Reviews

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

ellabatcheler's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

lauracooleyjohnson's review against another edition

2.0

While I appreciate this book, I didn’t like it. I appreciated the writing and the fascinating way the author ties science and Religion and life together through a lens of addiction. But at one point, one of the characters accuses Gifty of spending too much time with her lab mice and not enough time with real people. This is how I felt about the overall book: it was too much time inside one lady’s head. Maybe this itself was an intentional literal device making that very point. And just like her time with the mice helped understand human nature and therefore people, so the introspection and soul searching were interesting and made me pause and reflect on God and Science as a reader. But as a book it was too narrow to really keep my interest. I skimmed.

mcoenraad's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

liliiaaana's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

4.25

baobooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad

3.5

epwilliams13's review against another edition

3.0

I really struggled with this book. I wanted to like it and the writing was there but the story didn’t catch me like I expected. To me it read more like a memoir and I was longing for more of Gifty’s story but it came in bits and pieces. The story was very sad but I was happy to know that Gifty found peace and happiness.

the_sunken_library's review against another edition

4.0

A story about loss and identity.

A Black woman working in STEM charts her life growing up in America - parents who emigrated from Ghana but then end up divorced, navigating life as a single parent unit after her father returns to Africa and basically abandons his kids, a brother addicted to opioids, a community who is racist and judgemental, a mother who turns to God and when God fails her, falls into madness.

Mesmerising and horrifying.

jennyluwho's review against another edition

5.0

‘’I grew up evangelical.’ I made a kind of jazz-hands motion to accompany the word ‘evangelical.’

Yaa nails growing up in the church and how education and life experiences alter belief, all while thoughtfully and astutely commenting on racism, mental illness and addiction.

sarahmhall's review against another edition

5.0

Things I liked:
- I thought this was such a good story about family, addiction, religion, and trying to make all the messy pieces of life make sense.
- I thought the story did a good job of touching on race and the immigrant experience without like overly centering it (if that makes sense?). It didn't feel like the author was trying to make this a story about race/being an immigrant and falling short (which a lot of stories do!), it just felt like these were a part of Gifty's identity/experience and they were incorporated into the story very naturally.
- I really liked Gifty's struggle with religion throughout the story. It felt really familiar and realistic. (which honestly was a trend for me throughout the book, even with Nana's addiction it just felt familiar & really realistic).


Things I didn't like:
- The ending felt a little rushed/sudden. Maybe I just really didn't want the book to end but I wish we'd gotten a bit more about how Gifty ended up where she did at the end of the book. (Or even more about her Dad, maybe she just ended the relationship but I wish we'd learn more about what happened to him after her visit to Ghana).
- I wish we'd gotten more about her previous relationships. It felt like she was kind of on the edge of a relationship with one of her female friends & I wanted to hear more about her feelings about that. I also wish we'd gotten more of the story about her previous boyfriend.

tonishtereva's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25