Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

50 reviews

ruuththereader's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Religious bigotry

rosalind's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

‘In my village we have a saying about separated sisters. They are like a woman and her reflection, doomed to stay on opposite sides of the pond.’

I’m in a peculiar position because I cannot say I enjoyed this book, but I feel that it was, unequivocally, a 5-star read. One reviewer on here said it made one of the strongest conceivable cases for reparations and black rage, and I agree. This book made me sick to my stomach multiple times. At times I didn’t know how or if I could finish it. But that’s kinda the point. Through the stories contained within this book, Yaa Gyasi has breathed personhood back into history, removing impediments to empathy and reporting the horror of what people with my skin colour are responsible for. The prose is perfectly chosen, parsimonious yet evocative, frank about suffering without embellishment. 

I’m generally not good at very sad storylines because I’m an ✨empath✨ who is ✨highly sensitive✨ with a very susceptible imagination. As a result, sometimes I find stories tough to shake off at the end of a reading session. But it feels right in this case; I want these stories to live in my memory, because they represent so many souls whose time was snatched, made torturous, wasted, ruined, eviscerated, at the hands of colonisers and their descendants. I do not want to forget.

In terms of the writing, I did find it a bit hard to keep up with who was who, especially in the first half of the novel, and was very grateful for the family tree to consult in the front of the book. One could almost call ‘Homegoing’ a collection of interconnected short stories or vignettes, which I think would have been helpful to know going in. Similarly, it only dawned on me towards the last few chapters re. the running themes of fire and water as polar opposites yet fellow elements, equal in their capacity for destruction and redemption. I’d recommend looking out for those through-lines; part of me wants to re-read it so I can better appreciate these connections. But I know I just can’t face it. As I’ve said about some of the most impactful work I’ve consumed in my life: I’m very grateful I read it, and I hope never to see it again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Infertility, Sexual content, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Excrement, Trafficking, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Mental illness, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

grayscale08's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing

heybethrenee's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

5.0

This book absolutely wrecked me. It reads like a collection of short stories but because we know the characters are connected through the generations it makes what happens to them that much more impactful. While fictional, Gyasi gives a voice to the unwritten and silenced stories of Black Africans and Americans as forced change and horrors over take them.  Every white person needs to read this book. The trigger warnings are unending so be prepared for an emotionally difficult read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

tspoon3330's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

An emotional journey that allows us to follow one families journey through many generations. You just never know how our family's history can influence us. How easily it is for our family's stories to disapate with each generation. Or how we are able fibd our way back to one another without even knowing it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Rape, Slavery, and Religious bigotry

mandkips's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Infertility

tinana's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Murder

engoldment's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Racism, Rape, and Slavery

Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry

sherbertwells's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

In case you’re reading this review because you’ve recently heard of Yaa Gyasi’s bestselling novel Homegoing and are considering “getting around to it” but have no idea whether it’s as good as the professional, respected reviewers say it is: yes. Almost.

But how is that possible? Can a debut novel by a twenty-something author that frames itself as a family saga (a well-trod structure in Western literature) really earn an average rating of 4.44 on Goodreads? How can Gyasi effectively convey 250 years of slavery, racism, colonialism and human suffering in only 300 pages? Is there a point at all to reading popular books because of someone else’s recommendation?

1. Yes.
2. Good characters.
3. Maybe.

The third question is the easiest to answer. Homegoing had been on my TBR for several months before I received a copy of it, and I had read rave reviews and seen Booktubers’ recommendations. I had loved some popular, oft-recommended books before it (Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel) and disliked others (The Overstory by Richard Powers), but the story of two half-sisters who experience history and raise families on both sides of the Atlantic also seemed inherently interesting to me. Still, it was hard to ignore the overwhelming hype surrounding this book and Transcendent Kingdom, Gyasi’s second novel. What was it about Gyasi that could make centuries of disenfranchisement into a bestseller?

For one, she observes the less-explored corners of that history. The early chapters explore the Transatlantic Slave Trade from the perspectives of African leaders complicit in selling slaves. Big topics like the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement are skipped entirely. Yaa Asentewaa’s war and the struggle for independence are fought squarely from the home front. Instead, Gyasi focuses on things like the wrongful incarceration and forced labor of black men in America during Reconstruction, and the implementation of Cocoa planting across Ghana. 

“Every time he saw the bomnoys set off with a canoe fall of slaves, he thought of his father standing on the shores of the Cape Coast Castle, ready to receive them. On this shore, watching the canoe push off, Quey brimmed with the same shame that accompanied each slave departure. What had his father felt on his shore?” (62)

But Homegoing is more than an account of historical events. While history is the focus of the story, the incredibly human relationships tether one character to another. I was invested in every love story Gyasi presented, from the uneasy affection of Effia and James, to the adolescent pining of Quey and Cudjo, to the heartbreaking partnership of Willie and Robert. Gyasi’s cast is neither historic nor histrionic. Each character is believable and many are lovable.

Gyasi, having accomplished the Herculean task of writing a story that encompasses the sweep of history while remaining intimate and original, is on the cusp of brilliance. What earthly force could fetter it?

“In Hell, the sun scorched cotton so hot it almost burned the palms of your hands to touch it. Holding those small white puffs had almost felt like holding fire, but God forbid you let one drop. The Devil was always watching” (74)

The prose.

The prose is alright. It’s not bad. It’s just not as good as the characters or the history. Gyasi writes from the perspectives of 14 different characters, but their voices blur together a little by the end. Perhaps Gyasi is still finding her literary voice, and by Transcendent Kingdom, her second novel, it will be more developed. But without this crucial element I cannot quite give Homegoing the five stars that its scope and characters might otherwise indicate.

Nevertheless, I’m very glad I read Homegoing and that I can recommend it to you. I’m not going to insist that you read it. That’s obnoxious. But if you choose to pick it up, you will soon find yourself staring across a black and unrelenting tide which might just sweep you away.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Homophobia, Suicide, and Violence