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shelfmadewoman's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
An amazing piece of writing. It’s hard for me to review because it felt a little too personal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicide
agradstudentreadsforfun's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, and Suicide
and_thats_the_tay's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Homegoing is one of my all-time favorite books, so I had high expectations for Transcendent Kingdom… and they were met!
TK is a portrait of a Ghanaian family in Alabama, whose home is ravaged by addiction, depression, and loss. The book follows Gifty, the youngest sibling, as she attempts to reckon her childhood religion with her dedication to science and the pursuit of academic answers to addiction, an illness that handed her family an insurmountable loss.
This book struck so many chords for me: on a more surface level, it was fun to read a book set at Stanford while calling this campus home, but on a deeper level, I’ve never read a book that so carefully parallels the feelings I’ve had about my own upbringing in a strict and patriarchal church that I’ve since left, yet how that personal history continues to influence my choices and self-worth. The way that Gifty reconciles her childhood faith and her reliance on science was so beautiful and reminded me that “we [can] contain multitudes” and that is okay.
My favorite quote for anyone who may feel the same: “I believe in God, I do not believe in God. Neither of those sentiments felt true to what I actually felt.”
God may be the traditional God so many worship. God may be a science lab that seeks to cure addiction. God may be be your relationships that sustain you. What I took is that Gyasi wants her readers to know that each of these manifestations is okay. It was an absolute gift to receive this message from Gifty.
Moral of the story: Anything Yaa Gyasi touches turns to gold. The ways she says things without actually saying them. Her metaphors, analogies— *chefs kiss*.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Grief, Racism, and Suicide
lesbegays's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Grief, and Mental illness
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Racism, and Suicide
aprylclark78's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Suicide, Medical content, and Racism
anna_alexandra's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Child death, Drug use, and Suicide
morganholmes49's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
Minor: Vomit, Religious bigotry, Chronic illness, and Medical trauma
caidyn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
All I knew was that when I saw Yaa Gyasi was coming out with another book, I had to have it. I didn't read much about the plot or description, just that I knew I needed it. And it's an excellent sophomoric book. It's very different than Homegoing but there are many of the same threads. Immigration, mental health, family generations, etc. But this one also added religion and science and drug use to the mix. It was a hard book to read and has many things going on, usually all at once. The complexity of human life. It's one that definitely requires multiple readings to fully appreciate it, so I can't wait to pick it up another time to see more things.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Suicide
wai's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
As a psychology person, I always go into media focused on this field with a bit of trepidation because most get it totally wrong and perpetuate harmful stereotypes. But when I read the synopsis for this book, I knew I had to give it a try, and I'm so glad that I did. This book is meticulously researched and reads true to form for anyone involved in the fields of psychology/mental health and/or neuroscience and embedded organically in the internal strife of the main character, Gifty, who's stuck between her future as a brilliant neuroscientist and her past/current family trauma of having an older brother die young from a substance use disorder and a mother with severe depression and suicidality but only accepts help through the form of religious intervention. I found so much of my own struggles with generational mental illness and the religion vs science debate. Multiple moments in this novel made me stop for fear of crying. This has honestly become my favorite novel of 2020 and I find it difficult to really put words to what I am feeling beyond just that I want to recommend this book to everyone I know. This is the kind of novel you recommend when you want someone to know you better. I am now a Yaa Gyasi stan and will now proceed to follow her writing for as long as she is publishing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Racism, Suicide, Racial slurs, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Physical abuse and Religious bigotry
Minor: Animal death and Forced institutionalization