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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
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:
Complicated
really enjoyed the start (& do enjoy the general premise of the book) so was disappointed when it became a slog to get through. a lot of the characters felt like the ‘ignorant stock character’ so that took me out of it often.
I would have given it 5 stars however it is an example of important educational literature forcing itself into a story about true love. The male protagonist's point of view merely elongated the book, making it disjointed and adding no value, other than to loosely touch on British racism. His present, being treated different than other male characters, alone predicts the ending, so I didn't understand what it gave to a story which is already trying to say so much. Apart from this problem the book is breathtaking in it's descriptions and understanding of what is both said and unsaid concerning race. She seamlessly tackles race on a global scale and shows us the different rolls racism plays to a wide range of personalities, both black and white. She also explains how both sides can be uniformed because of our cultural naivety.
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
What a great author. I love how she writes about women and relationships.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
reflective
relaxing
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
Ik had dit boek echt al jaren op mijn lijst staan en uiteindelijk gelezen! En wow! Ik ben echt fan van dit boek! Het las echt lekker vlot en ik was echt in het verhaal gezogen.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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:
Yes
I am grateful for a set of gorgeous, compelling insights about culture, difference and exclusion, personal relationships, and the global social. I'm incredibly thankful for the gorgeous prose, the galling astuteness and realness of this. I feel complicit in some great machine that generates the sadness that is sometimes behind all of these fantastic, meaningful nothings. Not just as a half-white American, but as someone who occasionally has to own up to the label of 'man.'
Nothing incredible happens in this book. There's no grandiose adventure, no huge enshrining event, no thematic overture that repeats in leaps and bounds. Instead, it's just a collection of observations made about living in countries, about being subject to structures and governments and moving between them and the consequences--consequences of decisions you don't know you're making until you see them in the rearview mirror. The writing is simply beautiful enough that I kept reading for the strength and purpose of the next sentence. I was sad when it ended. Ngozi Adichie is truly a powerhouse.
Nothing incredible happens in this book. There's no grandiose adventure, no huge enshrining event, no thematic overture that repeats in leaps and bounds. Instead, it's just a collection of observations made about living in countries, about being subject to structures and governments and moving between them and the consequences--consequences of decisions you don't know you're making until you see them in the rearview mirror. The writing is simply beautiful enough that I kept reading for the strength and purpose of the next sentence. I was sad when it ended. Ngozi Adichie is truly a powerhouse.
For me, this book deserves 4.5 stars, but I have put 4 because I read "Half of a Yellow Sun" and liked it more than Americanah, so I have to be fair. As usual, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie crafted a masterful narrative that delves into and intersects complex topics like race, women, white privilege, interracial dating, globalization, immigration, and others, creating rich layers of analysis through the lived experiences of the main character, Ifemelu. There were times toward the end of the book where I wanted the pace of the book to go faster, spend more time on some details rather than others, but I was somewhat surprised by the ending, pleasantly so. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who is curious about learning more about the topics mentioned above, or who simply wants their experiences of moving from home in developing countries to a new home in developed countries to be seen and put into words.
adventurous
challenging
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
I absolutely loved this book, it's so...intelligent? That's a word that comes to mind.
I was hesitant, didn't really feel it, and then right at this moment the story took off, and I was glued to the pages. I had the same feeling with Dream Count, maybe that's something I can rely on during the next Adichie's book that falls into my hands.
I loved the maturity that beams from the pages, how it discusses race without really discussing it, how beautiful it is to read something unapologetic and real.
I was hesitant, didn't really feel it, and then right at this moment the story took off, and I was glued to the pages. I had the same feeling with Dream Count, maybe that's something I can rely on during the next Adichie's book that falls into my hands.
I loved the maturity that beams from the pages, how it discusses race without really discussing it, how beautiful it is to read something unapologetic and real.