Reviews

I agree with the previous reviews. The book started to be interesting after about 200 pages but then when it hit with the complicated relationship between Kiki and Howard I coulen stop. Kiki character was very lovable and I was cheering her the whole time. Very vivid characters and great dialogues.

theclassickid's review

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slow-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

2.5

dhughes10's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

dongchiot's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective fast-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

4.5

camreading's review

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3.0

read this with my friends for our book club and we basically all agreed it was longer than it needed to be and didn't get interesting until about half way through. it took me til around pg 200 to develop real interest, which was mostly in the howard and kiki plot. (howard belsey have literally any single redeemable quality challenge rn) it felt like other storylines just could'nt catch my attention. so much of the plot and characters get bogged down in an attempt at intellectualism that made this largely unappealing. don't get me wrong - i love a cerebral, philosophical read with little to no actual plot (big salinger fan), but this book didn't feel like that, it felt like it was trying to be intellectual and philosophical and not necessarily succeeding. the language of some of the characters, especially carl and mrs. kipps, felt inauthentic at times. i will say zadie smith has a knack for metaphor that i really enjoyed, with some lines being very clever. she also excells at doing a sort of satire with her characters, which did help me get through the first half of already not liking many of them. i think i'd enjoy something shorter of hers (and intend to give her work another try) but this just wasn't it for me- i was glad once it was finally over.

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