jennifersbrown 's review for:

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

---

I loved [b:Homegoing|27071490|Homegoing|Yaa Gyasi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1448108591l/27071490._SY75_.jpg|47113792]Homegoing so much that I was eager for this follow-up. The book is strong, but it doesn't really measure up to her debut. This one is about religion and science and faith and immigration. Lots of big topics and they'll handled deftly. Gifty is a scientist who brother died of an overdose when Gifty was young. The book deals a lot with Gifty's mother's depression and how it affects Gifty. I enjoyed all the locations of the book: Alabama, Ghana, and California. Gifty's brother descent into drug addiction was stark and realistic and terrifying (as in how easily it happened). The ending was a bit pat but overall the book was very internal to Gifty and full of emotion.