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vanesst's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Grief
Moderate: Mental illness and Suicide attempt
Minor: Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty
kerrence30's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Concise and emotional, was great to listen to, well read, authentic, heartfelt.
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Grief, and Addiction
Moderate: Abandonment, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicide attempt
beetsbydwight's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Mental illness, Addiction, Child death, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Racial slurs, Grief, and Abandonment
ollie_again's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Death and Grief
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, and Abandonment
leonormsousa's review against another edition
- 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
Small note that I was pleasantly surprised by the queer representation in this one (MC is queer).
Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Racism, and Religious bigotry
csolomon101's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, and Abandonment
abitbetterbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The vision for this novel is really quite extraordinary. It’s a tiny slice of life in the present day, but an entire world of exploration as each layer of Gifty’s life gets peeled back, examined; like a bone getting broken so it can be reset and healed properly.
Transcendent Kingdom is a masterclass in character work— we get to know Gifty, her motivations, her joys, her pains. We watch her as she moves from a shy and closed off person, unwilling to share any tender part of herself, into someone who is realizing that she can’t isolate herself forever. We understand her fears and personally, understand her questions and frustrations with the lack of concrete answers.
What spoken to me in particular was the grappling with faith and religion, and trying to reconcile the importance of that upbringing with a life & world-view that is rooted in, and dominated by, science, reason, and logic. I found many of Gifty’s questions and perspectives incredibly relatable, though I think she came to a softer conclusion about God that I have. I’m not sure if I’ve ever read a book with this kind exploration of faith before, but I have to say I felt deeply at home in it.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Addiction
Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Abandonment, and Vomit
Minor: Suicide attempt
ramreadsagain's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I particularly enjoyed the content about Gifty's research as well as her thoughts and struggles with the science:religion binary. While I very much fall on the science side, the emotional depth of the novel and the way it portrays how one can exist on a 'spectrum' of belief was incredibly well done.
I do not understand how such a relatively short novel could have managed to cover so many topics in such a profound way. I'm annoyed I put off reading this for so long, and I'm now excited to read Homegoing.
Graphic: Mental illness, Drug abuse, and Addiction
Moderate: Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Racism, and Death
Minor: Religious bigotry
siebensommer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
my need to diy my mother‘s mental health
Graphic: Drug use, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Addiction, Abandonment, and Death
Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs
Minor: Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Medical content
aritacb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, Grief, and Drug abuse