Reviews tagging 'Injury/injury detail'

Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi

24 reviews

lizclark81's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-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

4.25

A powerful read about the generational trauma of slavery in West Africa and the United States. Cleverly structured around multiple characters in different time periods, Gyasi weaves together a narrative that manages to touch on many important issues in history. A little heavy-handed at times, IMO, but a well-crafted first novel with serious themes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Racism, Violence, Injury/injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, and Slavery

Moderate: Abandonment, Body horror, Colonisation, and Torture

jesseanastasia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Racism

Moderate: Violence, War, Addiction, Colonisation, Drug use, and Injury/injury detail

charlie6'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/injury detail, Slavery, Violence, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Vomit, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, War, Abandonment, Bullying, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Torture, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Trafficking

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Car accident and Suicide

erin52's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Trafficking, War, Racial slurs, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Addiction, Child abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Child death, Injury/injury detail, Sexual violence, Slavery, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, and Genocide

thereadhersrecap's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-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

Queen Yaa Gyasi! 

I can't believe this book was her debut novel! The writing was spectacular. She has a way of transporting you out of your body and into the characters mind. The characterization was the best and meat of the book and Gyasi nailed it. 

The novel follows two ancestry lines of Ghanian children as the embark on separate but destined journeys. Two half sisters, Effia and Esi, born to different villages in the 18th century lead two very different lives. One is married off to an Englishman and lives in the castle on the shore, the other is imprisoned beneath her and sold into the slave trade where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. We see each character navigate historical events such as The Civil War, The Great Migration, Jim Crow, Harlem and heroin.

The books is told through a series of chapters dedicated to on individual of the ancestry. Although each chapter looks at a new character's life, Gyasi still presents a complete and cohesive story. 

Weakness is treating someone as though they belong to you. Strength is knowing that everyone belongs to themselves."

The portrait of slavery is one I will never understand, but with books like these it truly helps to paint a picture of the atrocities African's withstood. It's frustrates me that this part of American history is just a blurb in the history books.  Gyasi shows the impact slavery plays on everyone spanning generations, robbing families of spouses, killing, and structuring the world at an unfair advantage. 

“We believe the one who has the power. He is the one who gets to write the story. So when you study history, you must always ask yourself, Whose story am I missing? Whose voice was suppressed so that this voice could come forth? Once you have figured that out, you must find that story too. From there, you begin to get a clearer, yet still imperfect, picture.”

This book will stay with me forever. 


CW: abandonment, addiction, death, classism, colonization, confinement, drug abuse, forced institutionalization, hate crime, physical abuse, police brutality, racism, religious bigotry, violence, torture, sexual assault

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Slavery, Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Injury/injury detail, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Torture

jae_bird's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Child death, Child abuse, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Slavery, Infidelity, Confinement, Death of parent, Violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Mental illness, Blood, Colonisation, Rape, Injury/injury detail, Excrement, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Police brutality, Murder, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug use, Drug abuse, Bullying, War, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Suicide, and Homophobia

fluffy1st's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, and Misogyny

Moderate: Death, Police brutality, Medical trauma, War, Injury/injury detail, Grief, Drug use, and Death of parent

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is heartbreaking, harrowing, devastating, and deeply moving. The story stems from one woman name Maame who gave birth to two daughters in different villages, each half-sister unknowing of the other's existence. Each chapter alternates between the next generation of both branches of the family, and tells different but parallel stories of the lives each child lives. It's a story of the lasting effects of colonization, war, and slavery on Ghanian people both in the homeland and in United States. As the book spans 8 generations, it ties major historical events to the appropriate character's narratives for that time period. There are so many difficult and upsetting situations that family members on both sides face, and they become deeply flawed but complex characters because of their experiences and the experiences of their parents that have been passed down both verbally and metaphysically. Generational trauma is a central theme throughout the book and I could feel my heart ache each time a character went through something or had a fear that could be tied back to experiences in their parent's or ancestor's chapter just a few pages before. The ending brings everything full circle with the recurring symbols of water, fire, and the black stone passed down from Maame herself, and it left me with a bittersweet feeling knowing both the indescribable pain and incredible resilience of each ancestor that lead to the two latest generations being able to come together and feel connected to the land where it all started.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Bullying, Injury/injury detail, Sexual content, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Excrement, Physical abuse, Racism, Vomit, War, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Classism, Hate crime, Infidelity, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Abandonment, Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Violence, and Kidnapping

kallan's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Injury/injury detail, Violence, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual content, Racism, and Death

Minor: War

stvnh's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Sexual content, Sexism, Rape, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Sexual assault, War, Child abuse, Violence, Racism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Torture, Excrement, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Infertility, Ableism, Gun violence, Death of parent, Blood, Grief, Addiction, Drug abuse, Death, Child death, Vomit, Homophobia, Fatphobia, Bullying, Mental illness, Abandonment, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, and Racial slurs

Minor: Car accident, Police brutality, and Hate crime