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Hold
Hold | Michael Donkor
18 posts | 12 read | 27 to read
Moving between Ghana and London, Hold is an intimate, moving, powerful coming-of-age novel. Its a story of friendship and family, shame and forgiveness; of learning what we should cling to, and when we need to let go.
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review
youneverarrived
Hold | Michael Donkor
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Bailedbailed

The writing and premise are solid but the execution bored me. It felt like it was going absolutely nowhere and I just didn‘t really care. I got half way through so I gave it a good go.

LoverOfLearning Beautiful cover though! Sorry it didn't keep you interested. 4y
youneverarrived @LoverOfLearning I was really drawn to the cover 💙 4y
53 likes2 comments
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jfount
Hold | Michael Donkor
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Pickpick

Billed as the story of two (or three) Ghanaian girls, really it‘s Belinda coming to terms with herself and how others might see her (I thought, anyway). Some of the physical description of life in a female body didn‘t quite ring true to me, and some sequences were hard to picture. But I appreciated the perspectives on race, sexuality, culture, etc, and found the characters interesting and engaging.

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Nitpickyabouttrains
Housegirl: A Novel | Michael Donkor
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Pickpick

A girl gets taken from the house she works in and moved to London to befriend a teen. Her life grows and changes as she is exposed to the world.

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MicheleinPhilly
Housegirl: A Novel | Michael Donkor
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Cathythoughts Steve Cavanagh 👍🏻♥️ 5y
DGRachel I fail to see the problem. 😂 Out of the Dark is awesome! 5y
Reviewsbylola Dying to read TR Lolita! 5y
See All 7 Comments
Reviewsbylola I‘ll have to check it out. For some reason I typically refuse to pay for ebooks or audiobooks. I need a physical copy I can hold and caress. 😆 5y
MicheleinPhilly @Reviewsbylola Dude, it‘s like $2. 5y
Reviewsbylola 🤣🤣🤣💸💸 5y
50 likes7 comments
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Tonton
Hold | Michael Donkor
hermyknee Thanks for this! 5y
fleeting This is awesome! 5y
27 likes2 comments
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Josiedlove
Housegirl: A Novel | Michael Donkor
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rachlols
Housegirl: A Novel | Michael Donkor
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Pickpick

Can you tell it's been below freezing and I'm spending a lot of time indoors? This was a great novel exploring relationships, culture clashes, and life as a domestic servant. Another recommendation from The Atlantic.

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Owlizabeth
Housegirl: A Novel | Michael Donkor
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#libraryhaul Which to dive into first??

Foragingfantasy Harkness!! 6y
Kalalalatja I loved Goodbye, Sweet Girl, but it is a tough read! 6y
Reviewsbylola I really liked Goodbye, Sweet Girl too. 6y
batsy That cover for Housegirl is calling out to me! 6y
CouronneDhiver House girl! 💙 6y
57 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Liberty
Housegirl: A Novel | Michael Donkor
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Morning reading. 📚❤️📚

readingjedi I read this as Hold - didn't realise it has an alternative title. 6y
Becker Great cover 6y
Liberty @readingjedi Oh, me either! They changed it for the US release. How interesting! 6y
123 likes8 stack adds3 comments
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GerardtheBookworm
Housegirl: A Novel | Michael Donkor
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Mehso-so

Plenty of potential concerning socio-economic classes, generational gaps and culture as seen through three different women from Guyana. However the book leaves very little in terms of direction and story. Plus, the authentic approach of linguistic dialect is bit confusing and screws up the pacing. I was left feeling there is more to the story.

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readingjedi
Hold | Michael Donkor
Panpan

So I finished this book and was compelled to perform my legendary 'What The Heck Was All That About' head shake. I was compelled to perform it for a Loooooong Time.

This book was saying something. I didn't know what it was and I'm not sure it knew either.

At times, I really disliked what I thought it might be saying. And I didn't particularly like how it said it either.

The main character was particularly unlikable (homophobic).

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readingjedi
Hold | Michael Donkor
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#bookandbrew

I think I'm the only person using this hashtag ... oh well, I love a nice book and brew combo and I cannot lie.

Tagged book started slow but has grabbed me.

Featured brew has no connection with tagged book but is brewed locally so I felt obliged to sample it.

Happy Weekend, book peeps!

annalibris Small world! I used to go to school in Harrogate. 6y
Mamashep Love the tag! 6y
riversong153 Trendsetter! 6y
JennyM I am a Yorkshire lass living in Brisbane for the last 10 years...I ❤️ seeing anything Yorkshire-related. Never fails to make me smile 😘 6y
Lostinpages Good tag and good idea!!! 6y
109 likes5 comments
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Buddys_Momma
Housegirl: A Novel | Michael Donkor
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1. Annoying coworkers got on my nerves even more this week 😠
2. Target has an awesome beauty section so would use the $10 towards that 💄💅🏾
3. Housegirl by Michael Donkor
4. Pizza 🍕—- but now not feeling too great 🤢
5. @MsLeah8417 @Lesliereads

#friyayintro
@jesshowbooks

Thanks for the tag @EvieBee 😘

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BookNAround
Housegirl: A Novel | Michael Donkor
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Started this one late yesterday and am already 2/3 of the way through. This would be good to read with others as there‘s so much to talk about.

Buddys_Momma Can‘t wait to read your review—I‘ve preordered this one—sounds interesting 👍🏽 6y
70 likes4 stack adds1 comment
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thebookishpoet
Hold | Michael Donkor
Bailedbailed

I had to DNF this because of transphobic language in Chapter 8.

readingjedi This is near the top of my TBR list. Thanks for the heads up. 6y
thebookishpoet @readingjedi - you could still give it a try, there is a lovely sisterly friendship. 6y
1 like2 comments
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Moray_Reads
Hold | Michael Donkor
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Pickpick

This is quite a debut! Michael Donkor covers a lot of ground in this immersive tale of Belinda the Ghanaian housemaid who moves to London to be a calming influence on Amma the daughter of an expatriate family. Donkor addresses the problems adapting to a culture as a stranger, whether it is an entirely new world as London is to Belinda or something born to but never fundanentally experienced as Ghana is to Amma 👇

Moray_Reads These 2 main charters play off eachother perfectly, bringing their different strengths and weaknesses to light, Amma's privilege and self-centredness, Belinda's conservatism and meekness. Both have huge strength and heart and each allows the other to come to terms with their own struggles. But Donkor also tackles the station of Ghanaian women, British racism, homophobia with tact and skill. Most impressively he has written a novel fully peopled 👇 6y
Moray_Reads with sensitively rendered, layered women full of voices and vices. 6y
Andrew65 Well done! 👏👏👏 6y
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Moray_Reads @Andrew65 thanks 😊 It's been a good day. Hoping for more of the same after some sleep! 6y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
Eggs 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
43 likes6 comments
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Moray_Reads
Hold | Michael Donkor
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Powering through the halfway mark . Everyone hanging in there? #24in48 @24in48

bookloo Getting through it! I just finished an entire Pringles can in less than 2 hours. Can‘t tell if it‘s an achievement or a shameful thing. 😝♥️ 6y
Andrew65 🍾🥂🙌 6y
Moray_Reads @bookloo if it makes you feel any better I've been known to do that in about 20 minutes 😂 But isn't snacking + reading the best thing about readathons? 6y
bookloo @Moray_Reads Haha! That‘s actually really awesome. 😂 And yes! It‘s the bookish element. 😍 6y
saresmoore You‘re doing great! I‘ve just made it past the 8 hour mark. 6y
41 likes5 comments
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Moray_Reads
Hold | Michael Donkor
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What an unbelievably beautiful cover and a #fantasticfirstline 😍😍 #24in48 @24in48

24in48 Gorgeous!! 😍😍 6y
GypsyKat Great cover! 6y
46 likes1 stack add2 comments