Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Transcendent Kingdom

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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carbs666's review against another edition

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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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habertoes's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

4.75

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emsreading's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I read this book as an audiobook for a book club. I had a love/hate relationship with this book. It took me a while to get into it and the middle really lagged for me. The main character talks about religion a lot, which is not my cup of tea so I got tired of that content in several places. I felt frustrated with the situations and the characters but I think that was the point of the book. The story is sad but I found myself reflecting on things I had read. I think the narrator (Bahni Turpin) also brought the story to life with accents. The main character Gifty is honest and reflective and her upbringing had a large impact on the rest of her life.

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linesiunderline's review against another edition

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challenging 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? Yes

5.0

Some books display their brilliance to you almost immediately. Transcendent Kingdom is a book that reveals its brilliance slowly, quietly, until by the end you are left knowing that there is so much to this work that you have seen only some of its beauties, and even so, you are amazed.

I am only beginning to appreciate all of the things that are breathtaking about this book, that I know will linger with me, becoming part of me and how I see the world. You’re left with more questions than answers. Invitations to consider big things and small and the story of your own life.

Gifty will feel as real to you as anyone you’ve ever known. Her humanity and complexity may be the most impressive thing about this book. It’s certainly one of the most memorable. She is the heart of the novel.

Transcendent Kingdom will be one of my top reads of this year. I cannot recommend it highly enough and also have to praise Bahni Turpin’s stellar audio performance.

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