Reviews with content warning for Slavery - Homegoing

Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

523 reviews

ran_sophia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

It is an excellently written and pointed book with a very strong story. Given the subject matter of the story, it was a difficult and challenging read.

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kimberlynpeterson50's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

This sweeping novel begins during the late 1700s slave trade in Ghana to present day. The two women whose stories we follow never meet, their journeys acting as sliding doors to different lives - one enslaved, one marrying a slaver. Thank goodness for the family tree, which I referenced frequently as I read. Gyasi details generation after generation of these women’s descendants, never directly looping back to share what eventually happened, but revealing outcomes through their children. This is a powerful demonstration of generational trauma, through both plot and character.

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booksillremember's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

Can’t believe this is a debut. I’m not usually any good with large casts of characters, so having 14 POVs felt daunting at first, but character introductions are spaced out enough so it’s not a problem to keep track. I cared for most characters, especially the women, even though they each only get 20-30ish pages. History is storytelling, as one of the characters puts it, and I really think this book should be part of the syllabus (maybe for 14/15+). It gives the reader so much historical information woven into heartbreaking personal stories. The only thing I didn’t care for was the symbolism with the visions, the fire and the water. It’s thrown in quite late and it felt constructed and out of place in its tone.

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itsmaryssae's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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melnao1's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

I recently read Transcendent Kingdon by Yaa Gyasi and knew immediately that I had to get into some of her other work. This book was even better than her second which is insane for a debut. In this novel she explores the effects of slavery and institutionalized racism for both the enslaved and for some of the perpetuators through stories that connected via a common descendant. Yaa Gyasi did an amazing job of writing about characters in vastly different time periods and lives while depicting Ghanian culture and customs of the Ashante tribe in accurate light for a historical fiction novel. I loved how the common thread holding all these stories together were family stories and the beauty in how they pieced into each other, even when the subject matter was heartbreaking. This book was magical for all the reasons you don't think stories coming out of such misery would be.

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cinnamontwisty's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

5.0

Love the way the story is told, the way each chapter is about a different person in a different part of history.
A very emotional and powerful read.

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fionafsw's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was an epic spanning generations and continents, showing how we are the product of our history and how trauma doesn't get erased with every new generation but instead accumulates. Each character and her/his story was immensely interesting in and of itself and of course in connection with all the others to create a multi-century history featuring, through a feminist lens, the deepest shames of humanity (namely the slave trade and all related injustices). Well-written and a very rewarding read. I'd love to read more from Gyasi in the future.

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