Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Transcendent Kingdom

Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

277 reviews

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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thiccadonna's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

This was such a deep reflection on faith and belonging seen through the lense of a family of west african immigrants shattered by a certain event

(the older brother's overdose)

. Gyasi explores those feelings of alienation, from the community back "home", from the new community steeped in racism, from a God that's both all encompassing and also absent in a church that ostracizes and withholds grace from people deemed "unworthy" or "unfit", from the self after the shattering of grief, and she does so with brio. Weaving between past and present, Gyasi ponders on faith, on family, on trauma and addiction and the handling of mental health, all through the perspective of a black family, while offering this poignant and nuanced character portrait of the main character. Not an easy read but a truly engaging one.

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violerwolf's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-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

Realistic fiction, especially as slow paced as the “plot” is in this book, isn’t typically my cup of tea. But Gyasi, through masterful prose and a constantly shifting timeline of events, makes this such an engaging story about addiction, depression, family, and religion. The way she interweaves themes through various points of the main character’s life and places them throughout the narrative is beautifully done. My one critique is that the main character’s internal reflection can be a bit heavy handed at times, but don’t let that stop you from checking this book out.

I picked up this book because Homegoing had such a long waitlist at my library, and I’m so glad I did. I can’t wait to read Gyasi’s other works.

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oliviagscherzer's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative 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

4.5

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michaelsbirthday's review against another edition

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challenging 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

4.75

This would have been 5 stars but the epilogue annoyed me. Why was it there? It was too short to offer some kind of reflection. Maybe it represents a gap in Gifty’s journalling, a practice which she reflects on towards the end of the book? I’m clutching at straws here.

But the writing! I’m officially obsessed with Gyaasi. I read Homegoing, which I enjoyed, but I found the disjointed narrative with multiple points of view stopped me from being fully invested. This book, however, kept hooked, because of the disjointed narrative. I wanted to know what was happening at each narrative point in Gifty’s life, and the way they weaved in and out of each other cleverly reflected Gifty’s thoughts. The themes throughout were deliciously layered and entangled, reflecting how they are in Gifty’s mind.

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lefavor's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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hollydyer328's review against another edition

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emotional reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.25

This book almost felt like a memoir while I was reading it. The reader gets a direct view into Gifty's brain (fitting since she's a neuroscientist) and sees all of the traumas that she has held throughout her life and with her family. The story happens a lot more in the past and Gifty reflects on events in her family life that deal with addiction, depression, and unraveling family dynamics. As she is conducting her graduate work, she looks to science to explain the problems that have plagued her, but throughout she reckons with her religion and her faith. I love how Yaa Gyasi brings takes these typically-separate themes and brings them together in Gifty's reflection and reckoning. Her writing style is so relaxing and therapeutic.

If you are more of a plot-driven person, just know that there is not much plot that happens. A lot of the events happen in the past, and the plot for the present day is pretty brief. I personally wish there was more of an aftermath, and the ending felt brief to me. I prefer more of a plot-driven story, but I will appreciate a character-driven story if it's robust and compelling, which Gyasi does very well.

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