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cecilialau_'s review against another edition
4.5
It was gut-wrenching and tragic and criminally cruel, and heart-achingly stunning/heavy all at the same time.
Full of individual experiences - all including prejudice, discrimination and injustice - of about 250 years and seven generations. The subtlety of our world’s history and relationship with racism lives on to this day, and we cannot deny that or deny the history lesson that this book provides so vividly and thoroughly.
Favourite stories/chapters out of the 14 would have to be Ness, Kojo and H.
I need this to be required reading. But I also acknowledge the very heavy subject of colonialism and white superiority complexes. It is confronting but that’s how reality works…
Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Excrement, War, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Slavery, Violence, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Colonisation, Drug use, Torture, Vomit, Rape, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Racism, and Religious bigotry
chelle22's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Drug use, Genocide, Infidelity, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Classism, Racism, Infertility, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Violence, War, Suicide, Torture, Homophobia, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Cultural appropriation, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Colonisation, Alcohol, Child death, Death, Police brutality, and Sexual content
readingwithcoffee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
Many of the chapters felt like they were shoehorning American milestones or historical events or topics surrounding racism. As well as in my opinion using Ghanaian faith and religion at multiple points it mystically move a plot point forward the author clearly wrote herself into a corner for. I hated the mother burning all of her children but one alive scene in a dream, bc I don’t think the book took the murder of the daughters seriously especially to insist spirits made her do it when she literally did not know she did it. Also at times her protagonists had very ahistorical social norms where they’d either be the most special or educated or the most suffering or ostracized person among their environmental or all those things at once while clearly trying to represent general Ghanaian and Black American history it was very lazy and off putting to see constantly.
After reading it I’m not surprised to see a lot of reviews by Ghanaian nationals disliking the book or thinking it’s at least a mess of the Ghanaian cutler and history it tries to represent.
Graphic: Rape, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Murder, Racism, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Slavery, Violence, Sexual assault, and Sexism
Moderate: Drug use, Confinement, Child abuse, and Addiction
Minor: Infidelity
itsmaryssae's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Slavery, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Grief, Death of parent, Racism, Police brutality, Murder, Rape, Mental illness, Torture, and Racial slurs
0hannah0banana0's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Rape, Slavery, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, War, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Death, Vomit, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, Drug abuse, Colonisation, Addiction, Violence, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Genocide, and Drug use
nad_books623's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Slavery, Grief, Suicide, Violence, Religious bigotry, Rape, and Drug use
Moderate: Trafficking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Violence
Minor: Toxic relationship, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Homophobia
crybabybea'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Torture, Drug use, Misogyny, Slavery, Colonisation, Death of parent, Murder, Classism, Racism, Sexual content, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexism, War, Confinement, Excrement, Grief, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Child death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry
noahsingh's review against another edition
4.25
- Love a family/generational story.
-Colonial resistance storylines were really interesting.
-Felt like I heard some perspectives I hadn't heard before, and learnt some historical stuff about the exploitation of black people post-slavery I hadn't heard about before.
Ending was a lil disappointing to me tho,
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Racism, Colonisation, Hate crime, Excrement, Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Death, Gore, Drug abuse, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, War, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Fatphobia, Infertility, Pregnancy, Suicide, Alcohol, Child death, and Infidelity
bookdrunkard78's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Slavery
Minor: Alcohol, Murder, Sexual assault, Violence, Colonisation, Confinement, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, and Drug use
addi_m'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: Torture, Sexual violence, War, Slavery, Mental illness, Death of parent, Abandonment, Addiction, Violence, Trafficking, Sexual content, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Murder, Sexual harassment, Racism, Racial slurs, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Child death