Reviews with content warning for Death - Maame

I loved that this book examined the pressures of being a twenty-something that are compounded by the weighty and often unrealistic expectations of family, particularly when your family expects you do to all the heavy lifting with virtually zero support. Maddie (referred to as Maame, or “woman,” by her Ghanaian parents) juggles caring for her father and providing financial assistance to her family with the daily struggles of being a Black British woman in her mid-twenties.

One of the more stand-out aspects of the book was its exploration of how Black immigrant communities view mental health; I loved seeing Maddie becoming more aware of the ways in which she was taught to make herself smaller. Over the course of the book, we watch Maddie grow into a more self-assured woman who understands that she is more than her family’s limited definitions of who she is in the world.

My one gripe, however, is that Maddie’s naïveté about life steadily shifted from endearing to grating. While at first her frequent Googling was silly yet relatable (e.g., “jobs with the happiest employees,” “back pain in your mid-twenties”), as the book progressed some of her unawareness struck me as incredible. Maddie seemed unbelievably infantile in her engagement with the world even though she was effectively the sole family member charged with her father’s care and her family’s financial wellbeing. And, at one point, a confused Maddie is lectured by her friends about how someone can be racist even if they don’t appear to outwardly hate Black people…this struck me as bizarre.

With all that being said, though, I greatly enjoyed Maame and think this is a great book for folks in their early- and mid-twenties who are just breaking into themselves, especially Black women. Personally, I know I would’ve loved having this book after graduating from undergrad.

Content Warnings

merylas's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

4.75

I found this book to be difficult to read but even more difficult to put down because there were A LOT of parts I related to this story. I wish I had this book closer to

my father’s passing

. I wonder if it would have helped me make better choices and treat myself better.

I don’t know how people who haven’t experienced these major themes

death (specifically one that makes you lose your center) and/or parentification

will feel about this book; I hope that they will let Jess’s strong writing teach them and/or prepare them. I also don’t know how those who have will either I guess. Will it be too hard? As such, I can’t recommend this book but I wish people did so that I have someone to lean on and discuss it.

Content Warnings

hayleymcquaid17's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

2.75

Content Warnings

whatdebsreads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

almostalice13's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

narbine's review against another edition

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emotional sad 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

3.75

I just don’t care for sex scenes. And then men were trash (I know it’s on purpose but still). She had to deal with all these micro aggressions. But talking about death & grief had me crying, which shows a good emotional tug. I wondered if the main character was coded as autistic also.

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