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isab3lle's review against another edition
5.0
the way i inhaled this book i already know this will be my favourite of the year
jaimeyh's review against another edition
3.0
Jessica George's protagonist Maddie is known as Maame to her family. Maame means "woman" and that is exactly what Maddie has to become at a young age. With an absent mother and an older brother who never wants to help Maddie with anything, Maddie is alone in taking care of her ailing father. Maddie is finally able to experience life once her mother comes back to England from Africa and Maddie is able to move out on her own. What follows are moments in Maddie's life I found absurd at times and powerful in others.
I found it very absurd that a young woman like Maddie would be so naive to the ways of the world. The many instances where Maddie Googled basic commonsense situations looking for an answer, made her come across as dim-witted. This was not a characteristic I expected to see in someone known as the "woman" of her family. I assume the author wanted to make those moments funny, but they just made the main character look dumb.
I thought the author did an excellent job showcasing what high functioning depression looks like and how a person deals with the grief that follows the death of a loved one. As a reader, I found these moments to be the best in the book because Maddie was finally discovering her voice and standing up for herself. Unfortunately this came close to the end of the book and by that time I was ready to be done with the book.
Overall, Maame was just an okay book. I would not dissuade someone from reading it, but it won't be the first book I recommend to someone.
I found it very absurd that a young woman like Maddie would be so naive to the ways of the world. The many instances where Maddie Googled basic commonsense situations looking for an answer, made her come across as dim-witted. This was not a characteristic I expected to see in someone known as the "woman" of her family. I assume the author wanted to make those moments funny, but they just made the main character look dumb.
I thought the author did an excellent job showcasing what high functioning depression looks like and how a person deals with the grief that follows the death of a loved one. As a reader, I found these moments to be the best in the book because Maddie was finally discovering her voice and standing up for herself. Unfortunately this came close to the end of the book and by that time I was ready to be done with the book.
Overall, Maame was just an okay book. I would not dissuade someone from reading it, but it won't be the first book I recommend to someone.
emilycheno's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely adored this book! Maddie is the daughter of Ghanaian immigrants living in London. She has put her early adulthood on hold to be the carer for her father, who has Parkinson's.
This is Maddie's later-in-life coming of age story, as she makes a list of things to do to experience life, including dating, wearing makeup, saying yes to social events, drinking alcohol when offered, wearing new clothes etc.
Maame is a colorful tapestry of the different experiences Maddie has, all woven together. From crappy boyfriends, grief, shady flatmates, and microaggressions in the workplace, to true friendships, healing, and finding her identity - Maddie is so loveable, and I just want to give her a hug.
I did see a few criticisms of the stream of consciousness type writing, and jumps in plot. I would HIGHLY recommend the audio version of this book, read by Heather Agyepong. Her narration truly brought this book to life, and I had no issues with the format!
Maame was such an impressive debut from Jessica George, I am anticipating this being a top ten favorite of the year.
*Thank you to Erica Martirano and St. Martin's Publishing Group for the gifted copy.*
This is Maddie's later-in-life coming of age story, as she makes a list of things to do to experience life, including dating, wearing makeup, saying yes to social events, drinking alcohol when offered, wearing new clothes etc.
Maame is a colorful tapestry of the different experiences Maddie has, all woven together. From crappy boyfriends, grief, shady flatmates, and microaggressions in the workplace, to true friendships, healing, and finding her identity - Maddie is so loveable, and I just want to give her a hug.
I did see a few criticisms of the stream of consciousness type writing, and jumps in plot. I would HIGHLY recommend the audio version of this book, read by Heather Agyepong. Her narration truly brought this book to life, and I had no issues with the format!
Maame was such an impressive debut from Jessica George, I am anticipating this being a top ten favorite of the year.
*Thank you to Erica Martirano and St. Martin's Publishing Group for the gifted copy.*
alifen's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book. Touches on grief and guilt and love and parental hardships in a meaningful way. Would give 4.5 stars
kitkatdallibooks's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
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
marcy2126's review against another edition
5.0
I saw so much of myself in this book. Just the struggle of mental health while not trying to claim it because nothing is “that serious” or there’s bigger things happening. Maddie was the youngest yet had the responsibility of taking care of everyone. When her father passes she blames herself. This story is beautifully written as the reader watches Maddie discover herself
emilykcannon's review against another edition
4.0
First. I listened to this book, which I don’t really like to do with fiction books, but it was all my library had. I think this book would be much more enjoyable to read because there are a lot of cute little things like text conversations and google questions that I think would be easier to read. BUT I really enjoyed the story. very interesting characters. overall I really liked it. It is pretty sexually explicit at some points just to be aware of.
rhill1784's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book. I felt like I was inside the main characters head most of the book which I liked. Idk I just really liked it
_huuuuulia_'s review against another edition
5.0
I'm not sure if this truly is the perfect book, or if this book came to me at simply the perfect time. Either way I absolutely loved Maame. Maddie is an incredibly likable protagonist navigating adulthood for the very first time and her understated bravery at putting herself out into the world made this story what it is.
Maddie's grief and frustration is front and center throughout most of this book, and George does an excellent job approaching this topic with nuance and tenderness.
I just loved it.
Maddie's grief and frustration is front and center throughout most of this book, and George does an excellent job approaching this topic with nuance and tenderness.
I just loved it.