Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
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.
3.5?
Hard to imagine giving anything by Yaa Gyasi lower than four stars, and, objectively I think it was well-written. It just didn't pull me in in the way I had hoped. Maybe part of my struggle is that much of the book is the authors' own internal struggle reflecting on religion, which, given my personal background, was not new to me and left me wanting more. I did appreciate the complexity of interplay between religion, mental health and substance abuse, immigration, and being black while in America. However, I felt this could have been so much richer if the perspectives of her mother or father were brought in, rather than leaving things from Gifty's perspective only.
Ultimately it felt like a book that held so much promise, but didn't fully deliver on its potential, remaining a bit 2D in the more limited perspective of Gifty when it could have been been a moving multidimensional exploration.
It's almost a bit more like a memoir, which in that framing, makes the pace and the perspective of the writing seem more fitting.
Overall, would still recommend - just not as sharply impactful as some other fiction portraits of 2020 exploring similar themes.
Hard to imagine giving anything by Yaa Gyasi lower than four stars, and, objectively I think it was well-written. It just didn't pull me in in the way I had hoped. Maybe part of my struggle is that much of the book is the authors' own internal struggle reflecting on religion, which, given my personal background, was not new to me and left me wanting more. I did appreciate the complexity of interplay between religion, mental health and substance abuse, immigration, and being black while in America. However, I felt this could have been so much richer if the perspectives of her mother or father were brought in, rather than leaving things from Gifty's perspective only.
Ultimately it felt like a book that held so much promise, but didn't fully deliver on its potential, remaining a bit 2D in the more limited perspective of Gifty when it could have been been a moving multidimensional exploration.
It's almost a bit more like a memoir, which in that framing, makes the pace and the perspective of the writing seem more fitting.
Overall, would still recommend - just not as sharply impactful as some other fiction portraits of 2020 exploring similar themes.
I loved the story. It's a really well-done narrative with three-dimensional characters that you grow to love. I was worried the interspersed bits about neuroscience would be a slog but instead they fit in organically and are just as interesting as the rest of the book. My one critique is that, while I know this book is partially (largely?) a meditation on what it means to be spiritual, I did find all of the God dialogue a little repetitive and, to be honest, difficult to care about. I feel like it made Gifty seem like such a serious, humorless character, which is something I've found to be true of other stories about protagonists with traumatic childhoods (Long Bright River comes to mind). Maybe if it weren't so Christianity-heavy I'd enjoy it more.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really liked this book - deep and difficult dive into depression and addiction but through the lens of a scientist in her lab - for me it helped to have so recently read Homegoing - thinking of the character in this book as a variation on one in that helped give this book more texture for me - although I suspect the loneliness of the narrator and the smallness of this world is in some ways a direct response to the vastness of Homegoing - it is the opposite in scope but similarly interested in familial relationships.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5. Woweeee. I can’t even begin to explain the complexities of this novel. Beautifully captured. The way this book moves through time is incredible. I only wish we had been able to see her progression in the last chapter, rather than jumping forwards.
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix