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cecilialau_'s review against another edition
4.5
It was gut-wrenching and tragic and criminally cruel, and heart-achingly stunning/heavy all at the same time.
Full of individual experiences - all including prejudice, discrimination and injustice - of about 250 years and seven generations. The subtlety of our world’s history and relationship with racism lives on to this day, and we cannot deny that or deny the history lesson that this book provides so vividly and thoroughly.
Favourite stories/chapters out of the 14 would have to be Ness, Kojo and H.
I need this to be required reading. But I also acknowledge the very heavy subject of colonialism and white superiority complexes. It is confronting but that’s how reality works…
Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Excrement, War, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Slavery, Violence, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Colonisation, Drug use, Torture, Vomit, Rape, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Racism, and Religious bigotry
desana75's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Slavery, Torture, Vomit, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction
0hannah0banana0's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Rape, Slavery, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, War, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Death, Vomit, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, Drug abuse, Colonisation, Addiction, Violence, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Genocide, and Drug use
linhsreadinghour's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Slavery, War, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Drug use, Death, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Rape
agiecummings's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Yaa Gyasi is a story teller and a historian wrapped up into one it felt like. I have been on a more complete and compelling history lesson on the realities of being Black and/or African in 300 pages than I have in all my years of schooling. What a gift she has given us with this book.
She says in the book that Marjorie is trying to find books that she “can feel inside” and I felt that way about this book. Every character was so complete and so real: you could feel, smell, see, and hear them as if they were sitting right next to you as you read their story. It was all-encompassing.
And, realistically, I don’t think I’ve heard a more real, honest, and raw description of what it is like to be a Black American today than in the last chapter of this book. Between the pages of 289-290 and 295-296, Yaa heartbreakingly and succinctly spells out exactly what we (white people, of colonizers’ descent) have wrought and the realities of how that affects everyday life of people who are generations removed from slavery itself. I was floored by this book. Absolutely floored.
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, and Vomit
Minor: War and Police brutality
htedesco's review against another edition
- 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
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 against another edition
- 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
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.
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
elizaob's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Vomit, Racism, Violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Sexual violence
thefall's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Graphic: Racism, Drug abuse, Confinement, Addiction, Sexism, Racial slurs, Vomit, Murder, Hate crime, Colonisation, Classism, Drug use, Death, Child death, Violence, Trafficking, Slavery, and Excrement
vittoriav's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Um check the trigger warnings first and foremost.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Racism, Sexual assault, Vomit, Colonisation, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, War, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Police brutality, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, and Rape