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areyes10's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
smaranell's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
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
4.0
readingwithcoffee's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
This author could not go a single chapter with talking about women’s breasts and that’s before the one chapter where a man uses at least a. Paragraph to describe the ass of the woman he married and after she is kidnapped into slavery after the fugitive slave act is passed he literally sees her in other women regardless of ass based on if they have a big ass to the point a woman catches his attention to slap him for staring. On that end while a book that discusses Africans who will become Ghanaians and Americans will cover and discuss violence of all sorts into black Women especially sexual a lot of the violence to women in the book felt contrived and not taken that seriously or confused inherently for depth.
Many of the chapters felt like they were shoehorning American milestones or historical events or topics surrounding racism. As well as in my opinion using Ghanaian faith and religion at multiple points it mystically move a plot point forward the author clearly wrote herself into a corner for. I hated the mother burning all of her children but one alive scene in a dream, bc I don’t think the book took the murder of the daughters seriously especially to insist spirits made her do it when she literally did not know she did it. Also at times her protagonists had very ahistorical social norms where they’d either be the most special or educated or the most suffering or ostracized person among their environmental or all those things at once while clearly trying to represent general Ghanaian and Black American history it was very lazy and off putting to see constantly.
After reading it I’m not surprised to see a lot of reviews by Ghanaian nationals disliking the book or thinking it’s at least a mess of the Ghanaian cutler and history it tries to represent.
Many of the chapters felt like they were shoehorning American milestones or historical events or topics surrounding racism. As well as in my opinion using Ghanaian faith and religion at multiple points it mystically move a plot point forward the author clearly wrote herself into a corner for. I hated the mother burning all of her children but one alive scene in a dream, bc I don’t think the book took the murder of the daughters seriously especially to insist spirits made her do it when she literally did not know she did it. Also at times her protagonists had very ahistorical social norms where they’d either be the most special or educated or the most suffering or ostracized person among their environmental or all those things at once while clearly trying to represent general Ghanaian and Black American history it was very lazy and off putting to see constantly.
After reading it I’m not surprised to see a lot of reviews by Ghanaian nationals disliking the book or thinking it’s at least a mess of the Ghanaian cutler and history it tries to represent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Murder, Racism, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Slavery, Violence, Sexual assault, and Sexism
Moderate: Drug use, Confinement, Child abuse, and Addiction
Minor: Infidelity
maviemerveilleuse's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
afishinspace's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
lucifiere's review against another edition
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I wish there were longer, and fewer segments, but this clearly is a Great American Novel (tm)
jess_mango's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing. Outstanding. All the words.
This novel spans 3 centuries and tells the story of its characters in Ghana and America in short vignettes. Gyasi's characters experience life in Africa or life in America as slaves and later living through the civil rights movement. We only get to know each character for a short time, but we see the interconnection of each and how their story builds. The book is heartbreaking but totally captured me in its spell. I highly recommend this novel!
This novel spans 3 centuries and tells the story of its characters in Ghana and America in short vignettes. Gyasi's characters experience life in Africa or life in America as slaves and later living through the civil rights movement. We only get to know each character for a short time, but we see the interconnection of each and how their story builds. The book is heartbreaking but totally captured me in its spell. I highly recommend this novel!
dinasamimi's review against another edition
4.0
I love multi-generational family epics. Heritage and legacy are themes I keep coming back to in my reading; Homegoing is a cutting and heavily researched portrayal of these in line with Love Songs. The characters are well written, but I wanted more time with them. We moved through the lineage quickly and I could easily have lingered on any one of these.
fflur_jones's review against another edition
5.0
The best book I've read all year! The story is both heartbreaking and inspirational, a timeline of a broken family torn apart by slavery. The novel illustrates beautifully the continuous ravages that white supremacy inflicts on the main characters throughout time. I was particularly blown away by the acute and insightful picture of generational trauma that the story paints. I finished the book with tears in my eyes it was so moving. I would recommend this to everyone. Gyasi's writing is absolutely magical and I cannot wait to read her other novels!