Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

106 reviews

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is heartbreaking, harrowing, devastating, and deeply moving. The story stems from one woman name Maame who gave birth to two daughters in different villages, each half-sister unknowing of the other's existence. Each chapter alternates between the next generation of both branches of the family, and tells different but parallel stories of the lives each child lives. It's a story of the lasting effects of colonization, war, and slavery on Ghanian people both in the homeland and in United States. As the book spans 8 generations, it ties major historical events to the appropriate character's narratives for that time period. There are so many difficult and upsetting situations that family members on both sides face, and they become deeply flawed but complex characters because of their experiences and the experiences of their parents that have been passed down both verbally and metaphysically. Generational trauma is a central theme throughout the book and I could feel my heart ache each time a character went through something or had a fear that could be tied back to experiences in their parent's or ancestor's chapter just a few pages before. The ending brings everything full circle with the recurring symbols of water, fire, and the black stone passed down from Maame herself, and it left me with a bittersweet feeling knowing both the indescribable pain and incredible resilience of each ancestor that lead to the two latest generations being able to come together and feel connected to the land where it all started.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

daniimcc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual violence and Torture

Minor: Child death

jenmcreads's review

challenging dark emotional informative 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? No

5.0

This is a remarkable book that manages to closely visit each POV character despite only spending one chapter with each. This book does an incredible job at sweeping through history while still feeling intimate. I loved this, and the audiobook is excellently narrated. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, and Sexual harassment

melm1216's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Miscarriage and Suicide

kkocik's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Abandonment, and Colonisation

longmf's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

Lots of characters as the author introduces you to a new generation in each chapter. Once you get to know the characters, you meet new ones. Not a book to linger with.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Torture, and Violence

someonelikeblue's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Hate crime, Police brutality, and Car accident

jesshindes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

I came to Homegoing a bit late, or a bit backwards; I read Yaa Gyasi's second novel, Transcendent Kingdom, in book group last year (great choice, thanks Rosie) and only got around to reading her first this year. That wasn't because of any lack of enthusiasm; I loved Transcendent Kingdom and had heard a lot of great things about this novel. All of them were correct! Homegoing packs several centuries, two continents, and dozens of characters into just over 300 pages and somehow manages to give the reader a meaningful insight into all of them.  The novel begins with two sisters in what is now Ghana - one who marries a white slaver, one of whom is sold into slavery - and continues on through the line of their descendants up until the present day. Each pair of chapters steps forward another generation along its parallel lines: the branch of the family which stays in Africa and those who are taken to the USA. You drop into a moment of each character's life - maybe a few months, a year - and then whoosh, the baby you've seen toddling around in the previous chapter is an adult and you're seeing the world through their eyes. It's such a compelling narrative effect but in the hands of a less skilful writer, it's easy to see how the characters might have felt flat or emblematic; this is the enslaved character working in the cotton fields, this is the character in early 20th-century Harlem who wishes she were a singer, etc. But it doesn't feel like that. They're all beautifully rendered, complex people and - what I really, really liked - they're all reasonably well-informed about the family who preceded them. They're connected to their ancestors. The people who you know up close are remembered by their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, part of the story of itself that each branch of the family tells. I loved that. Even under circumstances that would make it very easy to lose touch with the past, these histories are not forgotten but rather become a crucial part of how each character sees him or herself. 

That connection and that memory is I think particularly important in the context of a novel that necessarily deals with a huge amount of brutality and suffering. Obviously the history of the slave trade and its historical ramifications is a horrible, bleak history of colonial violence and Gyasi doesn't shy away from that (nor should she) but she finds a counterbalance in the way that her characters hang onto their humanity - their family, their community - in the face of everything that is done to them. It's an incredibly tricky balancing act to pull off, I think - to depict the pain clearly and honestly without making a book that's so unrelenting it becomes unbearable - which is one of the very many reasons that I cannot BELIEVE this was a debut novel. What a thing to have written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Slavery, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and War

alayamorning's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Animal death

lanid's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Rape, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury