Reviews with content warning for Racism - Transcendent Kingdom

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

330 reviews

mirandalikesbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

This book read like a memoir or a stream of consciousness. Like memories pieced together. It was an intimate POV of a first generation experience, of growing up black in the south, of the changing nature of faith and religion, of what it's like to see your family struggle with mental health issues and addiction. You really get to know who Gifty is and what drives her throughout this novel.

I would recommend this if you're drawn to memoirs or particularly reflective fiction.

My biggest qualm with this book is that I felt like I was waiting for the book to pick up a plot line that it never did. I also don't read a lot of books this tied up in Christianity, so I may have not been the perfect audience.

The hard cut at the end to her being in a relationship with Han having already experienced her mom's passing felt too sudden for me too.

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nessreadsalot's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.25

In Transcendent Kingdom Yaa Gyasi tells the story of Gifty and her family as they move from Ghana to Alabama hoping for a better life.

Told from Gifty's point of view, we see how things don't go quite as they expected and how this harsh reality chips away at the families dream and then eventually the family itself.

Gifty struggles to understand the addiction that took her brother from her and strives to better understand it through her studies and professional life. When her mother comes to stay with her Gifty learns more about the deep rooted trauma that runs through her family.

This book was wonderfully written and while I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by the fabulous Bahni Turpin I really want to reread the physical book so that I can note some quotations and parts of the book that really stood out to me

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avacadosocks's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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leonormsousa's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

I really liked this one. It is beautifully written, and the constant time jumps were done perfectly, which is something quite rare. It hooked me from the start, and I found myself wanting more at the end, even though I know this was the perfect size for this story.

Small note that I was pleasantly surprised by the queer representation in this one (MC is queer).

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kvokolek's review against another edition

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reflective

Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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violerwolf's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

4.5

Realistic fiction, especially as slow paced as the “plot” is in this book, isn’t typically my cup of tea. But Gyasi, through masterful prose and a constantly shifting timeline of events, makes this such an engaging story about addiction, depression, family, and religion. The way she interweaves themes through various points of the main character’s life and places them throughout the narrative is beautifully done. My one critique is that the main character’s internal reflection can be a bit heavy handed at times, but don’t let that stop you from checking this book out.

I picked up this book because Homegoing had such a long waitlist at my library, and I’m so glad I did. I can’t wait to read Gyasi’s other works.

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oliviagscherzer's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative 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

4.5

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brekaboujie's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.25

I really enjoyed this, despite it being intensely sad basically the whole way through. I liked the narration a lot, it was a little hard to follow sometimes as it jumped around constantly but it felt very natural and very much like I was planted into Gifty's brain. It was somehow a mix of a very intense and deep story and a very shallow day to day one - I think in some ways that really added to understanding Gifty's experience, as the vulnerability in her writing was constant but also you only ever got slivers of time on each topic/moment. It was clever and made me want to keep reading.

The end was a mix for me - it felt realistic and basic which isn't a bad thing! About 15 pages before the end I suddenly thought "wait a sec this is ending soon and I have no idea what would be a good or satisfying ending here". I think the fact that it wasn't super satisfying weirdly made it work, it's just life, you just keep going with it and that's fine.

Overall, I really enjoyed the way it was written and Gifty was an interesting character to follow. Different from what I'd usually go for, but a positive different!

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hollydyer328's review against another edition

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emotional reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.25

This book almost felt like a memoir while I was reading it. The reader gets a direct view into Gifty's brain (fitting since she's a neuroscientist) and sees all of the traumas that she has held throughout her life and with her family. The story happens a lot more in the past and Gifty reflects on events in her family life that deal with addiction, depression, and unraveling family dynamics. As she is conducting her graduate work, she looks to science to explain the problems that have plagued her, but throughout she reckons with her religion and her faith. I love how Yaa Gyasi brings takes these typically-separate themes and brings them together in Gifty's reflection and reckoning. Her writing style is so relaxing and therapeutic.

If you are more of a plot-driven person, just know that there is not much plot that happens. A lot of the events happen in the past, and the plot for the present day is pretty brief. I personally wish there was more of an aftermath, and the ending felt brief to me. I prefer more of a plot-driven story, but I will appreciate a character-driven story if it's robust and compelling, which Gyasi does very well.

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gottheblues's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-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

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