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macintasha's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Racism, Addiction, and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Vomit
Minor: Alcohol and Racial slurs
vanesst's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Grief
Moderate: Mental illness and Suicide attempt
Minor: Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty
chsm8's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Drug abuse, Animal death, Medical content, Drug use, Grief, and Mental illness
Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, Death of parent, Racism, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Death
violerwolf's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Child death, Animal cruelty, Racism, Mental illness, Grief, and Addiction
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Homophobia
mollz12's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
I read this piece of work before homecoming and ended up liking homecoming better but you can’t compare them.
This one touches on family dynamics and how to keep your peace. Highly recommend.
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Mental illness
mxpringle's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Drug abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Drug use, Addiction, Suicide, Racism, and Alcohol
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Sexual content
dannythestreet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Self harm, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Death, Child death, Classism, Drug abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Alcohol, Religious bigotry, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Racial slurs
flashandoutbreak's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death, Grief, Medical content, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts
abrdoodle's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Drug use, Suicide attempt, Child death, Abandonment, Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Mental illness, and Vomit
Moderate: Sexism, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Classism, Sexual content, Excrement, and Racism
Minor: Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, and Physical abuse
kelly_e's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Author: Yaa Gyasi
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.50
Pub Date: August 31, 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Captivating • Heart-wrenching • Introspective
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Gifty is a sixth-year PhD candidate in neuroscience at the Stanford University School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after an ankle injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed. Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her.
But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family's loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Transcendent Kingdom came highly recommended to me by several book friends, yet I knew because of my deeply personal connection to the content that I would need to be in the right frame of mind when I finally picked it up. This awareness helped create a safe, deeply emotional reading experience for me that I am grateful for.
What an absolutely powerful book! Yaa Gyasi delivers a raw and compelling take on how science and faith merge and diverge. Written from the first person perspective with short chapters, it read more like a memoir, allowing a deep look into Gifty's internal battle in her search for understanding. Snippets from childhood and the past, really brought each of the characters to life, making them real and relatable. The writing is profoundly beautiful. Every word, every sentence has it's place. The science is easily digestible and the religions aspect aren't preachy. In all honesty, the author tackles mental illness and addiction with grace and respect, while also exploring themes of love and loss, of healing and belonging, and of family and identity. Underneath some of the bigger themes also lies an exploration of the immigrant experience, including racism.
There are so many emotional and thought-provoking passages sprinkled throughout the story, a few of which I have chosen to highlight below. However, it is how in the end the reader is left without answers that truly sticks with me. Isn't that the whole point? It's a testament to how we can search for answers, yet there are some things we can never know and therein lies the beauty of being alive.
Every now and then there is a book comes along and burrows itself deep into your soul and changes your perception, Transcendent Kingdom was one of those books for me. It is a book I will revisit in the future. One that contemplates what it means to live without answers. And one I hope is an invitation for readers to consider people living with mental illness and addiction with more understanding, empathy, and compassion. I will definitely be looking to get my hands on a copy of Gyasi's debut, Homecoming, and look forward to hearing about future books from this incredibly talented author.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who love profound writing
• anyone looking for a thought-provoking read
• book clubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"The truth is we don’t know what we don’t know. We don’t even know the questions we need to ask in order to find out, but when we learn one tiny little thing, a dim light comes on in a dark hallway, and suddenly a new question appears."
"Nothing teaches you the true nature of your friendships like a sudden death, worse still, a death that’s shrouded in shame."
"If I've thought of my mother as callous, and many times I have, then it is important to remember what a callus is: the hardened tissue that forms over a wound."
"What I can say for certain is that there is no case study in the world that could capture the whole animal of my brother, that could show how smart and kind and generous he was, how much he wanted to get better, how much he wanted to live. Forget for a moment what he looked like on paper, and instead see him as he was in all of his glory, in all of his beauty. It’s true that for years before he died, I would look at his face and think, 'What a pity, what a waste'. But the waste was my own, the waste was what I missed out on whenever I looked at him and saw just his addiction."
Graphic: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Addiction, Grief, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Child death, Drug use, and Death
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Racism, Death of parent, Animal death, and Abandonment
Minor: Vomit, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Alcohol, Sexism, Excrement, and Pregnancy
overdose, depression, sibling death