Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

8 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective 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? Yes

4.75

Having been through several relocations myself as immigrant, expat, repatriated, work visaed, and soon to be overseas retired in multiple countries, so much of this book touches me and speaks to me on multiple levels, including race as a western (American) construct. Some of it is obviously only what I can imagine or empathize with since I’m not Black, but it was illuminating to me in many ways because of that reason too. Brilliant!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Police brutality, Cultural appropriation, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Gaslighting, Abortion, and Suicide attempt

mmadill227's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Classism and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Death, Deportation, and Infidelity

lay_kone's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Racism, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, and Racial slurs

melist6'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Sexual assault

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Infidelity, Classism, and Mental illness

Minor: Cultural appropriation

vas_17's review against another edition

challenging emotional slow-paced

• 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Deportation, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, and Emotional abuse

kathis_wonderland's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective 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

3.75

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a novel about life in Nigeria, experiencing race and racism in the US and trying to find oneself. Ifemelu and Obinze grew up in Nigeria together but saw no opportunities for themselves in this country. Ifemelu managed to move to the US and had to leave her love Obinze behind. There she experienced race and racism for the first time and had trouble adapting to her new life. After years in America, she moved back to Nigeria and realized how different she had become.

I wanted to read this book for a very long time. And now I am not fully sure what to think about it. In general, I liked the book. It felt very authentic and gave me a new insight into Africans’ experiencing racism in the US and Europe. It really broadened my horizon. The plot was very diverse. We heard about race and racism, about everyday racism, normal life, struggles, love and relationships.
 
However, the story was very long. Some scenes were not interesting at all and seemed to make the story longer. I was very confused at the beginning of the book. The author was jumping around within the plot, talking about the present and then jumping back to the past, writing several chapters about Ifemelu's youth and then suddenly jumping back to the present again. This confused me a lot in the beginning. Therefore, it took me ages to get into the story and to start liking it. I found Ifemelu's actions often questionable. She was cheating on her boyfriends a lot. And if there is one trope I don't like in books, it is cheating!
 
In the end, I started to like the book more and more. We got different perspectives and read about lots of different experiences. The love between Ifemelu and Obinze was really nice. I expected something different from the book, but in the end was pleased. I can recommend it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Deportation, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Chronic illness, Racial slurs, Classism, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Cultural appropriation, Adult/minor relationship, and Slavery

caitlingrammer's review

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and War

seanml's review against another edition

funny hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

This book says SO so many things about a myriad of different topics. Unfortunately I couldn’t even begin to address every single one. So I’ll choose 3:

1. Obviously there is somewhat of an overarching plotline, but much of the book is our protagonist(s) getting through life. Usually I don’t like books that just “follow” someone for lack of a better word, but Adichie instills such reality into every character that no person is boring because I as a reader can believe there really is more to them. I also love that there were no unrealistic “I can explain” moments, even when Adichie had ample opportunity to do so.

2. Thank you, Chimamanda for recognizing how ludicrous academic discourse can sound.

3. And lastly, I was tensed up all the way until the FINAL line. Those last chapters played with my heart TOO much!

Either way, most definitely a 8/10 at LEAST.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death of parent, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racism, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Hate crime, and Sexism