A review by katrinarose
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

This book was raw, beautiful, and heartbreaking in a way I didn’t expect. It’s more like a character study or fictional memoir than a plot-driven novel, with scenes jumping from present to past in all different stages of the main character Gifty’s life. It’s so well done that I feel like Gifty is a real person I could meet. The narrative is all of Gifty’s inner thoughts and we see her struggle with her brother’s addiction and death, her mother’s depression, her father’s absence, and her own religion and faith especially now as a neuroscientist. I would highly recommend it if you enjoy literary character-driven books.
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