Reviews

Love Marriage by Monica Ali

hannahmayreads's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Nobody does complicated characters like Ali, but her very particular talent is that when her characters do bad things we do not judge them. Her ability to ascribe humanity to everyone is remarkable. Like us, they are just human and it is our lot in life to be flawed, complex beings who make mistakes and have feelings they cannot always comprehend. A little long perhaps, but it is a meaty novel from good storyteller. 

hannahclare44's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

andrewspink's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

An enjoyable and entertaining novel. The characters were occasionally a little stereotyped, but towards the end we discover that that was to present the realities of their personal histories as a greater surprise. The reader really gets to care about the characters.

jwinfield_'s review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

baltimorelibrarian's review against another edition

3.0

This book was fine. The characters were well-developed, if annoying. The plot was engaging, but not groundbreaking. I think there could have been a lot of editing that would have made it a tighter, snappier read.

vivakresh's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Really enjoyed this 

ginachapman's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

ha_twig's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

debirainbow's review against another edition

emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Some spoilers in my review:

This is a strange book, the chapters are short and there are a lot of characters. Good descriptions of Bengali household & the author’s description of cooking and food. It explores the mixing of different cultures & parent child relationships. I liked the chapters set in the hospital wards, felt Ali described those really well - the issues with elder care & the pressures of geriatric care.

Spoiler : If she had focussed on that - the love triangle & maybe left Joe’s therapy sessions in, it would have been less of a chore to finish. Didn’t really care for Harriet’s chapters, raised a lot of issues which were not followed through ie her relationship with her dad!!! - the author had a lot to say and opinions about Brexit & Islamophobia which is great, but made the book muddled and dragged a bit towards the end. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Rape, Grief, and Incest

geri_reader's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0