Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Regatul transcendent by Yaa Gyasi

283 reviews

bites_of_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-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

Transcendent Kingdom beautifully weaves science, religion, and the struggles with grief and addiction. We follow Gifty, a woman who is nearing the end of her PhD in neuroscience, focused on addiction research. In her lab she experiments with mice, making them addicted to Ensure and then testing to see which neurons are responsible for that behavior. At home, she cares for her mother who is in a deep depressive state. Her brother, Nana, died from a drug addiction that started from an OxyContin prescription after an ankle injury, so her research is very much tied to trying to understand why and how her brother became addicted and why he couldn't get out of that toxic cycle. To add to the complexity of this story, there is the religious background that Gifty grew up in. Her mother is deeply religious and instilled that belief in her from childhood. Gifty has journals filled with letters to God as she tried to process what was happening to her family when she was a child. 

All in all, this book is beautiful and heartbreaking. The ways that Gifty's family came together and broke apart are handled so carefully and tenderly that I was able to go through it with Gifty while maintaining a safe distance from that pain. I appreciate Gyasi's writing a lot and so far, both of her books have been excellent in my eyes, she's becoming an auto-buy author for me. I highly recommend this book but do check out the content warnings since it can be a difficult read for multiple reasons. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, and Suicide attempt

leanneymu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

I absolutely loved this book. A tender and at times painful exploration of families, loss, and addiction, that was fully relatable to me (even though I don't share the same background as the characters). The audiobook was beautifully read, and I cared deeply about the characters, who were all treated with respect by the author. A layered and nuanced portrayl of human relationships. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, and Death of parent

brianareads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent

diaratewi's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, and Grief

kaylemix's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Drug use, and Racism

axel_p's review against another edition

Wasn't in the mood for it right now. Might pick up again in a few months.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Mental illness

annabulkowski's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

siobhan28's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

Such an amazing, lyrical book that made me tear up multiple times. The writing was so beautiful and captivating and I finished the book within 24 hours. A lot of parts of the book were heavy but there was always a glimmer of hope 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt

voxlunae's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

It's well-written, and Gyasi once again does a great job of capturing time and generational trauma, but the narrative was just not as capturing for me as Homegoing, and my personal issues with religion, theism, and family addiction made this a difficult read at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

kibbles15's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Despite the fact that the book reads at a slower pace, it is very well written.  The author was especially good at expressing the emotions of the story. I found myself feeling sadness, joy, anger, heartbreak, etc...right along with the main character.  The plot is heartbreaking, but it is an interesting exploration on finding the balance between a Belief in God and Science. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Book does discuss humane procedures performed on mice in a laboratory environment.