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shereadytoread's review against another edition
This book unfortunately was not a good experience for me. I DNFed a little over halfway through. While I think this book has a deep basis that I could have loved, it turned more into an internal pull of the MC between her religion and science. A lot of philosophy and a little plot. The background story of addiction and depression in her family as well as the cultural struggles of immigrant parents falls to the side as she continues to cycle through being a religious scientist. Great idea but the execution wasn’t for me. If those topics interest you, I definitely think it’s worth the try.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Addiction and Animal death
Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy
This book unfortunately was not a good experience for me. I DNFed a little over halfway through. While I think this book has a deep basis that I could have loved, it turned more into an internal pull of the MC between her religion and science. A lot of philosophy and a little plot. The background story of addiction and depression in her family as well as the cultural struggles of immigrant parents falls to the side as she continues to cycle through being a religious scientist. Great idea but the execution wasn’t for me. If those topics interest you, I definitely think it’s worth the try.ntvenessa's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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? No
4.75
I'm not sure I've ever read anything quite like this. It was gorgeous but gritty, and oh, my heart swelled when it did not outright burst. As an agnostic scientist myself who grew up surrounded by religion, this novel explores brilliantly that intersection that which is often seen as an unbridgeable divide. I am still unsure, but I am moved.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Vomit, and Child death
Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
frenchtoast_n_books's review against another edition
emotional
informative
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
3.0
I'm somewhat conflicted in my feelings of this book and I can't place why.
I think I'm struggling with a disconnect between Gifty as a child and Gifty as an adult. Maybe the story seemed to be more telling than showing. Maybe I didn't get the end as it didn't seem to conclude or complete anything. I don't know why but I somehow just didn't connect or understand this story as a whole like I thought I would.
I think this book requires more contemplation on my part to figure out my overall thoughts about it.
I'll use this review template to see if I can sort it out:
Content Warnings: racism, racial slurs, drug use and addiction, drug overdose, suicide, depression, religious trauma, child abuse, divorce/parent separation (probably more that I can't think of)
Main Theme: I'm not sure on this. We have: Gifty's childhood detailing her journey and struggles with religion that caries into her adult life, Nana's (Gifty's brother) drug use that lead to his death, Gifty's mother coming to stay with her as she needs help dealing with a major depressive episode that leaves her bed ridden, and Gifty's adult life and research with mice mapping neural pathways for addiction and how reducing their addiction seeking behavior. As you can see there is a lot going on and parsing the major theme is difficult for me.
I guess the major theme is the multifaceted lives we live that shape who we become and how we interact with others.
Plot/Plot Pacing: The pacing was consistent and the plot was consistent through each space in time we inhabit of Gifty's life. However, the reader jumps around in time without rime or reason throughout her life. It comes without warning and maybe that stilts the book for me and why I have the disconnect I do for the story and the characters.
Writing Style/Audio Quality: The writing was overall excellent, though at times when we are in Gifty's childhood the author includes large or advanced words that I didn't think a girl from 4-11 would know. It made me think that when we were in Gifty's childhood it was being narrated or told via the lens of the older, neuroscientist Gifty even though there was no indication of that being the case in the writing itself.
The audiobook is amazing and has one of my favorite narrators: Bahni Turpin.
Character Development: The overall arc of young Gifty makes a whole lot of sense, but I'm not sure there was one for adult Gifty. I can't place adult Gifty's "a-ha" moment and her story just ends. Then there is an epilogue of sorts that discuss her life years after her current research has ended. A "where is she now" if you will. I'm not sure this worked for me in the story because I wanted more. I crave reading the space from the end of the story to the epilogue, so the end of the book leaves me a little deflated.
Diversity: Gifty's mother is an immigrant that left Ghana for the US. She settled in Alabama where she had Gifty. Gifty left Alabama for Harvard and Stanford, and spent a summer in Ghana when she was a child. It has each location represented in the story and discusses being Black and an immigrant in America. It also details the difference between a Black immigrant US citizen and a Black generational US citizen. There is also bisexuality and disordered mental health representation in the story.
Impression on Character Relationships: This is potentially the strongest aspect of the story for me because Gifty details and examines her relationships throughout the story: family, friends, and romantic relationships. She even examines the relationships she perceives between those she knows, mostly family members. I really enjoyed examining how relationships evolved in this story based on events that happen in their lives.
I don't know if any of this has helped me sort out my thoughts but it definitely allows me starting points to dive further in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Abortion
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