Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Maame by Jessica George

138 reviews

chrisje's review

emotional hopeful

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Mental illness

bookwitchva's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Sexual content and Death of parent

oz2021's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Grief

saltycoffee's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, Toxic relationship, Classism, Drug use, Mental illness, Grief, Chronic illness, Dementia, and Panic attacks/disorders

jjha's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide and Vomit

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

This book is a coming of age story of a young Ghanaian woman in her 20s living in London. Throughout the story she tackles work related race stressors, relationships, grief, family, moving out for the first time and finding a voice. 

I can hardly believe this is Jessica George’s debut novel. The way she was able to capture grief had me in tears (and I do not cry easy). After reading her forward I realized her dad is no longer with us. Which totally explains how she was able to have Maddie tap into that grief. 

I loved how she was able to explain complex topics like love and culture. It was very relatable and her characters felt so real. 

If you are looking for a realistic black woman version of a coming of age story, this is it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Infidelity, and Drug use

mollyb13's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

Really great novel delving into grief, caring for an ill parent, moving out on your own for the first time, navigating relationships & friendships. A strong coming of age story - and while mostly heavy, there are some lighter moments to laugh at. I enjoyed learning a little bit about Ghanaian culture and how that impacted Maddie in her life in London. I just wish we had gotten more time with

Sam because he was such a well-rounded character, even for the short time we had with him

. Glad I finally got around to this one as it had been on my TBR since it released!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Racism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Suicide

martapsalvado's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

3.5

Took me more than a month to read and several in-between books because it's so sad and intense and I'm not in the right headspace 🥲 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Medical content, Death, Racism, Death of parent, Sexual content, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Minor: Drug use, Suicide, and Alcohol

emjay2021's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.0

Maddie lives in London. She is the 25 year old daughter of Ghanaian immigrants but is an odd mix of much older and much younger. On the one hand, her family has piled a lot of responsibilities on her that she shouldn’t have had to handle on her own, and on the other, her upbringing has left her too anxious and scared to take the risks involved in developing her own identity separate from her family.

There are a few things that make this book stand out from other coming of age novels. First of all, Maddie is very loveable despite being a frustrating character. I also appreciated the book’s perspectives on racism, grief, and familial/cultural expectations. The writing is simple and the plot pretty straightforward, but there are also bits that are really quite beautiful. I am glad I read it and would happily read another book by this author. I think Maame is quite autobiographical, and the author’s experiences will lead to some rich literature to explore in future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death, Bullying, Sexual assault, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

jourdanicus's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

While not a perfect five-star read for me, this book still touched on a lot of my "catnip" topics and I really enjoyed it.

Maddie as a character is naive in a way that toed the line of believability for me sometimes, esp cially for a gen Z/millennial with the lived experience of being Black in a colonial country. However, the way the themes of racism, misogyny, and sexuality were included is perfect for readers who might be newer to those topics and interested in diversifying their reading.

I did find Maddie relatable in a lot of ways too. The characters and the story were sweet without being saccharine. The plot was a little slow to build, but the second half/third was worth it.

For better or worse, the real life experiences of the author really came through in the story, and I think this book is a well-executed answer to the prompt of "write what you know."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Moderate: Dementia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Minor: Medical content, Misogyny, Suicide, Drug use, Racism, Alcohol, Biphobia, and Eating disorder