Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

97 reviews

c_serpent's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

5.0

This book was truly sensational.

Total score: 5/5 stars 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Classism

massivepizzacrust's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

To me, this is an almost perfect book. Haunting, ambitious, executed so well. It gave me nightmares and I couldn't stop reading it. If I had any complaint at all, it would be that I wanted most chapters to be a little longer because I wanted to know the characters better. Not necessarily longer in the timeline, just more of the characters' thoughts and feelings. 
I need to think about that ending more but I don't think that'll be a problem because this book will stay with me for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Excrement, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

scifi_rat's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective 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

5.0

Plot: 5★
Prose: 4.5★
Pace: 5 ★
Concept/Execution: 5★/5★
Characters: 4.75★
Worldbuilding: 4.75★
Ending: 4.75★

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Racism, Slavery, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

124smilehd's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

It was cool to see how two half-sisters and their descendants' lives are changed due to the slave trade, where one family benefited from it and the other was a victim of it. Both families faced their own hardships and I loved the constant reference to fire within the novel. It was almost 5 stars for me but I just wanted a little bit more from each character, as each chapter was a different characters perspective, although the previous generation are still mentioned and involved. The stone played less of an important part than I thought it would as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, and Kidnapping

mx_sunshine's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Suicide and Car accident

lindsaylhunter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

My favourite book of all time. Gyasi weaves tragedy, pain, hope and happiness into an absolute masterpiece of a novel. I couldn't fault it if I tried.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Slavery, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Sexual assault

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is heartbreaking, harrowing, devastating, and deeply moving. The story stems from one woman name Maame who gave birth to two daughters in different villages, each half-sister unknowing of the other's existence. Each chapter alternates between the next generation of both branches of the family, and tells different but parallel stories of the lives each child lives. It's a story of the lasting effects of colonization, war, and slavery on Ghanian people both in the homeland and in United States. As the book spans 8 generations, it ties major historical events to the appropriate character's narratives for that time period. There are so many difficult and upsetting situations that family members on both sides face, and they become deeply flawed but complex characters because of their experiences and the experiences of their parents that have been passed down both verbally and metaphysically. Generational trauma is a central theme throughout the book and I could feel my heart ache each time a character went through something or had a fear that could be tied back to experiences in their parent's or ancestor's chapter just a few pages before. The ending brings everything full circle with the recurring symbols of water, fire, and the black stone passed down from Maame herself, and it left me with a bittersweet feeling knowing both the indescribable pain and incredible resilience of each ancestor that lead to the two latest generations being able to come together and feel connected to the land where it all started.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

readingwithkt's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Colonisation

jenmcreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

This is a remarkable book that manages to closely visit each POV character despite only spending one chapter with each. This book does an incredible job at sweeping through history while still feeling intimate. I loved this, and the audiobook is excellently narrated. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, and Sexual harassment

kkocik's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Abandonment, and Colonisation