Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

245 reviews

miamcmillan'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

4.0

i’m really glad i read this. it made me think about some topics i hadn’t considered properly before and i think it’s a really stupendous take on the intersection of science and religion. gyasi writes with such a human care and a quiet power which underlined every single word. from the exploration of gifty’s relationship with her mother to her portrait of nana and all his beauty, the whole novel was incredibly moving. i particularly loved how even though at points i disliked every single character, gyasi’s writing brings back round the idea of transcendence and i ended up loving each one of them even as i cried for their losses and wanted to distance myself from their mistakes. it was absolutely immersive. i genuinely think the last few paragraphs are one of the most beautiful i have read in a while: 
“i’m no longer interested in other worlds or spiritual planes. i’ve seen enough in a mouse to understand transcendence, holiness, redemption. in people, i’ve seen even more. 
from the back pew, christ’s face is the portrait of ecstasy. i stare at it, and it changes, goes from angry to pained to joyful. some days, i sit there for hours, some days mere minutes, but i never bow my head. i never pray, never wait to hear god’s voice, i just look. i sit in blessed silence, and i remember. i try to make order, make sense, make meaning of the jumble of it all. always, i light two candles before i go.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Grief, and Suicide attempt

nicoleisalwaysreading's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative 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

I needed this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Sexual content

idtirnan0g'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Grief

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racism, and Religious bigotry

abioneil's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Death and Racism

Minor: Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

amanda_mh's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

It is a hard read but an important one touching on addiction in the family seen from a young girl. I enjoyed the way the story was told including diary entries and almost felt like a memoir. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Grief, and Suicide attempt

lupitabaeyongo's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Vomit

menomica's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense

• 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? No

“There is no living thing on God’s Earth that doesn’t come to know pain sometime.”

This book broke my heart.

Yaa Gyasi is so amazing at describing trauma without coming off as gratuitous. She manages to capture the multiple aspects of pain and hurt, and even how at certain level you begin to normalize it.

The way Gifty talks about the trauma that she experienced as a preteen—watching her brother strung out on her lap, her mothers attempted suicide—you really get the sense that though she understands the harrowing nature of her experiences, she hasn’t really given herself room to reflect on how she experienced these things at such a young age and how that affected her.

I think this book is very beautiful, especially if you go in not viewing it with the expectation of a narrative structure. A lot of the storlines don’t tie up in neat bows, they simply end, come to their own natural conclusions. And to me, that feels very much like how things happen in real life.

Anyway, I think this book is so amazing. Definitely recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Abandonment

yaelm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, and Suicide attempt

splurglofl'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Death

Minor: Suicide attempt

ejs2000's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment