Reviews

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

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amelias's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

4.25

loraineelizabeth's review against another edition

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5.0

Just as the title suggests, this book is transcendent. I didn't think I could love this as much as I loved "Homegoing" but I was incorrect. The portrayal of Gifty's immigrant childhood as part of the only black family in a Southern church so much like the one I grew up in was intimate and gripping. It brought back so many memories of my own experiences and inner life growing up in an evangelical church and though I am no scientist like Gifty, I connected deeply with her struggle to unify the push and pull of mind and soul, childhood faith and adult questioning. Gifty's relationships with her older brother and her mother, respectively, are heartbreaking and utterly compelling. This is a book about incredible personal loss, addiction, racial disparities, mental illness, and ultimately, hope. I can't recommend Transcendent Kingdom highly enough. Beautiful and searing and I will read every book Yaa Gyasi ever writes.

sydinreallife's review against another edition

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5.0

I found this to be an extremely beautiful and poignant novel that dealt with many heavy issues in a creative and compelling way. The primary source of tension features Gifty grappling with the dichotomy of science and religion as she struggles to understand why bad things (addiction, depression, abandonment) happen to good people (her brother, her mother and her whole family). Even that feels like oversimplification..

I could wax poetic about this book for hours probably, but the most relatable through-line of the story for me was that of trying to marry the idea of faith and belief with the convictions of rational discourse and scientific thinking. Very moving, quite sad at times, but ultimately hopeful. This is a worthwhile investment.

kaeteas's review against another edition

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5.0

I'm having such a hard time trying to format a review, but in short, I loved this so much. The exploration of grief and one's personal relationship with religion is beautifully written.

teresa_a's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

clairesle's review against another edition

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4.0

This book was a fast and overall enjoyable read for me. I found myself reflected in the main character, Gifty, who struggled with finding the balance between her religious adolescence and her scientific adulthood. In my opinion, parts of the book were a little dry, even for someone who has done the same work Gifty does. I can imagine it would be even more so for those who do not have a background in scientific research. I found myself drawn most to Gifty's journal entries and flashbacks, wishing I could know her family even more than was offered.

Overall, it was going to be difficult to write something as poignant as Gyasi's first novel, Homegoing, but I did enjoy this book and look forward to whatever the author has up next!