Reviews tagging 'Death'

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

314 reviews

siomaii's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Racial slurs, Grief, Death, Drug abuse, and Addiction

Moderate: Death of parent and Forced institutionalization

mirandalikesbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

This book read like a memoir or a stream of consciousness. Like memories pieced together. It was an intimate POV of a first generation experience, of growing up black in the south, of the changing nature of faith and religion, of what it's like to see your family struggle with mental health issues and addiction. You really get to know who Gifty is and what drives her throughout this novel. 

I would recommend this if you're drawn to memoirs or particularly reflective fiction. 

My biggest qualm with this book is that I felt like I was waiting for the book to pick up a plot line that it never did. I also don't read a lot of books this tied up in Christianity, so I may have not been the perfect audience.

The hard cut at the end to her being in a relationship with Han having already experienced her mom's passing felt too sudden for me too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Racial slurs, Drug abuse, Racism, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, and Addiction

Moderate: Death

mkelso's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Death

Moderate: Mental illness

sophiestasyna's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Mental illness

Moderate: Grief and Death

avacadosocks's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death

Minor: Death of parent

leonormsousa's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

I really liked this one. It is beautifully written, and the constant time jumps were done perfectly, which is something quite rare. It hooked me from the start, and I found myself wanting more at the end, even though I know this was the perfect size for this story.

Small note that I was pleasantly surprised by the queer representation in this one (MC is queer). 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Racism, and Religious bigotry

isabelsophiex's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Death

katecm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, and Death

brekaboujie's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

I really enjoyed this, despite it being intensely sad basically the whole way through. I liked the narration a lot, it was a little hard to follow sometimes as it jumped around constantly but it felt very natural and very much like I was planted into Gifty's brain. It was somehow a mix of a very intense and deep story and a very shallow day to day one - I think in some ways that really added to understanding Gifty's experience, as the vulnerability in her writing was constant but also you only ever got slivers of time on each topic/moment. It was clever and made me want to keep reading.

The end was a mix for me - it felt realistic and basic which isn't a bad thing! About 15 pages before the end I suddenly thought "wait a sec this is ending soon and I have no idea what would be a good or satisfying ending here". I think the fact that it wasn't super satisfying weirdly made it work, it's just life, you just keep going with it and that's fine. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the way it was written and Gifty was an interesting character to follow. Different from what I'd usually go for, but a positive different!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Racism, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Death

Minor: Death of parent

csolomon101's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, and Abandonment