Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

184 reviews

liamray's review

emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

It was like a history lesson of slavery and imperialism brought to scale where you hear the story of how real people were affected.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual assault and Racism

Minor: Rape and War

aliireads's review

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

hollyrebecca's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A work of contemporary, literary, generational fiction, following two branches of a bloodline through 7 generations. An exploration of the impacts on Ghanaians whom experienced many facets of slavery and racism in their journey from Ghana to America and home once more. 

Impactful and informative with compelling characters and a unique method of storytelling. A beautiful piece that I’d recommend to anyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Slavery

htedesco's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Grief, Rape, Death of parent, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Blood, Colonisation, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Drug abuse, Vomit, and Homophobia

mirandalikesbooks's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

My favorite part of this book is that every character is the main character. I was invested in every one. I don't understand how Gyasi was able to construct the life motivations of each character so perfectly with only giving each character like 20 pages. Seeing some of the characters age throught the generations is such a gift. Because so many wonderful characters had their life cut short as a product of white violence. 

It is awe inspiring and heart breaking how many generations were and still are affected by slavery. How slavery has direct ties to the oppression and cyclical struggles of black people in America and in Africa. White oppression has killed generations of black joy. 

This story demonstrates the struggle of being a woman so brilliantly too. How many generations of woman went undefined until a man defined her. 

I learned so much through the course of this book. The birth of our modern prison industrial complex being born of the enslavement of African and Black men is something that makes perfect sense. But it was laid out so clearly here.  Some of the violence was so vividly painted that I keep retracing those scenes in my mind. Some of the heartbreak too.

Absolute must read. We have been privileged to not know these stories for long enough. And we are privileged now to see these stories through the perspective of each of these characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Classism, Genocide, Violence, Racism, Rape, Confinement, Death, Body horror, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Grief, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, and Torture

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Infertility, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexism, Abandonment, Drug use, Vomit, Xenophobia, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, War, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual content, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Suicide

hmw102's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Body horror, Child death, Excrement, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Rape, Death, Violence, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Torture, Racial slurs, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Police brutality, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

zephsd's review

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Slavery, and Racism

mollz12's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Haunting and raw. One of my favorite books of 2022. I will always read what this author releases. 
This book follows two sisters that found two different dates. One as a slave on a boat, the other sold and rich. They continue to follow their heirs as the time passes. So beautiful and yet so dark and emotional. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Slavery, Sexual assault, and Violence

spicycronereads's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This beautiful book traces the generational trauma of colonization in Ghana as well as the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. 

By telling the story of sisters whose paths diverge and their subsequent generations,  the author paints a vivid portrait of how the violence of the trans-Atlantic slave trade continues to haunt the descendants of those enslaved and those left behind to deal with the legacies of British Imperialism. Each chapter follows a different line of descent from Effia and Esi, the aforementioned sisters. As a result you don’t get complex development of any one character but you do see the development of generational trauma, family healing, and love. 

There are a couple of moderately graphic SA scenes told in third person. These are not gratuitous, nor are they done in some kind misguided way in which “historical accuracy” is used as an excuse to deploy SA as a prop for character development. The scenes align with the violence of the slave trade and you cannot tell this story without acknowledging the many forms of reproductive violence, including SA. 

Overall this is a beautiful and devastating read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Pregnancy, Rape, Racism, Slavery, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

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