Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

66 reviews

thisreadingcorner's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

Transcendent Kingdom follows Gifty, a neuroscience PhD student doing research and reflecting on the ways in which immigration, addiction, abandonment, and grief have and continue to shape her view of the world. Although we see her in present day, the book toggles back and forth constantly to years past, scaffolding the honest reflections Gifty shares.

My favorite thing about this book is that there is no nobility in suffering. The humiliation of African immigrants (Ghanaian in this case) taking on poorly paid work with deeply racist Americans isn’t remade into sainthood. The family that gets left behind doesn’t take it on the chin. Addiction doesn’t magically get cured or inspire a lofty goal to save the world. A mother’s trauma doesn’t reduce the harm she leaves in her wake. None of them are perfect, all of them are real. So real in fact that I was taken aback by the kinship I felt to these fictional characters with lives so different from my own.

Gifty’s religious devolution is at the core of the book, the impact of grief on a young woman asking why? She sees glaring gaps in a doctrine sometimes merciful and sometimes vengeful, but even her work doesn’t offer her the clarity she seeks. That her faith is so tied to her relationship with her mother only complicates their dynamic when grief devastated the careful balancing act they both lived in. The stories around Gifty’s mother - her calls home, her patients, and her tumultuous mental health are gripping, in part because of the parallels to a common immigrant experience of starting over, but also because it held space for a mother’s humanity and a child’s pain.

 I admired her commitment to her work and willingness to keep trying, even if only as a smoke screen. I empathized with her delayed awakenings in human connection, her constant daydreaming. I was relived to see the version of her we get in the end, fully actualized and moving forward, ambiguity still front and center.

I look forward to more stories like hers, maybe even more ambiguous. Gyasi is a master writer, the words jumped off the page for me, and I found myself grateful for a story so rooted in the grey. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Death of parent, Addiction, and Racial slurs

pandact's review against another edition

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

4.5

   This book nailed my feelings with scientific precision, and Gyasi simultaneously leaves room for different kinds of faith. This reflective fine-tuning happened to be exactly what I was looking for, plus the slightly lonely and queer first-generation bildungsroman. I'd read a whole book where they dive into ethical and religious questions!

   I hope it's also impactful for others who read it, and it shares similar themes with Freshwater, Liturgists, Semler, and the X-files.

   Spoilers in tags

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Addiction, Drug use, Grief, Death, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Racism

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Medical content, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child abuse and Animal cruelty

Also I thought the ending made sense, almost like when a documentary flashes forward before the credits. The mother still wrapped up the emotional arc better than I expected from getting it spoiled in reviews!

ksuazo94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Drug abuse, and Self harm

Moderate: Death of parent, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Infidelity

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

challenging 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

A beautiful and painful book that demands the reader's full attention. Gyasi doesn't lay things out A then B then C; instead, she gives us a puzzle of C then A then Q and trusts that we as readers are clever enough and paying enough attention to put the pieces together.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Child death, Grief, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Addiction, Death, Ableism, Drug use, and Racism

Moderate: Blood, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Bullying, Body shaming, Sexism, Violence, Child abuse, and Animal death

Minor: Medical content, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Vomit, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

iisa's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Racism, and Addiction

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts

dannythestreet's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Death, Child death, Classism, Drug abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcohol, Religious bigotry, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Racial slurs

fynn_jls's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, and Drug use

Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death of parent

kenzieskinnerrr'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

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Death and Death of parent

lindsaylhunter's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.0

Much like with Homegoing, Gyasi writes with incredible sincerity about topics of substance. She is the voice of a generation, and I hope that voice only gets louder and stronger as the years go by.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Death, Grief, and Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs

Minor: Death of parent

leanneymu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

I absolutely loved this book. A tender and at times painful exploration of families, loss, and addiction, that was fully relatable to me (even though I don't share the same background as the characters). The audiobook was beautifully read, and I cared deeply about the characters, who were all treated with respect by the author. A layered and nuanced portrayl of human relationships. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Racial slurs, Child death, Death, and Death of parent