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michkeenah's review against another edition
3.0
i thought it started off really well and rather elusively which drew me in very quickly. i enjoyed Gifty’s ongoing conflict with science and religion and i enjoyed how it essentially shaped her worldview and the book in itself
having said that, i did find the book rather underwhelming — particularly towards the end where it started becoming very disjointed. the book starts off with long, continuous prose and suddenly changes into really weird short and snappy chapters with hard-to-keep-up with timelines.
i also thought that Gifty, as the protagonist and narrator of this story, was rather 1-dimensional. beyond science, religion and familial trauma, who was she? maybe that was the point. but i wish there was more character development, i wish nana and her parents (particularly her dad bc he just vanished for ages and then we were re-introduced to him for like 5 seconds) were written with more depth.
having said that, i did find the book rather underwhelming — particularly towards the end where it started becoming very disjointed. the book starts off with long, continuous prose and suddenly changes into really weird short and snappy chapters with hard-to-keep-up with timelines.
i also thought that Gifty, as the protagonist and narrator of this story, was rather 1-dimensional. beyond science, religion and familial trauma, who was she? maybe that was the point. but i wish there was more character development, i wish nana and her parents (particularly her dad bc he just vanished for ages and then we were re-introduced to him for like 5 seconds) were written with more depth.
claire_s's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
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
3.75
youreabiggirlnow's review against another edition
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
2.5
cooslooksatletterssometimes's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
marinaemoore's review against another edition
3.0
Yaa Gyasi is a beautiful writer. I very much enjoyed the writing style of this book, and felt like where this book shone was in the almost poetic diary entries that the main character, Gifty, wrote to God.
This book is heavily themed around science vs. religion. Gyasi confronts the reader with some very thoughtful questions around this topic.
All of the above aside, I had a really difficult time getting into this one. I could hardly bring myself to read more than 10 or so pages at a time for the first 130 pages. The remaining 130 ish pages were substantially more engaging for me personally, but I still didn’t leave this book feeling like I knew any of the characters well or felt any sense of connection to them.
I think ultimately, where this book lost me was in the character development, specifically for present-day Gifty. Towards the tail end of the book, Gifty expresses her hopes for her life and about 1/2 of them seemed to be way out of left field based on the insights we gain into Gifty. I also wish we would’ve gotten more context and background into Gifty’s mother at times - I believe it would have been helpful.
This book is heavily themed around science vs. religion. Gyasi confronts the reader with some very thoughtful questions around this topic.
All of the above aside, I had a really difficult time getting into this one. I could hardly bring myself to read more than 10 or so pages at a time for the first 130 pages. The remaining 130 ish pages were substantially more engaging for me personally, but I still didn’t leave this book feeling like I knew any of the characters well or felt any sense of connection to them.
I think ultimately, where this book lost me was in the character development, specifically for present-day Gifty. Towards the tail end of the book, Gifty expresses her hopes for her life and about 1/2 of them seemed to be way out of left field based on the insights we gain into Gifty. I also wish we would’ve gotten more context and background into Gifty’s mother at times - I believe it would have been helpful.
yarfaqikhdir's review against another edition
2.0
This is a wonderful book written about addiction and the problems of a Ghanaian family that live in the US and have experienced discrimination and hate both from the black and non-black communities, and the reasons behind addiction. It's a book that feels like two in one since there is a part of it that is about the life of female scientist and also her memoir that have led her to choose the field that she is doing her experiments on.
There should be a trigger warning for trauma and addiction and familial issues but what I really loved the details that went into this book is the fact that it was written based on one trip to a lab and it also shows the entity one has to suppress as a scientist when experimenting on animals because there's no room for compassion when you are trying for "the greater good". And also, there were some passages that were written in Twi which is spoken by a large population of Ghanaians.
There should be a trigger warning for trauma and addiction and familial issues but what I really loved the details that went into this book is the fact that it was written based on one trip to a lab and it also shows the entity one has to suppress as a scientist when experimenting on animals because there's no room for compassion when you are trying for "the greater good". And also, there were some passages that were written in Twi which is spoken by a large population of Ghanaians.
eviewilliams29's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
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? Yes
5.0
ruqqiya's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
5.0
Sad
alisasatryan's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
3.5
ruth24's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to Penguin Randomhouse Canada and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
“What do you say to a woman’s back, your mother’s back? The curve of it, the sloping, sagging flesh of it, was more recognizable to me now than her face, which was once the only thing in the world that I sought out the most.”
I’ve been sitting on this review for about a week. I think this is one of those novels that stays with you for a long time. You can see from the quote above that Gyasi’s writing is striking, but it’s also subtle. It’s really only later, in quiet contemplation, that you realize you’ve read something profound.
Transcendent Kingdom tells the story of a Ghanian-American family. We experience, from Gifty’s point of view, her father’s disappearance back to Ghana, her golden-boy brother Nana’s descent into addiction, and her mother’s depression and suicide attempt. Gyasi handles these tough subjects with eloquence, beauty and sensitivity. At one point, Gifty says, “Though I had never been an addict, addiction, and the avoidance of it, had been running my life.” Ultimately, this is what the story is about: Gifty’s questioning, “Why?” Why did her brother become addicted? Why couldn’t he stop? This question tears at her head and her heart and tore at mine as well.
Also central to the story is Gifty’s exploration of her faith and all of the questions and doubts she has growing up Christian, seeing suffering, being confronted by non-believers, and working in science. I felt this was really well done and it was one of my favourite things about the book. I’m not sure this would appeal to everyone, but I saw a lot of my own experience reflected back to me and loved it because of that.
Transcendent Kingdom is very different from Homegoing, but I think it’ll also be well received. It will make you think. And it will make you feel.
“What do you say to a woman’s back, your mother’s back? The curve of it, the sloping, sagging flesh of it, was more recognizable to me now than her face, which was once the only thing in the world that I sought out the most.”
I’ve been sitting on this review for about a week. I think this is one of those novels that stays with you for a long time. You can see from the quote above that Gyasi’s writing is striking, but it’s also subtle. It’s really only later, in quiet contemplation, that you realize you’ve read something profound.
Transcendent Kingdom tells the story of a Ghanian-American family. We experience, from Gifty’s point of view, her father’s disappearance back to Ghana, her golden-boy brother Nana’s descent into addiction, and her mother’s depression and suicide attempt. Gyasi handles these tough subjects with eloquence, beauty and sensitivity. At one point, Gifty says, “Though I had never been an addict, addiction, and the avoidance of it, had been running my life.” Ultimately, this is what the story is about: Gifty’s questioning, “Why?” Why did her brother become addicted? Why couldn’t he stop? This question tears at her head and her heart and tore at mine as well.
Also central to the story is Gifty’s exploration of her faith and all of the questions and doubts she has growing up Christian, seeing suffering, being confronted by non-believers, and working in science. I felt this was really well done and it was one of my favourite things about the book. I’m not sure this would appeal to everyone, but I saw a lot of my own experience reflected back to me and loved it because of that.
Transcendent Kingdom is very different from Homegoing, but I think it’ll also be well received. It will make you think. And it will make you feel.