Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Maame by Jessica George

64 reviews

delz's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad fast-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

Maddie is a 25 year old  Ghanian woman working full time as a personal assistant in publishing and also the full time caretaker for her father, suffering from Parkinson’s. She’s had little to no time for a personal life while her mother splits her time between England and Ghana and her older brother James gallivants around the world. Maddie suffers bouts of depression, navigates adult relationships and generally learns to live independently as an adult after her mother returns. The characters are fleshed out beautifully, even the unlikable ones. Even though the story covers heavy topics like mental health, and the challenges of working and dating while being a black woman, there is also humor giving the story depth. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Chronic illness

thirdeyeangel23's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

3.5

Maame is the story of our late bloomer Maddie. After years of being her father’s caretaker and sole provider for her family, Maddie is in desperate need of finding a live that is all her own. While I believe this story has some important messages about how our daughters are treated, especially within black families, there were definitely some issues for me. For a woman who is highly educated Maddie is often written in a way that completely undervalues her strength and quite frankly makes her look stupid. These constant Google searching throughout the book eventually felt over-done for comedic relief. There is also some unfortunate bi-phobia within Maddie’s story.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Biphobia, Racism, and Gaslighting

bryanneashley's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness

cheaploaf's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.75

Best book I’ve read in a bit. I really enjoyed it. Didn’t want to put the book down. I guess my only critique would be the brief part where Maddie asks Shu why she likes girls and there’s no reference to the fact that people’s sexualities just are what they are and they can’t choose. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Death of parent

aliyachaudhry's review against another edition

emotional sad tense 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

courtneyer's review against another edition

funny hopeful 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Sexual content, and Death of parent

mel_s_bookshelf's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content

tina94's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Racism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Biphobia

ooohgoshtara's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Maame (ma-meh) has many meanings in Twi but in my case, it means woman.
A coming of age story featuring twenty something Maame. Her family refers to her as Maame but her name is Maddie. She's the main caretaker for her father who has parkinsons. She's responsible for maining her entire household financially since her mother lives mostly abroad and her older brother is rarely available to help. So they selfishly leave all of the responsibility on Maame. When her mom comes home from living abroad Maame jumps at the chance to move out and have a life of her own free from responsibilities that have been smothering her. This story explores chronic disease, death of a parent, grief, identity, mental health, childhood trauma, etc. I did enjoy some aspects of the novel. I did root for Maame but had a hard time staying connected with her character. I do get that she led a very sheltered life and people deal with trauma in many ways. She had very real responsibility caring for her family and household. But that responsibility also stunted her to the point of being written very unrealistically to me. She becomes even more lost when the responsibility of her father is permanently  taken from her. There were a lot of internal monologues paired with the constant consulting of google for very basic information. As a woman in her mid twenties she was written as being very naive more like a YA character. I found her sexual encounters disturbing. I liked that the ending was not perfectly tied up. I was happy that Maame finally started getting professional help from a therapist. She stood up to her family, spoke up for herself at work and finally had a normal dating situation. She was making strides towards becoming Maddie and no longer just Maame. Although I have mixed feelings about this book as a whole I would recommend to a twenty something.

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Grief, Gaslighting, and Abandonment