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kathis_wonderland's review
emotional
informative
reflective
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? Yes
3.75
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a novel about life in Nigeria, experiencing race and racism in the US and trying to find oneself. Ifemelu and Obinze grew up in Nigeria together but saw no opportunities for themselves in this country. Ifemelu managed to move to the US and had to leave her love Obinze behind. There she experienced race and racism for the first time and had trouble adapting to her new life. After years in America, she moved back to Nigeria and realized how different she had become.
I wanted to read this book for a very long time. And now I am not fully sure what to think about it. In general, I liked the book. It felt very authentic and gave me a new insight into Africans’ experiencing racism in the US and Europe. It really broadened my horizon. The plot was very diverse. We heard about race and racism, about everyday racism, normal life, struggles, love and relationships.
However, the story was very long. Some scenes were not interesting at all and seemed to make the story longer. I was very confused at the beginning of the book. The author was jumping around within the plot, talking about the present and then jumping back to the past, writing several chapters about Ifemelu's youth and then suddenly jumping back to the present again. This confused me a lot in the beginning. Therefore, it took me ages to get into the story and to start liking it. I found Ifemelu's actions often questionable. She was cheating on her boyfriends a lot. And if there is one trope I don't like in books, it is cheating!
In the end, I started to like the book more and more. We got different perspectives and read about lots of different experiences. The love between Ifemelu and Obinze was really nice. I expected something different from the book, but in the end was pleased. I can recommend it!
I wanted to read this book for a very long time. And now I am not fully sure what to think about it. In general, I liked the book. It felt very authentic and gave me a new insight into Africans’ experiencing racism in the US and Europe. It really broadened my horizon. The plot was very diverse. We heard about race and racism, about everyday racism, normal life, struggles, love and relationships.
However, the story was very long. Some scenes were not interesting at all and seemed to make the story longer. I was very confused at the beginning of the book. The author was jumping around within the plot, talking about the present and then jumping back to the past, writing several chapters about Ifemelu's youth and then suddenly jumping back to the present again. This confused me a lot in the beginning. Therefore, it took me ages to get into the story and to start liking it. I found Ifemelu's actions often questionable. She was cheating on her boyfriends a lot. And if there is one trope I don't like in books, it is cheating!
In the end, I started to like the book more and more. We got different perspectives and read about lots of different experiences. The love between Ifemelu and Obinze was really nice. I expected something different from the book, but in the end was pleased. I can recommend it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Deportation, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Chronic illness, Racial slurs, Classism, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Cultural appropriation, Adult/minor relationship, and Slavery
yourlocalscrivener's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
If you enjoy contemporary literary fiction, this book is for you. Since I'm not a huge fan of literary fiction and began reading this without looking at the Storygraph classification, I believed that this book was heavier on the star-crossed romance than it was. In fact, it's more a novel about Ifemelu's experiences coming to and living in America. I liked Obinze for all except the final chapters, but he's really not a main character in the story. He's more of a side character at best.
Once I readjusted my preconceived notions about the story, I came to enjoy it. It tackles quite a few dark topics besides racism (read trigger warnings). Adichie's writing of the flash backs and flash forwards requires an active reader. Nevertheless, her writing style kept me going even when the story dragged for me in the second half. Also, as other reviewers have noted, the ending is comparatively abrupt to the rest of the story, and... morally questionable.
The book did encourage me to reflect on myself though, in a non-pretentious way.
Overall, it didn't encourage me to seek out more literary fiction, but I'm definitely willing to give Half of a Yellow Sun a go for Adichie's writing.
Once I readjusted my preconceived notions about the story, I came to enjoy it. It tackles quite a few dark topics besides racism (read trigger warnings). Adichie's writing of the flash backs and flash forwards requires an active reader. Nevertheless, her writing style kept me going even when the story dragged for me in the second half. Also, as other reviewers have noted, the ending is comparatively abrupt to the rest of the story, and... morally questionable.
The book did encourage me to reflect on myself though, in a non-pretentious way.
Overall, it didn't encourage me to seek out more literary fiction, but I'm definitely willing to give Half of a Yellow Sun a go for Adichie's writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Deportation, Infidelity, and Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt
samarakroeger's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
4.25
hated the ending but loved most of the book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Infidelity, Racism, and Mental illness
purplehulk713's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? Yes
4.5
This novel was real. Adichie is a master of weaving the complexity of personality, especially when it comes to character flaws. You feel for her characters and suffer with them. Ifemelu is powerful but depressed, assured but insecure. Her situation in America precludes her from her true behavior because of the many racial constructs, like how she relaxes her hair for the longest time but it ends up physically burning her scalp until the point that she realizes that it is so much wiser to let her hair grow naturally. It’s an excellent parallel to her growth as a character and the novel’s theme of sincerity—initially Ifemelu tries very hard to assimilate for advantage in American society, trying to adopt an accent and lying about how long she has lived there. She learns that being genuine is a privilege in American society, not a given. My interest in the novel rather waned in the last one hundred pages perhaps because the novel is quite long or because I thought Ifemelu’s homecoming and reintroduction to Nigeria wasn’t as interesting as Adichie’s exploration of race in America from an outsider’s perspective. But I was quite satisfied with the ending, which brought everything full circle and showed the protagonists the benefits of a genuine relationship. This novel asks us to embrace the truth of ourselves but with a depth and subtlety greater than that of a novel for children.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Rape, Cursing, and Racism
hotkoolaidpotato's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Racial slurs, and Racism
Minor: Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Sexual content
veganecurrywurst's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Dieses Buch ist einfach nur ehrlich. Viele Erlebnisse von Ife haben mich einfach so getroffen, weil sie mir auch passiert sind und ich sie einfach nur als normal abgetan hab. Ich habe aus diesem fiction-buch mehr gelernt als aus manchem non-fiction Buch. Mein einziger Kritikpunkt: die Übersetzung. Ich empfehle allen, die Interesse an dem Buch haben und Englisch können, die Originalversion. Man merkt einfach, dass die Übersetzung ins Deutsche (und das meine ich überhaupt nicht als Beleidigung) von einer Weißen geschrieben wurde. Das fände ich auch sonst gar nicht schlimm und ich bin mir sicher die Übersetzerin hat sich Mühe gegeben, aber bei vielen Dingen hat ihr das Detailwissen und der Wortschatz gefehlt und vor allem bei vielen der Themen hätte ich es wichtig gefunden wenn zumindest eine Afrodeutsche hinzugezogen worden wäre. Ich bin mir sicher Anette Grube ist eine gute Übersetzerin, aber bei diesem Projekt konnte sie nicht so wirklich glänzen. Ich würde mir wünschen, dass Verlage endlich auf sowas achten.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Grief, Hate crime, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
hot_water's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Infidelity, Hate crime, and Grief
leahsmithja's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
slow-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Xenophobia
lily1304's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Disclaimer that the author is transphobic, and publicly defends JK Rowling's transphobia from "cancel culture". I don't know the exact details of the dispute between Adichie and Akwaeke Emezi (a nonbinary Nigerian author, Adichie's former student), but I side with Emezi. More context here: https://time.com/6076606/chimamanda-adichie-akwaeke-emezi-trans-rights-essay/
All that said, I'm a big believer in reading works by flawed authors, and allowing what I know about the author to inform how I read and think about their work.
Americanah definitely felt different on the second reading. I'm not sure how I felt about it in 2016, but this time the mood of the whole book was dissatisfaction and resignation. There is endless description of things Ifemelu and Obinze find ignorant or hypocritical about Nigeria, the United States, England, white people, Black Americans, other Nigerians, etc. All romantic relationships are one-sided or tense or fake unless one or both partners are married to someone else. Ifemelu is a weird main character because she constantly has this feeling of alienation, like every interaction she has with another person is stilted and overanalyzed. I liked the friendship between Ifemelu and her cousin Dike, but even that relationship is full of things unsaid.
That doesn't necessarily mean that Americanah is bad, I think a lot of that must be Adichie's intent. But I finished the book feeling like, what's the payoff? There are moments of levity, and there are aspects of Obinze and Ifemelu's relationship that I appreciate, but overall I found myself frustrated with them both. I'm glad I read it, but I doubt I'll read it again.
All that said, I'm a big believer in reading works by flawed authors, and allowing what I know about the author to inform how I read and think about their work.
Americanah definitely felt different on the second reading. I'm not sure how I felt about it in 2016, but this time the mood of the whole book was dissatisfaction and resignation. There is endless description of things Ifemelu and Obinze find ignorant or hypocritical about Nigeria, the United States, England, white people, Black Americans, other Nigerians, etc. All romantic relationships are one-sided or tense or fake unless one or both partners are married to someone else. Ifemelu is a weird main character because she constantly has this feeling of alienation, like every interaction she has with another person is stilted and overanalyzed. I liked the friendship between Ifemelu and her cousin Dike, but even that relationship is full of things unsaid.
That doesn't necessarily mean that Americanah is bad, I think a lot of that must be Adichie's intent. But I finished the book feeling like, what's the payoff? There are moments of levity, and there are aspects of Obinze and Ifemelu's relationship that I appreciate, but overall I found myself frustrated with them both. I'm glad I read it, but I doubt I'll read it again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Alcohol, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt
CW for sexual trauma, details:npavitt's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Racism, Sexual assault, and Infidelity
Minor: Abortion, Body shaming, Cursing, Slavery, Racial slurs, and Mental illness