Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

12 reviews

jg34's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny slow-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? No

3.75

There was a lot of little stories within this book and some where interesting but I honestly could have done without obinze’s story line I found them boring, maybe just because I liked ifemelu so much I wanted to get back to her. So because of this it felt long and dragged out at times. A sort of satisfying ending. Really interesting take of American blackness vs non American blackness I learned a lot!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Infidelity

Moderate: Rape and Deportation

Minor: Abortion, Death of parent, and Excrement

ruthmoog's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective slow-paced

4.75

I took away a heartwarming love story of the one who got away, yet it's all the while filled with gritty realism and the flaws of humanity.
It's full of observations and discussions on race and honesty, and, living amongst a variety of cultures and places, which add depth to the storytelling and complexity to the characters' life journeys.
A great book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Death of parent, and Deportation

Minor: Police brutality and Slavery

Sexual coersion

vas_17's review against another edition

challenging emotional slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Deportation, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, and Emotional abuse

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! 

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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

lucy_p's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

4.0

A vivid social critique brimming with unafraid observations and sincerity.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt

Minor: Death of parent

carodonahue's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Death of parent

justovereherereading's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective 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

4.5

This was a great read. I loved learning a little more about Nigerian culture and then seeing American and British culture from an African perspective. It challenged my views on race throughout the book, and learnt even more about white privilege. 
I really enjoyed seeing the two main characters grow and loved there deep connection.  
I’ve read a few books this year where race is a main theme and it’s been eye opening. Thank you for opening my eyes to things that I haven’t see before. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, Rape, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Body shaming

Minor: Death of parent

hotkoolaidpotato's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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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.

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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

seanml's review against another edition

funny hopeful 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

4.0

This book says SO so many things about a myriad of different topics. Unfortunately I couldn’t even begin to address every single one. So I’ll choose 3:

1. Obviously there is somewhat of an overarching plotline, but much of the book is our protagonist(s) getting through life. Usually I don’t like books that just “follow” someone for lack of a better word, but Adichie instills such reality into every character that no person is boring because I as a reader can believe there really is more to them. I also love that there were no unrealistic “I can explain” moments, even when Adichie had ample opportunity to do so.

2. Thank you, Chimamanda for recognizing how ludicrous academic discourse can sound.

3. And lastly, I was tensed up all the way until the FINAL line. Those last chapters played with my heart TOO much!

Either way, most definitely a 8/10 at LEAST.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death of parent, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racism, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Hate crime, and Sexism