Reviews

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

imhidinginabook's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

mountainreader's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

chachi_bby's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

laura_corsi's review against another edition

3.0

I didn’t love it…with all of the hype I was expecting to love it. It was a wonderful peek into the life of a Ghanaian woman, raised in Alabama, who lost her brother and only sibling to heroine addiction. Gifty is on a quest to understand why it is she is alone in the world and becomes a neuroscientist to aid in her quest to understand. However, part of her just cannot let go of her childhood faith. How can science and faith coexist? How can Ghana and America coexist within one person or one family? Why was she the one person in her family to survive?

I think I just didn’t connect as deeply as I was expecting to. Gifty always felt distant and would not let the reader fully inside. But then, why would she trust us that far?

amco7047's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

marie_fury's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

fiona_callinan's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

tolutolu9597's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

In Transcendent Kingdom - Yaa Gyasi tackles the mammoth topics of grief, addiction, abandonment, religious fervour and doubt, as well as depression, and she does so beautifully and poignantly. 

Through flashbacks and flashforwards, Gyasi navigates these topics with heart and depth. However, the novel's richness is slightly disserviced by an abrupt ending that left me slightly unsatisfied ( but perhaps that is, in fact, the point, and I have missed it). 

ralla95's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad

4.75

lejci's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

3.0