Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

130 reviews

mdal26's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Police brutality, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Slavery, Trafficking, Death, Child death, Physical abuse, Dementia, Racism, Rape, Racial slurs, Infidelity, Hate crime, Addiction, and Grief

artemisg's review against another edition

emotional 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

5.0

Brutally beautiful. How Gyasi managed to make every character and their voice distinct in 20ish pages is a miracle to me. We spend so little time with everyone, but their stories feel told; they feel real and whole. That is an achievement.

This is the problem of history. We cannot know that which we were not there to see and hear and experience for ourselves. We must rely upon the words of others.

This feels like an essential novel. Through reading this, I came to understand things I didn’t necessarily enjoy. In this novel, we follow two different familial lines from Ghana. One ancestral line stems from a women who was married off to an English slave trader, and one from a woman who was captured and traded as a slave. The stories heartbreakingly mirror one another in some ways and are heartwrenchingly different in others.

If we go to the white man for school, we will learn the way the white man wants us to learn. We will come back and build the country the white man wants us to build. One that continues to serve them. We will never be free.

So much was stolen from the people in this book, and so much was stolen from enslaved people and indigenous communities in the slave trade. This book examines the prison complex and, segregation and drug abuse. It is also beautifully written, and emotional and important and everything to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Slavery, Racism, and Physical abuse

noahsingh's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad

4.25

Enjoyed a lot of aspects of this book: 
- 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,

in the sense that I wish Marjorie had been aware of her families past a bit more through Akua and therefore somehow able to recognise Marcus as familiy

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Content Warnings

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

badgergatan's review against another edition

Unfortunately a touch too dark for my tastes, and a plot structure that’s difficult to follow. I may revisit it someday - this was far enough beyond my typical comfort zone that I wasn’t quite ready for itZ

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Slavery, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Racism

Moderate: Infertility, Domestic abuse, Rape, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

vexbatch's review against another edition

challenging fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

A captivating look at the effects of slavery through generations. I absolutely adore the alternating perspectives between two branches of this same family tree, each two chapters moving us forward a generation. I could not put this book down; the stories were captivating (to repeat myself) and just urge you forward through the years.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Addiction, Racism, Confinement, Slavery, and Rape

Moderate: Infidelity, Drug use, Colonisation, Excrement, Death, and Pregnancy

Minor: War

aliireads's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

This book was really well-written! Sometimes a bit confusing to keep all of the names straight, but i like how the characters relate to each other and how the book wraps up. I would recommend this one 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Sexual assault

turnoverthepage's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

It is incredible how many lives and years Gyasi managed to explore in only 300 pages. Such an incredible author. 

Not only did she explore generation after generation across two families but she managed to make each new narrator a fully fleshed out character in such a short space of time. 

The book is challenging and obviously I can't say it is a pleasant read but the way the story is woven is incredible and it's a book I'm very glad to have read and have on my shelf. Will definitely be picking up Transcendent Kingdom. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Torture, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Racism, Slavery, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Infertility, Racial slurs, and Infidelity

cocolarry's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, Rape, War, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse

greenan26's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Colonisation, Classism, Homophobia, Rape, Trafficking, Torture, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Excrement and Confinement

bootsmom3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Child death, Death, Drug use, Kidnapping, and Ableism

Moderate: Sexual violence and War