A review by justkirstie
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

emotional 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? Yes

5.0

92% of my reviews consist of: "made me sob, 5/5" because i'm not smart enough to organise my thoughts, to even begin to describe my reading experience or to effectively summarise what even happened

but Yaa Gyasi? she deserves more from a review and i wish i could deliver
it's frustrating to me that i barely remember any detail about Homegoing but i remember vividly how much it moved me
this is a very different novel but much the same feeling

also i just HAVE to mention that at the "end" of Chapter 54, where Gifty was about to drive back home - i fully thought the book was over. so when i swiped to the next page and was met by the confirmation of her relationship with Han, i was filled with such immense relief that i immediately burst into tears and had to put my phone down to recover. i was fully ready to just ~imagine~ that Things Were Ok in the end without the gratification of the story actually telling me. as miserable and wretched as i am, as much as i enjoy tragedy; i cannot express the depths of my gratitude for those final few pages and, specifically, that one sentence that set me off. truly incredible reading moment. thank you.

please, i beg, read Yaa Gyasi
whether this or Homegoing - the choice is irrelevant because they're very different but both so beautiful

tldr: made me sob, 5/5