Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Maame by Jessica George

372 reviews

mdavis26's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

nanirump's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Classism

holy_moly_colee's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

wellreadmegs's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was a beautiful and real coming-of-age story about grief. Maddie is so new at discovering herself and it's lovely to see things from her perspective. There's something so innocent about it all. But I also feel for her and how hard this world must be to navigate by yourself - without the help of friends or family. 

I read & listened along to the audiobook which were both great. Short chapters helped me get through the book quickly & especially enjoyed the Google searches Maddie had throughout the book. I thought the author did a really great job of tackling a lot of tough subjects and navigating them as a 25-year-old. Your 20s are messy & going through traumatic experiences doesn't help that. 

I absolutely HATED Maddie's mom. There was one chapter the author tried to redeem her and I have empathy but overall I don't think she changed much. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide

theliteraryloot's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content

loesm's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Racism

alybarnett02's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

See trigger warnings! The “Tragedy strikes” was really heavy for me. But so so good, I cried and reflected on my own similar experience. And how those hard things we go through shapes us. Shows such personal growth. I could definitely relate to Maddie when I was that age. Being in London as a black woman, along with her challenges in dating white men. Whew!! Say it for the people in the back! Such good topics!

This was hard to read after Maddie’s dad died. Mostly the process of her grief, and talking to him at her nightly prayer. Wow. I cried. I lost my mother in law and slowly coming on her birthday while reading this. I felt Maddie’s pain. Most people around that age don’t understand what it’s like. But, everything from her talking to her dad, knowing he isn’t in pain, and can be free was so beautiful. And so true for all of our loved ones. It was the reminder I needed. And ending that part with her dad responding? My heart yall. Whatever your religion is, it’s insane, and it might not seem real. But your loved ones can tell you, “its okay”.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Abandonment

evawhite's review against another edition

emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide and Terminal illness

lottiebrooks's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.5

“I’m sure there was a time when I was happy,” I say to the boiling pot of pasta. “But how do you measure that? How do you know if you’re genuinely happy or if you’re just mostly all right with sprinkles of laughter and occasional shit storms of sadness? Maybe I’ve only ever been all right.”

This one got me in my feels ❤️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Racism and Sexual content

abbie_'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

Thanks to Libro.fm for my free ALC of Maame! I loved Maddie and this audiobook had such a perfect narrator (Heather Agyepong - I’m gutted she hasn’t narrated anything else yet?!) that I felt so sad to finish it! Both the narration and style of writing made Maame feel like talking with a close friend. Maddie’s experiences with depression closely mirrored my own at times, which was both a gut wrench and a comfort. We both google the most inane things that a lot of people would just grasp through intuition, so I loved that as well. I loved watching Maddie grow as a woman throughout the book, come into herself and stand up for what she deserves.

I wish we had seen more from the side characters, especially her two best friends as they had potential to be incredible but more felt like they were just there to prop Maddie up at times. But at the end of the day, it is Maddie’s story. This book delves into Ghanaian culture & family dynamics, and I loved that towards the end Maddie started to lean more into learning Twi and exploring her heritage. I’m not a religious person at all, but I even appreciated Maddie’s evolving relationship with God. Oh, and I didn’t even mention her work yet - Maame encompasses so much, but to me it never felt forced.

Overall just a bloody good book tackling depression, grief, complicated family relationships, micro-aggressions experienced by Black women in the publishing industry, sex, faith, and so much more. Maddie is very much muddling through her 20s, and it was comforting to be along for the ride!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism