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uajamie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
4.0
desireeslibrary's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
The way Gyasi puts words together is just absolutely *chef's kiss*. This was such a poignant and beautiful description of addiction, mental health, and the profound effect it has on families. It was so deeply ruminative and moving and made me think a lot about grief and loss. One thing that Gyasi really tackles so well in this novel is the conversation on mental health as it pertains to the Black community. She so eloquently focuses on the lack of visibility, the stigma surrounding mental health, and the overall stereotypes and misconceptions on recieving help. The ONLY criticism I have and it is truly not even a criticism, is that I really thought this novel was going to hit me harder emotionally, it did not make me cry or have quite the emotionally painful effect on me that I was hoping for (but that could also be a me problem). Overall, I LOVED this.
Some of my favorite quotes:
“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.”
“It took me many years to realize that it’s hard to live in this world. I don’t mean the mechanics of living, because for most of us, our hearts will beat, our lungs will take in oxygen, without us doing anything at all to tell them to. For most of us, mechanically, physically, it’s harder to die than it is to live. But still we try to die. We drive too fast down winding roads, we have sex with strangers without wearing protection, we drink, we use drugs. We try to squeeze a little more life out of our lives. It’s natural to want to do that. But to be alive in the world, every day, as we are given more and more and more, as the nature of “what we can handle” changes and our methods for how we handle it change, too, that’s something of a miracle.”
“It would have been kinder to lie, but I wasn’t kind anymore. Maybe I never had been. I vaguely remember a childhood kindness, but maybe I was conflating innocence and kindness. I felt so little continuity between who I was as a young child and who I was now that it seemed pointless to even consider showing my mother something like mercy. Would have I been merciful when I was a child?”
The way Gyasi puts words together is just absolutely *chef's kiss*. This was such a poignant and beautiful description of addiction, mental health, and the profound effect it has on families. It was so deeply ruminative and moving and made me think a lot about grief and loss. One thing that Gyasi really tackles so well in this novel is the conversation on mental health as it pertains to the Black community. She so eloquently focuses on the lack of visibility, the stigma surrounding mental health, and the overall stereotypes and misconceptions on recieving help. The ONLY criticism I have and it is truly not even a criticism, is that I really thought this novel was going to hit me harder emotionally, it did not make me cry or have quite the emotionally painful effect on me that I was hoping for (but that could also be a me problem). Overall, I LOVED this.
Some of my favorite quotes:
“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.”
“It took me many years to realize that it’s hard to live in this world. I don’t mean the mechanics of living, because for most of us, our hearts will beat, our lungs will take in oxygen, without us doing anything at all to tell them to. For most of us, mechanically, physically, it’s harder to die than it is to live. But still we try to die. We drive too fast down winding roads, we have sex with strangers without wearing protection, we drink, we use drugs. We try to squeeze a little more life out of our lives. It’s natural to want to do that. But to be alive in the world, every day, as we are given more and more and more, as the nature of “what we can handle” changes and our methods for how we handle it change, too, that’s something of a miracle.”
“It would have been kinder to lie, but I wasn’t kind anymore. Maybe I never had been. I vaguely remember a childhood kindness, but maybe I was conflating innocence and kindness. I felt so little continuity between who I was as a young child and who I was now that it seemed pointless to even consider showing my mother something like mercy. Would have I been merciful when I was a child?”
suvata's review
4.0
• Recommended in ModernMrsDarcy.com 2020 Fall Reading Preview
• Recommended in ModernMrsDarcy.com 2020 Winter Reading Preview
• September 2020 Book of the Month Club selection
Yaa Gyasi just has a way with words. She brings the immigrant and the Gyan family experience right into my home. I loved her first book, HOMEGOING, so much I was hoping her second book would live up and it definitely did. Another excellent mother/daughter exploration that you won’t want to miss.
• Recommended in ModernMrsDarcy.com 2020 Winter Reading Preview
• September 2020 Book of the Month Club selection
Yaa Gyasi just has a way with words. She brings the immigrant and the Gyan family experience right into my home. I loved her first book, HOMEGOING, so much I was hoping her second book would live up and it definitely did. Another excellent mother/daughter exploration that you won’t want to miss.
kendallpenn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cindy_freez's review
4.0
Thoughtful and brilliantly written. I thought this book was very insightful as it was written through the perspective of a young woman who uses science to understand some very personal events that occurred in her life. She is a first generation Ghanaian working on her PhD in Neuroscience at Stanford. Her mother suffers from depression and her brother had an opioid addiction. The story goes back and forth a bit from her present time and her younger days. It is written with some humor, which I appreciated because it was used appropriately. I was hoping for a more profound ending but overall I loved the book.
racheljane96's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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? No
4.5
laelyn's review against another edition
4.0
Tiefgründig, zutiefst traurig und faszinierend: Das ist "Ein erhabenes Königreich". Es erzählt die Geschichte von Gifty, deren schwer depressive Mutter neuerdings bei ihr lebt und alte Wunden aufreißt, die vielleicht nie geschlossen werden können. Dabei wird nicht nur die Gegenwart beleuchtet, sondern vor allem auch die Vergangenheit und die Geschichte einer Familie, die aus Ghana nach Amerika auswandert, um dort ihr Glück zu finden. Was folgt, sind Schicksalsschläge, ist Tod, ist Trennung, ist Rassismus - aber auch glückliche Erfahrungen lässt Gyasi nicht unerwähnt. Zwei zentrales Thema sind Religion, der christliche Glaube, mit dem Gifty aufwächst und der ihr Leben prägt, und die Wissenschaft, in der Gifty ihre berufliche Erfüllung findet. Wie beides miteinander verbunden ist und sich Giftys Einstellungen zu beiden Polen mit ihren Lebenserfahrungen ändern, ist faszinierend zu lesen.
Ich wurde nicht immer emotional berührt und manchmal wirkt die Erzähweise etwas zu bruchstückhaft für mich, aber dennoch ist es ein wunderbares, wichtiges Buch, das mir in Erinnerung bleiben wird.
Vielen Dank an den DuMont Buchverlag für das Reviewexemplar!
Ich wurde nicht immer emotional berührt und manchmal wirkt die Erzähweise etwas zu bruchstückhaft für mich, aber dennoch ist es ein wunderbares, wichtiges Buch, das mir in Erinnerung bleiben wird.
Vielen Dank an den DuMont Buchverlag für das Reviewexemplar!
pnwbibliophile's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Yaa Gyasi is able to tap into the emotional depth of her characters such that I’ll happily read anything she puts out. This authentically captured Gifty’s academic background and experiments, her immigrant background, and the interplay between addiction, loss, and mental health. The plot, structure and central questions were adeptly planned such that the components developed this beautiful synergy and flow. Capturing the intricacies of immigrant families is a complex undertaking, yet the novel gives us four nuanced family members we can empathize with even when they do disagreeable things such as doing drugs, abandoning their family, or withdrawing into depression.
One aspect I didn’t connect as much with was that Gifty, the protagonist, is grappling with her moral questions within religion. But that is a me problem. Despite this, I thought the religious discourse was balanced and nuanced such that it never felt preachy. This did a great job capturing the interplay between grief, addiction, and mental health in a thoughtful way. However, as someone who lost my brother, Gifty felt too detached from her own grief surrounding her brother’s death to feel authentic. Gifty was witnessing the addiction, death, and her mother’s grief rather than tapping into her own emotions surrounding her brother. My last critique is that much of the novel took place within Gifty’s head, causing the writing to drag at times, especially since the topics it examines are so heavy.
Despite my critiques, this is still well worth reading and makes me excited to delve into the author’s next work.