Reviews tagging 'Death'

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

178 reviews

addi_m's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual violence, War, Slavery, Mental illness, Death of parent, Abandonment, Addiction, Violence, Trafficking, Sexual content, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Murder, Sexual harassment, Racism, Racial slurs, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Child death

snipinfool's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Homegoing followed the lives of two half-sisters, raised in different villages, whose lives took very different paths. One sister, Effia, was married off to an Englishman who oversaw the slave trade in the Gold Coast (later called Ghana). She lived in a castle-like dwelling and wanted for little. Her sister, Esi, was captured and imprisoned in the dungeon of Effia’s home. Esi was sent to America, where she was enslaved. The story followed Effia’s and Esi’s families through 300 years of time and demonstrated how the sisters’ lives shaped the six generations that followed. 

This story grabbed my attention from the beginning. Both matriarch’s stories were compelling. Noting how slavery affected each generation took the reader through a full range of emotions. Yaa Gyasi did an excellent job of conveying the struggle and pain felt by the characters in her book. My favorite character was H. A lessor man would have likely broken when faced with the hardships of H’s life. I could imagine H coming home after working in the coal mines in Alabama. I could see in my mind the coal dust clinging to his clothing, skin, and hair and could imagine his want to be as far from it as he could be. I especially liked the ending. Sometimes life has a way of putting people in one’s life that need to be there. This was an excellent story and I would recommend it to everyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Racial slurs, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Drug abuse, and Slavery

Moderate: Trafficking and Kidnapping

_oliviasmith_'s review against another edition

I thought this was a really good book but I just kind of thought it was really long. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Murder, Death of parent, Excrement, Death, Rape, Child death, Child abuse, Racism, Slavery, and Violence

htedesco's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-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

5.0

My favorite part of this book is that every character is the main character. I was invested in every one. I don't understand how Gyasi was able to construct the life motivations of each character so perfectly with only giving each character like 20 pages. Seeing some of the characters age throught the generations is such a gift. Because so many wonderful characters had their life cut short as a product of white violence. 

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

hmw102's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Body horror, Child death, Excrement, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Rape, Death, Violence, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Torture, Racial slurs, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Police brutality, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

laurenmaria422's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Slavery, Police brutality, Infidelity, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Rape, Racism, Kidnapping, War, Violence, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

madelinedalton'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Racism, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Death and Addiction

taunusleserin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Absolute Leseempfehlung...

...schon allein wegen der stilistischen Idee, das Leben von 14 Personen in zwei parallelen Erzählsträngen über 7 Generationen hinweg zu erzählen. 

Das Buch besteht entsprechend aus 14 mehr oder minder abgeschlossenen Essays, die von Effia und Esi - zwei Halbschwestern, die sich nie kennengelernt haben - und ihren jeweiligen Nachkommen erzählen. Esi wird als Sklavin von Ghana in die USA verschleppt, Effia und ihre Nachkommen leben in Ghana. 

Die ersten drei Kapitel hatte ich noch Mühe, reinzufinden, danach hat es mich gepackt und ich wollte unbedingt wissen, wie es weiter geht. Die Autorin befasst sich vor allem mit der Frage, ob sich Traumata in der DNA eines Menschen wiederfinden. Die Kapitel empfand ich teilweise eher zu kurz, da ich gerne mehr über die jeweilige Person erfahren hätte. 

Wie man sich vorstellen kann, sind die Inhalte harte Kost, das Ende bildet dafür einen einigermaßen versöhnlichen Abschluss. 

Definitiv ein Jahreshighlight für mich. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Police brutality, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, and Slavery

greenan26's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Colonisation, Classism, Homophobia, Rape, Trafficking, Torture, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Excrement and Confinement