Transcendent Kingdom follows the story of an Ghanaian family that immigrated to America in hopes of a better life. Gifty, the main character, is a sixth-year PhD candidate in neuroscience at the Stanford University School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior. Traumatized by her father's departure in her life, her brother's death through overdose and her mother's suicidal behavior, she is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint. For first generation Americans reading this, in many ways, you’ll relate to Gifty. Her upbringing was similar to mine and my friends who consider themselves first gen. Gifty made me laugh, shout, cringe and cry as she narrated her experiences. Transcendent Kingdom, is a reflection of the immigrant experience as well as an opportunity to question and examine the society one finds themselves in.

There is so much to be said but, I’ll focus on what I appreciated most. This book is a reflection of the immigrant experience. One experience that left an impact on me is the moment Gifty is confronted with race and understands it for what it is. Like many Black immigrant families, we only begin to understand racism when living in America. Because Africans live under the context of colonization not slavery, racism isn’t always understood until its experienced. The generational burden and trauma of racism skips us, yet we are forced to understand because of the color of our skin. I loved this book! And you need to read this ASAP!

This book is quite different from HOMEGOING. The main character is a neouroscientist interested in finding out how to get lab mice to change certain behaviors. All this is being driven by her brother's addiction and her hope to be able to use her experiments to help him. Her family story and her almost obsession for her work are the pathways through this novel. I appreciated the story more by the time I finished it than at times when I was reading it.

An interesting story that I expected to like more. Still, great characters and it held my interest. And I learned a lot.

Yaa Gyasi has brought us again to stories across time and space that investigate personal lives, religion, family, and the generational inheritance of all these. Beautifully written and necessary.

This is a beautiful book. Yaa Gyasi is immensely talented. I am humbled by her talent as a writer. 'Homegoing' was fantastic, and one of my favorite reads in recent years. 'Transcendent Kingdom' is completely different, and shows Gyasi's range and talent as an author.

This is a story about a woman's relationships with her parents, and her grief over losing her brother to his addiction. It is about family bonds, and a mother's love and sacrifice for her children, and what it means to lose someone you love. It is about finding hope, and something to strive for. It is about discovering who you are and what matters to you.

This is a lovely, deeply moving book that will stay with me for a long time. Highly recommended.

Gyasi is such a talented writer. The beauty and flow of her prose envelops you. The juxtaposition of science and religion is so explicitly discussed. These issues which Gifty, the brilliant PhD candidate, contends with are presented in a manner with which many people struggle.
The subject of immigration, its expectations and downfalls, are examined honestly. The angst and deep emotions felt by the characters are so powerfully described. A great read!

I loved Gyasi's previous novel, Homegoing, so I was very excited for this book. Gyasi's stories unfold slowly and deliberately, and tightly wind together a cohesive set of narratives and themes. In this case, she takes up the themes of mental health, race, immigrant experience, addiction, science, and religion and weaves them together through the story of Gifty and her family. Moving and contemplative.

Heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. Yaa Gyasi's writing is so beautiful that I just kept making notes of sentences I wanted to remember. I particularly loved "some people make out of their stories unscathed, thriving. Some people don't" Our stories shape us in so many ways. Through Gifty's story, Gyasi reminds us of this.

Yaa Gyasi has done it again. Transcendent Kingdom is a beautifully unraveling of the story of Gifty, an Alabama native, and her life as she comes to study the afflictions of addition and depression. Gifty’s parents are Ghanan immigrants and after her father leaves to visit Ghana and never returns, Gifty and her brother are hurt beyond repair, but suffer mostly in silence. Gifty’s brother, Nana is a gifted athlete and when one day he hurts his ankle during a game, he is prescribed OxyContin, and after that their lives are never the same. Nana’s addiction and subsequent fatal overdose pushes Gifty’s mother into a deep depression and leaves Gifty alone in life. Gifty is a brilliant neuroscientist working for her PhD, trying to make sense of the illnesses that have so deeply changed the course of her life.

Gyasi’s story is a heartbreaking one, well written and researched. The pain of of seeing others experience addiction and depressing is difficult to illustrate, but Gyasi does it well, and beautifully.

A powerful story about US immigrants and their struggle with loss and addiction. Must be in the right headspace for this one! Overall a powerful read.

"Transcendent Kingdom" explores how science and faith anchor the core of our being and the ways they comfort and fail us, often at the same time. Gifty's journey is full of fear and trauma, but also ultimately hope. A stellar read.

This was such a beautiful book about walking the line with science and religion. Does it have to be one or the other? Why can't it be both? There is so much conversation that can surround this topic/theme of the book.

Gyasi did such a wonderful job in bringing in the topic through an immigrant family and the life they had gone through. I really enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to everyone!

I loved Homegoing, so I was entirely thrilled to see a new release from Yaa Gyasi. In the vein of another great book published this year, Brandon Taylor's Real Life, her story is even more personal and heart-wrenching in the context of impostor syndrome in graduate school. The struggle (and ultimately, tragedy) of loving an addict and living with depression both rang entirely true, and I adored every moment even when it made me cry.

Great read, great author. I already suggested this book to many people and my daughter enjoyed it as well

Having never read Yaa Gyasi's writing I did not know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by the clearness of writing and ease of following this multilayered story about…everything! Grief, depression, immigration, drug addiction, science, religion, and more.

Transcendent Kingdom is the story of a Ghanaian family of four that immigrates to Alabama in search of a better life and told by Gifty. You experience Gifty’s thoughts and feelings as her family dwindled from four, to three, to two.

This book is a slow read. Originally, I was frustrated as I struggled to connect with Gifty. As the story unfolds it became obvious that my struggle paralleled Gifty's struggle connecting and fitting in and her work to be seen as deserving.

Told through easy to follow time changes and journal entries that are woven throughout the current time period this story reads like a well written memoir.

Highly recommended to readers looking to immerse themselves in a slow ready as well as fans of Historical Fiction, memoirs, and family sagas.

Such a well constructed story of Gifty, born of Ghanan parents, is living in Alabama with her mother and brother. After her father leaves, her racial identity is questioned, her brother overdoses, and her mother once again enters deep depression, Gifty questions her faith. The parallel of her spiritual belief to her job in scientific research is well told - restraint vs. reward. It's her search for truth.

A beautifully written book about a young women dealing with the grief and loss of her brother to addiction, and her mother’s depression. Very philosophical and poignant. It explores the feelings of being out of place. Gifts is a Ghanaian-american, out out place in Huntsville Alabama and in the world of science. It is about faith and most of all love.

I don't know if I have the words to express the experiences I had reading Transcendent Kingdom. Though I share very little in common with Gifty (the main character), her life is powerful and touching to me. The story explores prevalent issues in our society, such as racism and addiction, but more importantly it looks at the impact that has on us, in our faith and education and relationships. Gifty's open, raw, poignant struggles within herself reflect some of my own internal dialogues, though the depth and circumstances and meaning to us each is different. The struggled melding of science and religion, love and hate, trust and fear is something we all should know and understand, and the implications of her research (existing in reality as well!) hold so much potential for our future.

Violence: Moderate (domestic violence, child neglect)
Drugs: Mild
Language: High
Sex: Mild

Gifty immigrated to Alabama with her family where she is bullied due to the color of her skin. When her brother Nana, who is her best friend and popular due to his athletic ability, becomes addicted to drugs, her mother falls into a deep depression. She is forced to bring herself up. She works hard in school despite the challenges at home and goes to Stanford as a PhD candidate in neuroscience. She is determined to learn why people become addicted. At the same time,she remembers her childhood faith and the evangelical promise of salvation. I am not a Ghanaian immigrant and have not been bullied because of my skin color. However, my dad struggled with depression. I too grew up in an evangelical church. Depression, thoughts of suicide, addiction - all were supposed to be remedied through faith. Gifty’s brother’s addiction and her mother’s ensuing depression rang so true for me as she looked for answers in science yet remembered her childhood faith. Her reluctance to form deep relationships reflects the hurt and loss she’s experienced in her life.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Transcendent Kingdom tells the story of a family from Ghana who has immigrated to Alabama. The novel explores the life of Gifty as she works on her PhD in neuroscience and struggles to cope with a mentally ill mother, a brother who has passed away, and the loss of her faith.

While well written, the novel moves extremely slowly. There are sections that are tedious to read and there is an overwhelming focus on religion that I did not enjoy. Gifty is a frustrating character to follow as she refuses to connect with anyone in a meaningful way until the very end of the story. As a result she sometimes feels like a two dimensional character rather than like a true person. Overall, the setup and concept were interesting, but I found the execution to be lacking.