I was not as impressed with this novel as I was the first. However I think there are a lot of topics in things that would be great for discussion-based reading in this story. The material is easy to read and easy to digest, but outside of the actual experiences of the main character I found this book lacking in complexity. Overall I think that this would be a great young adults green in dealing with things such as drug abuse, depression, immigrant families, and sexuality.

This is a beautiful follow up to Gyasi's first book. I loved the characters and story and will be purchasing it for my library!

A wonderful sophomore entry from Yaa Gyasi. Absolutely loved this book about a complicated family relationship. Well worth the (short) wait

I read and loved Homegoing, and yet I was still unprepared for the emotional impact of reading this book. There's something here to touch the feelings of just about everyone, with themes ranging from addiction, mental health, family, immigration, and the complexity of relationships...This book is going to mean a great deal to a whole lot of people. Wonderfully written and thoroughly engaging. I couldn't put it down!

At times the writing really drew me in and I enjoyed the spirituality component of the book. However, I did not enjoy this nearly as much as the authors first book, Homegoing. I just didn’t feel as if the story was connected all the way through...at the end I was left thinking that I didn’t quite “get’ everything the author was trying to convey.

Whew. This was a lot. There is SO MUCH packed into this book. So many storylines, so many thoughts. I didn't dislike it (though I disliked the ending quite a bit), but I don't think it's as immediately accessible as Homegoing was, and I say that for one reason, and it's that the philosophical stuff on faith and god and science is QUITE intense. Everything else--the brother stuff, the mom stuff, the immigrant stuff, the dad stuff, even the relationship/friendship stuff--is something I'd have no problem pushing into peoples' hands. It's all good. But it takes about 50% of the book to actually break that stuff open, and it's an extremely, extremely slow start before that.

I don't want to give the impression that I struggled to get through this, because I absolutely did not. But sometimes the science/faith stuff made my eyes want to wander, and it just...wasn't for me. There's an audience for this, but tbh, it's not the same audience that loved Homegoing.

Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for the digital ARC.