into 300 pages is masterful and Gyasi storytelling has me wanting to read more. I attached to each character emotionally and the ending characters connecting really tied the whole book together. i think everyone should read this! there are not enough good things to be said so just read it

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