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honeyvoiced's review against another edition
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Mental illness
Moderate: Death
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, and Vomit
ktrain3900's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
4.5
A story both local and global, of family, whose protagonist, Gifty, contemplates religion, science, relationships, mental health, and loss. The writing is nearly seamless, weaving between the present and past so smoothly sometimes I barely knew where I was and would have to flip back a few pages to find my footing. Despite my superficial differences with Gifty, I found her difficult relationships over time with both God and other people (as well as with herself) relatable, also having had a family member gone too soon. The unlikable character has become popular these days, but give me an imperfect fully human character who transcends like/dislike dualism any day of the week. Heartbreaking and hopeful; beautiful yet ordinary.
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Suicide attempt, Racism, Mental illness, and Grief
236girls's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Grief
Moderate: Racism
siobhan28's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Such an amazing, lyrical book that made me tear up multiple times. The writing was so beautiful and captivating and I finished the book within 24 hours. A lot of parts of the book were heavy but there was always a glimmer of hope
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Racism, Mental illness, Grief, Drug use, Racial slurs, Addiction, and Suicide attempt
kibbles15's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Despite the fact that the book reads at a slower pace, it is very well written. The author was especially good at expressing the emotions of the story. I found myself feeling sadness, joy, anger, heartbreak, etc...right along with the main character. The plot is heartbreaking, but it is an interesting exploration on finding the balance between a Belief in God and Science.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Mental illness
Moderate: Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Animal death, and Cursing
Book does discuss humane procedures performed on mice in a laboratory environment.jenmcreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Child death, Death, Religious bigotry, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Racism
bjdarby's review against another edition
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Racism, Grief, Drug abuse, Addiction, Drug use, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt
baguettegay's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
This book was a gut punch. The intricacies of grief, mental health, and ripples caused by addiction within a family. I loved the way Gifty was so tied to her scientific research that connected so deeply with what she had gone through with her brother’s death and addiction. It is hard to deal with grief head on, and I think showing how someone can be processing things without actually processing them is important.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Racial slurs, and Grief
kelly_e's review
challenging
emotional
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
4.5
Title: Transcendent Kingdom
Author: Yaa Gyasi
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.50
Pub Date: August 31, 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Captivating • Heart-wrenching • Introspective
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Gifty is a sixth-year PhD candidate in neuroscience at the Stanford University School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after an ankle injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed. Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her.
But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family's loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Transcendent Kingdom came highly recommended to me by several book friends, yet I knew because of my deeply personal connection to the content that I would need to be in the right frame of mind when I finally picked it up. This awareness helped create a safe, deeply emotional reading experience for me that I am grateful for.
What an absolutely powerful book! Yaa Gyasi delivers a raw and compelling take on how science and faith merge and diverge. Written from the first person perspective with short chapters, it read more like a memoir, allowing a deep look into Gifty's internal battle in her search for understanding. Snippets from childhood and the past, really brought each of the characters to life, making them real and relatable. The writing is profoundly beautiful. Every word, every sentence has it's place. The science is easily digestible and the religions aspect aren't preachy. In all honesty, the author tackles mental illness and addiction with grace and respect, while also exploring themes of love and loss, of healing and belonging, and of family and identity. Underneath some of the bigger themes also lies an exploration of the immigrant experience, including racism.
There are so many emotional and thought-provoking passages sprinkled throughout the story, a few of which I have chosen to highlight below. However, it is how in the end the reader is left without answers that truly sticks with me. Isn't that the whole point? It's a testament to how we can search for answers, yet there are some things we can never know and therein lies the beauty of being alive.
Every now and then there is a book comes along and burrows itself deep into your soul and changes your perception, Transcendent Kingdom was one of those books for me. It is a book I will revisit in the future. One that contemplates what it means to live without answers. And one I hope is an invitation for readers to consider people living with mental illness and addiction with more understanding, empathy, and compassion. I will definitely be looking to get my hands on a copy of Gyasi's debut, Homecoming, and look forward to hearing about future books from this incredibly talented author.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who love profound writing
• anyone looking for a thought-provoking read
• book clubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"The truth is we don’t know what we don’t know. We don’t even know the questions we need to ask in order to find out, but when we learn one tiny little thing, a dim light comes on in a dark hallway, and suddenly a new question appears."
"Nothing teaches you the true nature of your friendships like a sudden death, worse still, a death that’s shrouded in shame."
"If I've thought of my mother as callous, and many times I have, then it is important to remember what a callus is: the hardened tissue that forms over a wound."
"What I can say for certain is that there is no case study in the world that could capture the whole animal of my brother, that could show how smart and kind and generous he was, how much he wanted to get better, how much he wanted to live. Forget for a moment what he looked like on paper, and instead see him as he was in all of his glory, in all of his beauty. It’s true that for years before he died, I would look at his face and think, 'What a pity, what a waste'. But the waste was my own, the waste was what I missed out on whenever I looked at him and saw just his addiction."
Author: Yaa Gyasi
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.50
Pub Date: August 31, 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Captivating • Heart-wrenching • Introspective
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Gifty is a sixth-year PhD candidate in neuroscience at the Stanford University School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after an ankle injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed. Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her.
But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family's loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Transcendent Kingdom came highly recommended to me by several book friends, yet I knew because of my deeply personal connection to the content that I would need to be in the right frame of mind when I finally picked it up. This awareness helped create a safe, deeply emotional reading experience for me that I am grateful for.
What an absolutely powerful book! Yaa Gyasi delivers a raw and compelling take on how science and faith merge and diverge. Written from the first person perspective with short chapters, it read more like a memoir, allowing a deep look into Gifty's internal battle in her search for understanding. Snippets from childhood and the past, really brought each of the characters to life, making them real and relatable. The writing is profoundly beautiful. Every word, every sentence has it's place. The science is easily digestible and the religions aspect aren't preachy. In all honesty, the author tackles mental illness and addiction with grace and respect, while also exploring themes of love and loss, of healing and belonging, and of family and identity. Underneath some of the bigger themes also lies an exploration of the immigrant experience, including racism.
There are so many emotional and thought-provoking passages sprinkled throughout the story, a few of which I have chosen to highlight below. However, it is how in the end the reader is left without answers that truly sticks with me. Isn't that the whole point? It's a testament to how we can search for answers, yet there are some things we can never know and therein lies the beauty of being alive.
Every now and then there is a book comes along and burrows itself deep into your soul and changes your perception, Transcendent Kingdom was one of those books for me. It is a book I will revisit in the future. One that contemplates what it means to live without answers. And one I hope is an invitation for readers to consider people living with mental illness and addiction with more understanding, empathy, and compassion. I will definitely be looking to get my hands on a copy of Gyasi's debut, Homecoming, and look forward to hearing about future books from this incredibly talented author.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who love profound writing
• anyone looking for a thought-provoking read
• book clubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"The truth is we don’t know what we don’t know. We don’t even know the questions we need to ask in order to find out, but when we learn one tiny little thing, a dim light comes on in a dark hallway, and suddenly a new question appears."
"Nothing teaches you the true nature of your friendships like a sudden death, worse still, a death that’s shrouded in shame."
"If I've thought of my mother as callous, and many times I have, then it is important to remember what a callus is: the hardened tissue that forms over a wound."
"What I can say for certain is that there is no case study in the world that could capture the whole animal of my brother, that could show how smart and kind and generous he was, how much he wanted to get better, how much he wanted to live. Forget for a moment what he looked like on paper, and instead see him as he was in all of his glory, in all of his beauty. It’s true that for years before he died, I would look at his face and think, 'What a pity, what a waste'. But the waste was my own, the waste was what I missed out on whenever I looked at him and saw just his addiction."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Addiction, Grief, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Child death, Drug use, and Death
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Racism, Death of parent, Animal death, and Abandonment
Minor: Vomit, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Alcohol, Sexism, Excrement, and Pregnancy
overdose, depression, sibling deathqueer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? No
4.0
4 ⭐ CW: substance use/discussions of addiction, overdose, suicide attempt, depression, racism, racial slurs, grief
Transcendent Kingdom is the second novel by Yaa Gyasi, and is literary contemporary fiction. I'm not usually a big fan of contemporary stories, but I love the way Gyasi writes. She lays out her ideas in clear ways, but never tries to shape the reader's view, instead she lets us come to our own conclusions. Though it is a sad story, it wasn't a tear jerker for me, mostly because I think Gifty isn't a crier.
We follow Gifty, the daughter of a Ghanian immigrant mother, who is living in Alabama. Gifty narrates the story of how her mother came to America, the hardships they encountered as Black folk in the south, and the tragedies that followed. We go between Gifty's childhood and her present, where she is a PH.d student at Stanford studying neuroscience. We see how Gifty's upbringing in the church has affected her, as well as her brother's overdose, and her mother's depression.
This book is an examination of identity, religion, addiction, and how science and religion are both diametrically opposed to one another, but has also shaped Gifty's approach to life. As someone who grew up with Christianity and later left it behind, it was fascinating seeing Gifty's transition from being a serious Christian to doubting religion, the church, and losing her faith. Though Gifty no longer truly believes, it has still shaped her outlook on life and her approach to science.
If you liked Homegoing, this is a must read!
Transcendent Kingdom is the second novel by Yaa Gyasi, and is literary contemporary fiction. I'm not usually a big fan of contemporary stories, but I love the way Gyasi writes. She lays out her ideas in clear ways, but never tries to shape the reader's view, instead she lets us come to our own conclusions. Though it is a sad story, it wasn't a tear jerker for me, mostly because I think Gifty isn't a crier.
We follow Gifty, the daughter of a Ghanian immigrant mother, who is living in Alabama. Gifty narrates the story of how her mother came to America, the hardships they encountered as Black folk in the south, and the tragedies that followed. We go between Gifty's childhood and her present, where she is a PH.d student at Stanford studying neuroscience. We see how Gifty's upbringing in the church has affected her, as well as her brother's overdose, and her mother's depression.
This book is an examination of identity, religion, addiction, and how science and religion are both diametrically opposed to one another, but has also shaped Gifty's approach to life. As someone who grew up with Christianity and later left it behind, it was fascinating seeing Gifty's transition from being a serious Christian to doubting religion, the church, and losing her faith. Though Gifty no longer truly believes, it has still shaped her outlook on life and her approach to science.
If you liked Homegoing, this is a must read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Pregnancy