Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Maa ja taivas by Yaa Gyasi

81 reviews

jayisreading's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Transcendent Kingdom is a book that calls for quiet contemplation in an entirely different way from her previous book, Homegoing. Equally stunning and brilliantly told from a complex protagonist, every word was intentional and made you ache in more ways than one. I loved the way Gyasi shaped Gifty, the protagonist, by the way. She was one of the most human characters I’ve read in a while, approaching large (and often overwhelming) topics in a way that’s relatable, as well as sharing a particular grief that angered and saddened her, especially in her family relations and their struggles. The push-and-pull between science and religion was brilliantly handled by exploring it through Gifty’s perspective, and I really appreciated the grey area that Gyasi presented to make space for the reader to reflect on their own understanding of these two.

I think what struck me about this book is that neither Gyasi or Gifty were expecting anyone to come to terms with anything. In fact, it was clear that there were some things that couldn’t be resolved, would forever ache, or require a long period to process things that sometimes can’t be put into words. It was more complex than trauma and, somehow, Gyasi was able to spin words together to express all of this with such care.

I absolutely loved Homecoming and equally enjoyed Transcendent Kingdom. Whatever Gyasi has planned next, I eagerly look forward to it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

sfbookgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

What I love most about this story are the relationships that the main character has with family. Gifty, a sixth-year Ph.D. student at Stanford University, studies reward-seeking behavior in mice as a tool to discover why her brother was addicted to OxyContin. Raised in a religious household, Gifty grapples with the tension between science and religion and how to balance these two important aspects of her life. 

 

I have yet to read Yaa Gysai’s Homegoing, but I really enjoyed Transcendent Kingdom. Some of the scenes involving the lab mice made me squirm and I didn’t love the fact that there were several incorrect Bay Area references, but overall, I liked this character study. Transcendent Kingdom might resonate more with readers who identify as religious, but I found the main character’s inner battle between religion and science fascinating. I can’t see myself rereading this book, but it’s one I will definitely keep on my shelf to remind myself of Gyasi’s prolific writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Racism, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Child death, and Animal cruelty

amberinbookland's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

allisoncc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, and Child abuse

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Physical abuse, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Misogyny and Sexual content

emilyhawk's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

Gyasi's second novel is not as gripping as Homegoing, but that's not a fair metric because in my opinion, Homegoing is about as close to perfection as a novel could be. This book is excellent and I recommend it to anyone, but particularly those wanting to think through faith, family, and belonging. I am continually amazed by Gyasi's ability to crate surprising, complex characters not typically represented in literature -- a first-gen, formerly Southern evangelical, Black woman in STEM? Fascinating to learn about the world through Gifty's lens. Yet even though I don't share a lot of identity markers with Gifty, her story gave me to much to think about. That's the beauty of Gyasi's storytelling: she tells specific stories with universal truths about human nature embedded within. This book cemented Gyasi's place as one of my favorite contemporary authors, and I can't wait for her next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Drug use, Addiction, and Grief

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Racism

hmch's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-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

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Mental illness

pollyflorence's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Reading this just confirmed to me that Yaa Gyasi is one of my favourite writers and I’ll definitely be picking up anything she writes in the future. The way she crafts a story is masterful and this novel— a slow, lyrical, non linear exploration of addiction, faith and grief and how those things shape our lives— reads almost like a memoir, it feels so real. The subject matter was very close to home, but in a good way, reading this felt like being seen. Without a doubt— my favourite of the year so far. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, and Racism

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Suicide attempt

bethbarron's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Heartbreaking and absolutely beautiful

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug abuse and Suicide attempt

Minor: Religious bigotry

Heartbreaking and absolutely beautiful

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

Minor: Vomit, Religious bigotry, Chronic illness, and Medical trauma

caidyn's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

All I knew was that when I saw Yaa Gyasi was coming out with another book, I had to have it. I didn't read much about the plot or description, just that I knew I needed it. And it's an excellent sophomoric book. It's very different than Homegoing but there are many of the same threads. Immigration, mental health, family generations, etc. But this one also added religion and science and drug use to the mix. It was a hard book to read and has many things going on, usually all at once. The complexity of human life. It's one that definitely requires multiple readings to fully appreciate it, so I can't wait to pick it up another time to see more things.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Suicide