Reviews

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

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idkbre's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

4.0

spe31's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.75

razz_otter's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.25

I recognized this was well write and saw what the author was trying to do - and the key messages focused on religion and that's not my topic. Felt like a good book for someone else.

bigfatraindrops's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

tawallah's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

missyjohnson's review against another edition

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4.0

Beautifully written story that tells the story about an immigrant family from Ghana that feels realistic and true. Real with all of the ache and pain that only a family can give, as well and the love. Gifty’s search for answers is lovingly told through her relationships with brother, Nana, her mother and a spattering of friends. There is sadness in the things that this family has to deal with in a culture that does not try to accept them unless they conform to the ways of those around them. Our misplaced admiration of athletes and the pressures that are thrust upon them is sad. Depression and addiction is sad. Sadder still is how little we know about those things, the causes and how to address them. Gyasi made this clear in the book and did it nicely. The scientific study of the brain that Gifty worked on was well described. To get a visceral feeling for what the mice in the experiments were dealing was one way that exhibited the depth of the writing. There were so many places that I had to highlight that were several paragraphs because the prose was beautiful and seemed to come from such a vulnerable place. The power of emotions and their effect on so much that cannot be explained when we look at logic or brain function or anything that would be concrete and give the answers that we seek.