Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

169 reviews

madradstarchild's review against another edition

emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Death

Minor: Racial slurs, Alcohol, Racism, and Religious bigotry

alysereadsbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.25

I enjoyed Gifty’s perspective as an immigrant and her relationship with her mother and brother. Some moments were profoundly sad. I also liked the weaving and exploration of science and religion, and the experiences as a neuro PhD researcher. I had a hard time finishing this because of it’s strong focus on religion, but I still enjoyed it, and may reread one day, because it’s very layered. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Death, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

itsheyfay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racial slurs, Death, Drug abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Addiction

Moderate: Cursing, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

ginthepages's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book is a gorgeous exploration of origin, faith, mental illness, family, grief, and culture. It is written beautiful, almost like poetry at times and I loved the way it weaves through time in every chapter. It feels reminiscent of “The Color Purple” - almost, for me, felt like a modern version of that in the way the main character is trying to understand her relationship to a god through writing letters to it and processing her own circumstance and experience. Stunning- could not reccomend enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

bestknownfor's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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: Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Drug use

Moderate: Religious bigotry

storykath's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Transcendent Kingdom tells the story of Gifty and her family, alternating between her childhood in Alabama and her present-day life as a PhD student in California. As her brother faces drug addiction, her mother mental illness, Gifty deals with their effects on her life while also growing up with complex views on religion, race, and love.

While much of the subject matter in this book was heavy, it never felt like a burden to read. Gifty's narration, both as a child and as an adult, is engaging, raw, and immersive. Her inner world is complex, flawed, and wholly believable, and there is similar nuanced characterization given to all the other characters in Gifty's life. The world of the story, including Gifty's neuroscience lab, Ghanaian culture, and evangelical Christianity, are all described in fascinating detail, and are just as well thought-out as the characters.

I found the alternating timeline to be refreshing and ideal for the pacing of the book. Key childhood moments occurred in conjunction with relevant parallels in Gifty's adult life. The switches also provided some relief and variety when one storyline would get particularly dark. At some points, the switches weren't perfectly chronological, and it would be briefly unclear what time period we were in, but this was a minor inconvenience at most.

Altogether, the stunning care and attention to detail in Transcendent Kingdom made it an unforgettable read, at times relatable, at times eye-opening, and always heart-wrenchingly real.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Grief, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Racism

Moderate: Self harm, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Medical content, and Xenophobia

rory1387's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Yaa Gyazi's follow-up to Homecoming, Transcendent Kingdom is a masterpiece in its own right. Jumping between past and present, Gifty tells her story. Though we know the ending (or rather, the middle) from the beginning, Gyazi's immersive, almost poetic prose still manages to shock the reader at every turn. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Abandonment

Minor: Pregnancy, Racism, Alcohol, and Racial slurs

minche's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs

carbs666's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

This book is deeply insightful, deftly framing and responding to questions about science and religion with unknowable answers. I love how Gifty opens slowly throughout the book, like a fist, like a flower. As she learns to open herself to her colleagues she opens herself to the reader and the result is a personal, reflective, introspective read that wraps you right up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content

Moderate: Addiction, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Drug use, Racism, and Suicide attempt

samarakroeger'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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

one of the best books I’ve ever read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, and Sexism