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smardanbeigi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.0
nataliedc's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
A reflective, emotional memoir of a Ghanaian-Armenian young woman, in the midst of a depressive spiral, who reflects on her childood spent growing up in Uganda, Tanzania, Italy, England, and so many more places with her younger siblings, angry step-mother and ailing father. I did not expect to love this memoir as much as I did - from the fantastic prose to brief, yet impactful chapters filled to the brim with heartwrenching stories of loss, familial expectations, mental health, and sexuality in a society that deems you different, this novel as it all. I especially related to Owusu's struggles with anxiety/depression, her position as oldest sister within her family, as well as her near-god-like reverence for her father. I also LOVED the earthquake metaphor woven throughout this memoir. This might be one of my favorite memoirs I've read in a while and I can't wait to check out more of Owusu's works.
gabipowell's review against another edition
5.0
Memoirs are in and of themselves vulnerability vehicles. What Owusu has delivered here raises the bar of self-revealing to capture a deeper and viscerally-stunning account of coping with one’s own history.
For some, this book will feel too weighty and too angsty. I found Aftershocks to be the kind of appropriate, earth-shattering prose that is earned by Owusu and few others, brave enough to explore their identity, even if it means upending truth as they’ve known it.
For some, this book will feel too weighty and too angsty. I found Aftershocks to be the kind of appropriate, earth-shattering prose that is earned by Owusu and few others, brave enough to explore their identity, even if it means upending truth as they’ve known it.
notizhefte's review against another edition
I read this book for the Booktube Prize 2022 Octofinals. Review and rating will follow by the end of March 2022.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
4.0
In countless ways and for countless reasons, I loved growing up in many countries, among many cultures. It made it impossible for me to believe in the concept of supremacy. It deepened my ability to hold multiple truths at once, to practice and nurture empathy. But it has also meant that I have no resting place. I have perpetually been a them rather than an us. I have struggled with how to place myself in my family histories.
I initially picked up this memoir by the far-too-young-to-be-writing-memoirs Nadia Owusu, because she had spent her childhood living in different places. Her father worked for the UN and so the family was posted to places like Italy, Tanzania and Ethiopia. I was initially interested in her experience of living a childhood moving from place to place. And she describes that world beautifully, the experience of living in a privileged bubble even in the center of countries being torn apart by war and famine, of never feeling centered in one place. But there's a lot more to this memoir than that; her parents, one Ghanaian, one Armenian-American, divorced when she was young and her mother only visited sporadically and briefly, and when her father died when Owusu was fourteen, her mother refused to take her and her younger sister in, leaving them with their stepmother, a woman with whom Owusu had a contentious relationship.
Owusu ends up, like so many rootless people, in New York. Despite her privileged childhood, she is struggling to get by and running up against the harsh realities of the American dream and her own unresolved trauma from being constantly abandoned. There's a lot of uncomfortable honesty in this memoir and if Owusu doesn't exactly emerge in a secure space, there's the feeling that she will probably manage to find her way. I look forward to seeing what she writes next.
I initially picked up this memoir by the far-too-young-to-be-writing-memoirs Nadia Owusu, because she had spent her childhood living in different places. Her father worked for the UN and so the family was posted to places like Italy, Tanzania and Ethiopia. I was initially interested in her experience of living a childhood moving from place to place. And she describes that world beautifully, the experience of living in a privileged bubble even in the center of countries being torn apart by war and famine, of never feeling centered in one place. But there's a lot more to this memoir than that; her parents, one Ghanaian, one Armenian-American, divorced when she was young and her mother only visited sporadically and briefly, and when her father died when Owusu was fourteen, her mother refused to take her and her younger sister in, leaving them with their stepmother, a woman with whom Owusu had a contentious relationship.
Owusu ends up, like so many rootless people, in New York. Despite her privileged childhood, she is struggling to get by and running up against the harsh realities of the American dream and her own unresolved trauma from being constantly abandoned. There's a lot of uncomfortable honesty in this memoir and if Owusu doesn't exactly emerge in a secure space, there's the feeling that she will probably manage to find her way. I look forward to seeing what she writes next.