This was such a great read! What Maddie had to go through on both the professional level and personal level were harrowing and relatable to me in ways that made me uncomfortable at times. This was a book I had to sit and let stew in a good way. It was a really good read. Especially if you happen to be a caretaker, or someone trying to get their life started, or someone who has already started and feels a little lost, or someone who has it all together. Highly recommend this book to pull you in just for a bit.

Maame is one of those books that will make you turn the lens on your own life, to evaluate if you are living to please others or for yourself. The story in this book will stick with me for a long time. Reading Maddie’s story, you see the responsibility that is placed on first born immigrant girls and how hard it makes navigating life. Maddie is in her mid twenties yet she is naive and has very little life experience. It was great seeing her branch out and living her own life and reading about her growth as a character.

This was a wonderful story and an extraordinarily good read. I got pulled in & could not put it down. I highly recommend. Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press (one of my all time favorite publishers) and the author Jessica George for the free ARC I was fortunate enough to receive.

DNF - I saw so many readers love this book & I wanted to as well but, I don't think we were a good match. I found much of this very tiring & trite & therefore did not endeavour to finish the whole book.

Catching up on an older arc. Wow. What a beautiful coming of age story. Ms. George’s writing is so captivating. She handles racism, grief and loss in a way that is heartbreaking and healing. The story has love and wit. I was immediately suck into Maddie’s life. I will be recommending this book to my book club.
Thank you #NetGalley, #StMartin’sPress, #JessicaGeorge and #Maame for the ebook for my honest review.

This was sweet, but ultimately not that memorable.

It explored themes of self discovery, mental health, and grief but in a lighthearted way. Not bad, but also didn’t strike me as a favorite.

I can see how the mid-20s existential crisis explored in this book can be super relatable and why this one became so popular a few years back. Yet, I didn’t find Maddie to be extraordinary as a character, and the secondary & tertiary characters were unmemorable to the point that I forgot all of their names.

A light read, and the audiobook was nice to listen to as well!

Thanks to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for the digital review copy!

Life got in the way and I could not finish the book. Thanks to the publishers for the chance to read the book.

Interesting coming of age story. Very much a character study of a young woman in England that is struggling with her modern views, and the responsibility thrust on her by her Ghanian mother. I could not stand her mother.

Tried this one again after DNFing it!
Really enjoyed this one! I should have read it so much sooner! But I don’t regret it. This maybe a new obsession! I love the characters, plot, etc.

enjoyed this story of Maddie, a British citizen born of Ghanian parents and who is torn between the old traditions of her family and modern life. She is the primary caretaker of her father who has Parkinson's as her mother is off in Ghana for a year at a time. This is a coming-of-age type of story, dealing with independence, grief, and forays into the dating world.

This is a coming-of-age story of a British-Ghanaian woman who finds herself at an intersection in her life and must take control of what is most important to her in the wake of the death of her father. It was a powerful story that had a lot of heart, The characters are very well developed and I loved cheering Maddie on and seeing her learn how to stand up for herself.

Maame is a beautifully written story about a young woman trying to forge her own path in a way that makes her and her family happy. Her relationship with her parents, her brother, and her self are real and honest. This book was so heartfelt, it truly affected me in a wonderful way.

Did not finish book. Stopped at 41%.
I do not think that I am in the right head space to continue reading this after the sex scene with Maddie and Ben.

CW: Possibly sexual assault??

Unfortunately this was not a book for me. I found the concept (young woman having a chance to branch out, expand her wings) intriguing, but I found Maddie frustrating. I also felt there were so many topics being tackled that it was too much to make a fully fleshed out story.

A young woman navigates life, love, and family in London while dealing with her fathers Parkinson's disease and her mothers overbearing nature. The story is a realistic approach to grief, family, friends, and mental health. It's a classic coming of age book with a unique style. Overall, Maame is a powerful story and I would recommend it.

Coming-of-Age in London

Maame by Jessica George is a contemporary coming-of-age novel that follows the life of Maddie Wright, a 25-year-old British Ghanaian woman. The story is set in London, where Maddie is the primary caregiver for her father who suffers from late-stage Parkinson's disease. Her mother, who spends most of her time in Ghana, imposes high expectations on Maddie, adding to her struggles. As Maddie navigates her career, family responsibilities, and personal life, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and independence.

Maame by Jessica George is a powerful debut that offers a heartfelt exploration of identity, family, and personal growth. With its authentic characters, engaging narrative, and insightful themes, the novel stands out as a significant contribution to contemporary fiction. It is a must-read for anyone interested in stories about navigating life's complexities and finding one's place in the world.

pretty standard 3.75/4 star read. i enjoyed the story in Maame and the actual plot elements were fine to me, if a bit predicable, but the thing that had me hooked with this one was how much it felt like a real person was just telling me about their life. it wasn’t my favorite book of all time but it’s been in my recommendations list since i finished it.

This author immersed me in the life of 25-year old Maddie, a bright but naive woman who has, taken responsibility for her father’s care and her mother’s financial requests for far too long, starting way too young.

She doesn’t understand boundaries (obviously, with that upbringing) but learns to stand up for herself in the course of this novel. Some of her Google searches are hilarious (and relatable!)

I think the book would have been perfect without including the bi-sexual, Alex. He doesn’t really add anything to the story. But overall, I loved learning about Maddie.

Maame is both universal--in telling a story about a mid-20s young woman trying to make her way in the world, experiencing first relationships while dealing with difficult families, and richly specific in painting this particular Ghanaian-British woman's hopes, fears, anxieties, struggles, and successes. A lovely and moving story that explored micro aggressions young women of color face, whether on the job or in personal relationships; as well as the pressures immigrants face to balance family expectations and responsibilities with living their own lives and pursuing western standards/goals.

Each page I seen young me in Maddie's story, a fun coming of age and figuring out adulting book. Would highly recommend.