Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Homegoing

Enjoyed a lot of aspects of this book:
- Love a family/generational story.
-Colonial resistance storylines were really interesting.
-Felt like I heard some perspectives I hadn't heard before, and learnt some historical stuff about the exploitation of black people post-slavery I hadn't heard about before.

Ending was a lil disappointing to me tho,

in the sense that I wish Marjorie had been aware of her families past a bit more through Akua and therefore somehow able to recognise Marcus as familiy

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vexbatch's review

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challenging fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

A captivating look at the effects of slavery through generations. I absolutely adore the alternating perspectives between two branches of this same family tree, each two chapters moving us forward a generation. I could not put this book down; the stories were captivating (to repeat myself) and just urge you forward through the years.

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mirandalikesbooks's review

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

My favorite part of this book is that every character is the main character. I was invested in every one. I don't understand how Gyasi was able to construct the life motivations of each character so perfectly with only giving each character like 20 pages. Seeing some of the characters age throught the generations is such a gift. Because so many wonderful characters had their life cut short as a product of white violence.

It is awe inspiring and heart breaking how many generations were and still are affected by slavery. How slavery has direct ties to the oppression and cyclical struggles of black people in America and in Africa. White oppression has killed generations of black joy.

This story demonstrates the struggle of being a woman so brilliantly too. How many generations of woman went undefined until a man defined her.

I learned so much through the course of this book. The birth of our modern prison industrial complex being born of the enslavement of African and Black men is something that makes perfect sense. But it was laid out so clearly here. Some of the violence was so vividly painted that I keep retracing those scenes in my mind. Some of the heartbreak too.

Absolute must read. We have been privileged to not know these stories for long enough. And we are privileged now to see these stories through the perspective of each of these characters.

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kissmelicia's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

5.0

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spicycronereads's review

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This beautiful book traces the generational trauma of colonization in Ghana as well as the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

By telling the story of sisters whose paths diverge and their subsequent generations, the author paints a vivid portrait of how the violence of the trans-Atlantic slave trade continues to haunt the descendants of those enslaved and those left behind to deal with the legacies of British Imperialism. Each chapter follows a different line of descent from Effia and Esi, the aforementioned sisters. As a result you don’t get complex development of any one character but you do see the development of generational trauma, family healing, and love.

There are a couple of moderately graphic SA scenes told in third person. These are not gratuitous, nor are they done in some kind misguided way in which “historical accuracy” is used as an excuse to deploy SA as a prop for character development. The scenes align with the violence of the slave trade and you cannot tell this story without acknowledging the many forms of reproductive violence, including SA.

Overall this is a beautiful and devastating read.

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