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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
Gifty is stuck in a grief cycle. From the moment she becomes conscious of her relationship with her mother, to her father leaving, to the death of her brother, to her ongoing caretaking of her mother while trying to create her own life and profession. She’s grieving her own potential, her inability to see past the thick vail of religion, the things she can’t unclench or relinquish control of, without realizing it I also think she’s grieving relationships she’s too guarded to nurture.
This book is a dissertation on grief and the process of reconciling with yourself. Gifty is still Gifty in the end but she’s learned how to harness her good and her bad and how operate even under the heaviness of her grief.
This book does not alleviate the tension between a religious life and a science based one. Honestly, I’m not convinced that Gifty even realizes she needs to consider the tension that exists there until someone else points it out to her. But none of that is the point. She’s not going to solve centuries long debates and proclaim a right side and a wrong side. She’s just trying not to let the grief and responsibility of living pull her into an abyss.
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A beautiful and thought provoking story about grief and contemplations of free will, but the pacing was occasionally a bit weak.
• Recommended in ModernMrsDarcy.com 2020 Fall Reading Preview
• Recommended in ModernMrsDarcy.com 2020 Winter Reading Preview
• September 2020 Book of the Month Club selection
Yaa Gyasi just has a way with words. She brings the immigrant and the Gyan family experience right into my home. I loved her first book, HOMEGOING, so much I was hoping her second book would live up and it definitely did. Another excellent mother/daughter exploration that you won’t want to miss.
• Recommended in ModernMrsDarcy.com 2020 Winter Reading Preview
• September 2020 Book of the Month Club selection
Yaa Gyasi just has a way with words. She brings the immigrant and the Gyan family experience right into my home. I loved her first book, HOMEGOING, so much I was hoping her second book would live up and it definitely did. Another excellent mother/daughter exploration that you won’t want to miss.
I think this is the most depressing book I have ever read.
dark
emotional
reflective
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
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Suicide attempt
There's a 2 page epilogue to the book, and if it weren't there, I think I'd have given this 5 stars? Maybe not. But those 2 pages certainly didn't help my reading experience. They felt unnecessary, undesired. I wish they hadn't been.
A hard book, a lovely book, a brittle book. It's less than Homegoing but that's an incredibly high bar to attempt to reach, and so I'm quite content with the book.
A hard book, a lovely book, a brittle book. It's less than Homegoing but that's an incredibly high bar to attempt to reach, and so I'm quite content with the book.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
It always hits home when I read about other immigrant experiences - especially out of Africa/having parents who left Africa. So well written and so emotionally demanding.
I read this because of a recommendation from a friend. There was a lot to like and some not to. It wrestles with faith, science, addiction, depression, race, and a host of other pressing topics. It's rather postmodern in both thought and style with a nonlinear story. The end grasps at being satisfying but feels abrupt. And the sexual content occasionally pushed right to the upper limits of what I felt comfortable with in a book.
All in all, it was pretty good, but I don't think I would've recommended it quite so strongly as it was recommended to me.
All in all, it was pretty good, but I don't think I would've recommended it quite so strongly as it was recommended to me.