Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

41 reviews

priyanka13's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Excrement, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

mima345's review against another edition

heartbreaking and triggering to me even though great writing and important messages! strong images. too strong for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and War

vaniavela's review against another edition

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

Homegoing is a look at the history of colonialism and slavery in Ghana and America, spanning 300 years. Following seven generations, it all begins with two half-sisters who never met.

The novel explores the slave trade and shows us life in Ghana at the time. Through 14 perspectives, we explore America's and Ghana's relationship with slavery. 

I loved the depth of the characters in each chapter. The lives of each descendant is complex, being brutally affected by the events of the time, or those that happened to their ancestors. Gyasi only uses twenty pages for each generation, but she fills their stories with detail, allowing us to learn about them. My only wish would be to read more of the characters; when I became attached to one, we would switch to another, and it was sad. Also, at first I was confused when the narration jumped to the sister's descendant, but as I read, I picked up the format. 

It is hard to believe that this is Yaa Gyasi's first novel. Everything is portrayed in minute detail, the violence and events are acutely depicted, and the characters are well written. Undoubtedly a moving book.

cw: child/domestic abuse, chattel slavery, racism, racial slurs, whipping, rape/sexual assault, suicide, IV drug use (heroin), colonialism, lynching, beating, violence, war, incarceration, police brutality, mental illness, whipping.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Slavery, and Colonisation

Moderate: Drug use, Rape, Suicide, Violence, and War

Minor: Mental illness

cantfindmybookmark's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

galexy_brain's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Excrement, Trafficking, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Racial slurs, Suicide, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

hmbk's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Police brutality, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide and Alcohol

queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective 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? No

4.0

 4 ⭐ CW: child/domestic abuse, chattel slavery, racism, racial slurs, whipping, rape/sexual assault, suicide, IV drug use (heroin)

"He would never truly know who his people were, who their people were before them, and if there were stories to be heard about where he had come from, he would never hear them."

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is a historical fiction saga that follows two half sisters that were separated and never met, in 1700s Ghana, and is told through a series of short stories. It was really nice reading a historical fiction book that wasn't centered on the American or European experience. This is perfect for fans of Chinua Achebe.

We follow the lines of Effia and Esi, the first who married a white man and stayed in Africa, and the second who was enslaved and eventually brought to the American South. I loved the way these stories wove together and had similar themes. Each child's story seemed to parallel each other.

The big themes if this book were the loss of ancestry knowledge and family history and generational trauma. Each generation felt the loss of at least one parent and although they didn't know their family histories, they still embodied the trauma that was passed down through their DNA.

Another big theme here was the importance of oral storytelling to keep family history. We see our characters feeling lonely, displaced, and unmoored after generations of slavery and loss. The story came full circle at the end and felt satisfying as we see the last generation begin their healing.

I highly recommend this book if you want to read about family sagas and slavery through the lens of an Ghanian instead through a European or American lens. I will be checking out more of Gyasi's work! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, and Violence

grayscale08's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing

hwood1730's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Minor: Suicide

libbyhb's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

5.0

This was such a beautiful, perfectly-constructed story. I loved following along with the generations, especially with how Gyasi chose at which point in their life we caught up with each character. The sheer amount of research involved in writing Homegoing truly shone through, while never feeling like these stories represented some kind of monolithic story for the character's identity at that point in history. I especially loved the Marjorie chapter and how connected she was to her parents and grandmother and Ghana. The H chapter was also so interesting and horrifying, and made me want to read more about that era of prison labor and towns like Pratt City. I will definitely be thinking about this book for a long time!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual content and Suicide