Transcendent Kingdom is a novel examining the very heavy themes of science, addiction, grief and faith, and how they intersect through the lens of a single family unit. I read and enjoyed Gyasi's incredible novel Homegoing, and this novel is similar in tone and style yet unique in its focus. The perspective of story told through family history is strong and present, and it's an effective form of narrative. Transcendent Kingdom shows how the individual members of families have the ability to influence and drastically change the course of other family member's lives. The science/faith aspect of this novel is front and center, which is not usually something that I'm overly interested in, but it's presented in an engaging enough way. Overall, this novel will probably not stick with me quite like Homegoing did, but fans of novels that dissect family dynamics should find this one enjoyable.

The true brilliance of Yaa Gyasi’s writing is so evident in this book! It was so captivating and I loved the way Yaa pieced together Gifty and her families story. You feel like you’re right there with Gifty and Nana. The author wonderfully depicts the way that addiction affects not only the addict, but their family members. Transcendent Kingdom brings us into the deep emotional lifelong journey of Gifty and her mom before and after Nana’s addiction.

Yaa Gyasi's debut, Homegoing, is the book I am constantly recommending and handing to people, so this next book was one of my most anticipated this year. I was not disappointed. While this is very different from Homegoing, the author has crafted an emotional, powerful story about addiction, family, faith, mental health, immigration, and more. This was truly incredibly done, and I think readers who have also been eagerly anticipating what the author will do next will not be disappointed.

A Heartbreaking Work of Ghanaian Genius.
This is an intimate portrayal of a brilliant researcher, daughter of Ghanaian-born immigrants, sister of a drug addict. Gyasi seamlessly incorporates all of these identities into a deeply sympathetic but never melodramatic character. The scenes that describe Gifty's brother's, Nana, addiction are moving and heartwrenching, the kind of descriptive writing that makes your stomach hurt. Her ruminations and questions of faith are equally engrossing, yet contemplative at the same time. Is there a plot? Perhaps not. But stories like this aren't read with the expectation of a neatly tied bowed at the end.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I thought Yaa Gyasi's debut novel HOMEGOING was fantastic, and I was really looking forward to TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM for that reason, among others. Unfortunately, although it is exceptionally well-written and poignant, Gyasi's sophomore novel fell a bit short for me.

Gifty is a brilliant scientist from a Ghanaian-American family ravaged by addiction and depression. As she tries to make sense of the suffering around her, Gifty's elite education and methodical, questioning mind are often at odds with her evangelical upbringing and personal insecurities. The reader is privy to Gifty's inner thoughts on her quest for clarity, growth, and emotional maturity.

KINGDOM is a short novel, but it moves very slowly. Little happens in the present day, and Gifty presents her flashbacks in a clinical, unemotional manner on the surface, though the subtle reader will see the immense grief that underlies these memories. The blurb describes the book as raw and intimate, but I'm not sure that Gifty ever reaches that level. She hides her feelings so well, even from herself, to the very end of the book. I don't think she ever delved deep enough to hit the rawness at the heart of her pain, though she certainly comes close.

A considerable portion of the book is devoted to Gifty's internal conflict between religious faith and science. These monologues are full of quotes and anecdotes and are very well-written. And yet, despite how aptly her thoughts encompass this age-old struggle (or maybe because of it), I was bored by the topic and felt it only slowed the book down more.

KINGDOM is a clinical self-examination by a damaged young woman. If inner monologues of a philosophical nature appeal to you, you will likely enjoy Gyasi's new novel.

Gifty is the narrator of this novel about a family of immigrants from Ghana who settle in Alabama. The mother is an evangelical Christian, and as a young girl Gifty was deeply involved in her church. Now as an adult, Gifty is a Stanford neuroscientist who studies reward-seeking behavior in mice. We learn that Gifty's mother is suffering from a second bout of debilitating depression and she moves in with Gifty. In flashbacks we learn that Gifty's magnetic, charming older brother died of an opioid overdose many years ago and that tragedy has shaped Gifty and her mother's present situation. This book is an exploration of science and religion and how mental health issues can strain relationships. Unlike the author's first novel, this is a slow paced story about the inner life of a family of three members. The author is clearly gifted and this introspective book will get great reviews and be well-received. I was much more invested in Yaa Gyasi's first book, Homegoing, which spanned continents and time periods.

Simply stunning. No sophomore slump for Yaa Gyasi! "Transcendent Kingdom" is very different from "Homegoing" but has the same beautiful and very effective writing. Every word, phrase, and sentence is perfectly crafted. The thought, emotion, and story in so few pages is incredible. This is the best fiction I've read this year.

What a beautiful, multilayered story that was written so open and honest. Yaa Gyasi delivered another incredible book, although different from Homegoing, but just as incredible, that covered several sensitive subjects, such as drug addiction, depression, mother/daughter relationships, and the struggle with faith and religion. I was deeply moved by this story and will not forget it for a long time.

Written from a child's voice then the voice of a young woman the heroine in Transcendent Kingdom struggles between faith and science or can the two mix? The young woman has a brilliant mind and is using it to try to heal her past and create and bridge to her future. Can she find a reason and "cure" for addiction and depression? Can she create a safe space for herself between faith and science? The book is enjoyable yet challenging and relevant.

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi is about Gifty, a researcher who has been studying mice and their reward-seeking behavior. Her story moves back and forth between present-day and her childhood. She had an older brother named Nana and lived with her family in Alabama while growing up. Nana went from being the golden child in the family and community to dealing with addiction. Gifty thinks often of her brother as she conducts her research and reflects on her life. Read and enjoy!

There were some things I really liked in this book. Like the way the author captured the experience of the family when dealing with Nana's addiction. I liked the way Gifty hovered in the space between science and religion and I liked the cultural and religious comparisons between the U.S. and Ghana. However this book didn't entirely work for me and I've narrowed it down to plot, or lack of it. I am not even a plot driven reader but I think this book could have benefited from a more structured story line. It felt aimless like I was drifting around in the story with no purpose. It made for an unsatisfactory reading experience for me. So while I appreciated certain aspects of the book, I can't say it made a lasting impression on me.

I doubt there will ever be a fictional character that the reader will know as intimately as Gifty. Through her childhood journals and current thoughts, the novel exposes her struggle to deal with with her father's desertion, her mother's mental illness, her brother's addiction and death, and (perhaps most importantly) her own struggle with religious beliefs. Though brilliantly pursuing her doctorate trying to understand how to physically "fix" the addictive need in some humans, we can still identify with her fears, needs, and humanity. This is a really exceptional and insightful novel on many levels.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing for the ARC to read and review.

Truly compelling. It opens a world that so many people try to hide or hide from. Gyasi is a writer to watch.

After reading Homegoing last year and it being one of my favorites of the year, I was more than excited for her new book. There’s no denying that Gyasi is an incredibly talented writer. Transcendent Kingdom felt like a memoir, such much in fact, that I spent some time researching it to see if there were any correlations to her own life in the story (alas, I found none). I enjoyed the layers of relationships between the main character, her mother and brother, and the hurt she felt and the challenges of being different (immigrant and race) along with being abandoned by their father, was complex and beautiful. The one thing I didn’t like that went through the entire novel was how areas of it were really dragged out with impeccable, but unnecessary detail. There were so many times the main character described her view on her religion, her mom’s views, and painfull descriptions of her experiences sitting in church time and again.

This was a heartbreaking book but also beautiful. Yaa Gyasi is an amazing author. I truly felt for the main character's brother and also the daughter/mother relationship. The book is written in beautiful language. I couldn't put it down.

Yaa Gyasi has written another book that you will be unable to put down until you reach the final word. It is a novel about Depression, Addiction and LOVE. Gifty loses her only brother to a heroin overdose, and she and her mother must find a way to go on without him. Gifty goes on to college and then to get her Phd in understanding addiction and why or how someone can break free and someone else is unable to realize that staying away is truly for the better. Yaa Gyasi's writing draws you in so much that you want to help everyone in the novel. Now we need to go out and look around us for those who need our help in life.

Let's just get this out of the way: five stars. Thank you @aaknopf for this ARC!

Synopsis: TK is about a Ghanaian family immigrating to America for a better life only to be ravaged by depression and addiction. It follows Gifty, a neuroscience PhD candidate at Stanford, studying reward-seeking behavior in an effort to short circuit the causes of depression and addiction. "[C]ould this science work on the people who need it the most? Could it get a brother to set down a needle? Could it get a mother out of bed?" It explores the relationship between mothers and daughters, science and religion, and shame and love.

Review: Transcendent means, among other things, to surpass or go beyond that which is a normal, physical human experience. To commune with God is an act of transcendence. Gyasi exquisitely blends Gifty's exploration of science with her childhood faith. She goes back and forth in time but you never feel it, but then she delves into familial relationships and you feel it all. Particularly great, is Gyasi's treatment of Gifty and her mother. "If I’ve thought of my mother as callous, and many times I have, then it is important to remind myself what a callus is: the hardened tissue that forms over a wound."

Y'all, this book is good, stay up till 3 a.m. to finish reading it good. It's short (under 300 pages :: chef's kiss::), and I'm a slow reader but you get my point. Absolutely devoured this one. I've preordered it because I need a physical copy as well.

CW: mental illness, depression, racism, opioid addiction, animals used in science experiments

Pub Date: September 1, 2020.

Have your tissues ready and your heart open when you get your hands on this book: Yaa Gyasi's "Transcendent Kingdom" is a both heartwarming and heart-rending story about the journeys of painful growth that grief forces us into taking. Gifty, a young Ghanaian American woman, has her life turned upside down as a girl when her brother Nana dies of a drug overdose. His opiate addiction and his death challenge her faith in both God and her mother, forever changing her life, her family, and her approach to relationships with other people. In "Transcendent Kingdom," Yaa Gyasi presents a truly relatable and affecting look at how loss, once we experience it, colors the rest of our lives. Our career choices, our studies, our friendships and romantic relationships, the walls we put up for protection, our ability to believe in a higher power or science or other people, our ability to heal; all are affected by the losses we experience. "Transcendent Kingdom" will have you feeling both the pain of your own losses, and the relief and wisdom that comes with healing. (And you'll probably sniffle a lot, too.)

Gyasi writes beautiful books. Transcendent Kingdom delves into the story of Gifty, child of Ghanian immigrants growing up in Alabama and later pursuing a career in science, who is coming to terms with her relationship to God and her religion, her brother's death, and her relationship with her mother. It is not a lighthearted book. It took me several weeks to read because it was just so heartbreaking. But it is an important book, with masterful storytelling. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy.

So much beauty and pain and grief. This is a beautiful work on family, addiction, belonging, and work. I will not forget Gifty for a very long time.