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A review by whatjamieread
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Transcendent Kingdom is going down as my first read of 2021 and if most of my books in 2021 are as good or better than this one, it’s going to be a great year. It’s hard to believe that this is only Yaa Gyasi’s second book. She writes like someone who has been publishing novels for 40 years. Every sentence in this book is methodical. The story has a lot of scientific references since Gifty, our main character, is working on completing a PHD in neuroscience. It couldn’t have been easy for Gyasi to write about so much science and still emotionally appeal to the reader, yet I found myself tearing up over experiments on mice and technical definitions of depression and drug addiction.
I knew this book was going down as a favorite the moment I identified Gifty’s struggle with religion. Gifty’s mother and father are loyal to their faith and as a child, Gifty is as well. But as she ages and struggles to rationalize terrible events in her life against the backdrop of a God she’s devoted so much to throughout her life, her faith slowly dissipates to the point of nonexistence. I identify so deeply with Gifty’s internal struggle and have even had similar experiences with church members that were described in the story.
Gyasi tackles race, religion, addiction, depression, family, and the affects of immigration on first generation Americans. When I preach that books are windows, this is exactly the kind of book I’m talking about. The perspective and insights I gained into the struggles of immigrants, caretakers, and those with loved ones that suffer from addiction was so powerful. I know that I will read this book again and already have plans to read Gyasi’s debut, Homegoing, in the very near future.
This is 5⭐️. The writing is superb. The dialogue was powerful and real. Gyasi made me feel like I was Gifty during so many of her most difficult scenes and I’m still thinking about Gifty a week later. I’m so glad that this is how I started the year.
I knew this book was going down as a favorite the moment I identified Gifty’s struggle with religion. Gifty’s mother and father are loyal to their faith and as a child, Gifty is as well. But as she ages and struggles to rationalize terrible events in her life against the backdrop of a God she’s devoted so much to throughout her life, her faith slowly dissipates to the point of nonexistence. I identify so deeply with Gifty’s internal struggle and have even had similar experiences with church members that were described in the story.
Gyasi tackles race, religion, addiction, depression, family, and the affects of immigration on first generation Americans. When I preach that books are windows, this is exactly the kind of book I’m talking about. The perspective and insights I gained into the struggles of immigrants, caretakers, and those with loved ones that suffer from addiction was so powerful. I know that I will read this book again and already have plans to read Gyasi’s debut, Homegoing, in the very near future.
This is 5⭐️. The writing is superb. The dialogue was powerful and real. Gyasi made me feel like I was Gifty during so many of her most difficult scenes and I’m still thinking about Gifty a week later. I’m so glad that this is how I started the year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Mental illness