Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Maame

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Maame by Jessica George

41 reviews

smkelly1997's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.25

Maddie has been the Maame (translation: woman) of her family as long as she can remember. She has taken on the role of caring for her dying father, paid for the family’s bills, and single handily run her household for as long as she can remember. That is until her mother returns home allowing Maddie to finally leave home at 25 years of age and discover who she is and not who her family wants her to be.
Maame is central themes of love and loss, complex family dynamics, mental health, race, and the dynamics of a first generation Ghanaian are prevalent through the book. Maddie character provides a charming yet relatable moments as she googles her way through life, overshares with those around her, and obsesses over a yellow pant suit. These themes along with Maddie’s relatability culminate in a refreshing take on a coming of age story following a 25 year old young woman as she navigates a whole new world.
I would highly recommend the audiobook version read by Heather Agyepong. Her voice acting not only brings the accidents to life but places you inside of Maddie’s head. Experiencing the world as she does. (I think had a read the book it would have been a 4.25. The voice acting put it over the top)

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saltycoffee's review against another edition

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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

5.0

Content Warnings

teacupsandfirereads's review against another edition

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hopeful 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? Yes

3.0

I'm on the fence if I loved this one. It told a realistic story, the responsibilities of caring for a sick parent and not getting to "grow up" in time. I found the main character believable, but I struggled to connect with her. I found for broaching such a dense topic, this book just skimmed the surface level. I wanted more substance to it, and didn't feel I got what I wanted. Take my review with a grain of salt. It is still worth reading.

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sandysmith's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

4.5

A great book, the central character Maddie, has Ghanaian heritage. It is a coming of age story, and her development is funny and sad. She's caught between cultures. She is called Maame, meaning woman which she is from an early age. She is selfless caring for her dad, with little to no help, and he has deteriorating Parkinsons. Her mother is absent in Ghana for a great part of childhood and her brother who rarely sees her or his dad. Her mother returns back to the UK, so Maddie leaves home for the first time. Google is her trusted friend. It's about relationships, friendships, family, and deals with all sorts of differing issues, racism, sexuality, grief, and social commentary. It is beautifully written, sad, funny, awkward, painful, poignant, heartwarming, moving cracker of a read. I cant believe its a debut book. Love it.

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nanirump's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.5

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loesm's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

3.5

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alybarnett02's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

See trigger warnings! The “Tragedy strikes” was really heavy for me. But so so good, I cried and reflected on my own similar experience. And how those hard things we go through shapes us. Shows such personal growth. I could definitely relate to Maddie when I was that age. Being in London as a black woman, along with her challenges in dating white men. Whew!! Say it for the people in the back! Such good topics!

This was hard to read after Maddie’s dad died. Mostly the process of her grief, and talking to him at her nightly prayer. Wow. I cried. I lost my mother in law and slowly coming on her birthday while reading this. I felt Maddie’s pain. Most people around that age don’t understand what it’s like. But, everything from her talking to her dad, knowing he isn’t in pain, and can be free was so beautiful. And so true for all of our loved ones. It was the reminder I needed. And ending that part with her dad responding? My heart yall. Whatever your religion is, it’s insane, and it might not seem real. But your loved ones can tell you, “its okay”.

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abbie_'s review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

Thanks to Libro.fm for my free ALC of Maame! I loved Maddie and this audiobook had such a perfect narrator (Heather Agyepong - I’m gutted she hasn’t narrated anything else yet?!) that I felt so sad to finish it! Both the narration and style of writing made Maame feel like talking with a close friend. Maddie’s experiences with depression closely mirrored my own at times, which was both a gut wrench and a comfort. We both google the most inane things that a lot of people would just grasp through intuition, so I loved that as well. I loved watching Maddie grow as a woman throughout the book, come into herself and stand up for what she deserves.

I wish we had seen more from the side characters, especially her two best friends as they had potential to be incredible but more felt like they were just there to prop Maddie up at times. But at the end of the day, it is Maddie’s story. This book delves into Ghanaian culture & family dynamics, and I loved that towards the end Maddie started to lean more into learning Twi and exploring her heritage. I’m not a religious person at all, but I even appreciated Maddie’s evolving relationship with God. Oh, and I didn’t even mention her work yet - Maame encompasses so much, but to me it never felt forced.

Overall just a bloody good book tackling depression, grief, complicated family relationships, micro-aggressions experienced by Black women in the publishing industry, sex, faith, and so much more. Maddie is very much muddling through her 20s, and it was comforting to be along for the ride!

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karo_g's review against another edition

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challenging funny 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

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kristenbynoe's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? No

4.25

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