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charlottechapman's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
caitlinxmartin's review
2.0
Urk. What to say about this novel ...
The writing is good. The story should be interesting - a chef who is spiraling down into a nervous breakdown, his work in his restaurant kitchen, his interactions with his staff, his family, his girlfriend, a body, human trafficking, cancer ...
Somehow this just all falls flat. It's all sort of bleak, but nondescript - like a bus ride you take to & from work every day. The people on the bus look like they might be interesting & the scenery is okay, but by day 30 or so it's all just one big muddle & you ending up sleeping through it like everybody else. Very disappointing.
The writing is good. The story should be interesting - a chef who is spiraling down into a nervous breakdown, his work in his restaurant kitchen, his interactions with his staff, his family, his girlfriend, a body, human trafficking, cancer ...
Somehow this just all falls flat. It's all sort of bleak, but nondescript - like a bus ride you take to & from work every day. The people on the bus look like they might be interesting & the scenery is okay, but by day 30 or so it's all just one big muddle & you ending up sleeping through it like everybody else. Very disappointing.
natazzz's review
1.0
A boring story about a boring man with a boring life...it couldn't hold my interest at all. What a waste of time!
debumere's review
2.0
I adored Brick Lane. I don't really get on too well with this one. Hard to keep focus on. Will give it another go in the the future.
mimi503's review
2.0
I heard about this book somewhere, but I almost wish I didn't. Pretty much a waste of my time. I didn't like the characters which made it very hard to get into. The author did have a beautiful writing style, even if I didn't like the characters or plot, some of her descriptions were amazing...Too bad the rest of the novel didn't keep up!
bhagestedt's review
4.0
This books a challenge to get into, largely due to the fact that none of the characters is particularly likable. It deals very well with a number of intense issues though: mental illness, human trafficking, abuses of immigrant labour, and the death of industry and demographic change in northern UK towns, to name just a few. In the end, it was well worth a read.
fallingstar924's review
2.0
Let me preface this by saying I think Ms. Ali writes beautifully.
With that said, all I can say when I finished this book was "I'm so glad I'm done with that". There are so many reasons not to finish this book. Unfortunately, once I start one, I feel the need to finish it. This book was a drag, and many times I just thought "ugh". The characters are not likeable at all, and there's no reason to enjoy the reasons they aren't likeable.
I have not read "Brick Lane" but plan on it. I do hope it is better than this book was.
With that said, all I can say when I finished this book was "I'm so glad I'm done with that". There are so many reasons not to finish this book. Unfortunately, once I start one, I feel the need to finish it. This book was a drag, and many times I just thought "ugh". The characters are not likeable at all, and there's no reason to enjoy the reasons they aren't likeable.
I have not read "Brick Lane" but plan on it. I do hope it is better than this book was.
abpetitex11's review
2.0
I really wanted to like this book, because it had a setting I love and the concept seemed like it could go in a ton of different ways, but the plot and characters just seemed to meander around until the very end when a big shift happened. Not very fulfilling.
rebjam's review
3.0
This book is filled with beautiful, descriptive turns of a phrase that made me envious of Ali's talent. This is the tale of a British chef, working to prove he can manage his own restaurant to two rich backers and along the way meanders the multi-cultural kitchen/hotel staff, navigates the changes in English culture and social psyches while falling into a detached sexual obsession for a ghost of a girl who might hold the key to illegal labor activities among the hotel's management.
I enjoyed the first 2/3rd of the tale but became impatient for it to end. I skimmed the last fifty pages; never understanding Gabe's obsession for Lena who the reader can barely understand or sympathize with as Gabe couldn't get more than five words and listless sex out of her--why did he throw away everything including a beautiful, sexy fiance? Was Lena some specter of his dead mother, a woman whom Gabe never realized suffered from a bi-polar disorder? Gabe is credited with being able to "read" people's character but what you realize is he's very bad at reading the people close to himself and terrible at understanding himself entirely.
I enjoyed the first 2/3rd of the tale but became impatient for it to end. I skimmed the last fifty pages; never understanding Gabe's obsession for Lena who the reader can barely understand or sympathize with as Gabe couldn't get more than five words and listless sex out of her--why did he throw away everything including a beautiful, sexy fiance? Was Lena some specter of his dead mother, a woman whom Gabe never realized suffered from a bi-polar disorder? Gabe is credited with being able to "read" people's character but what you realize is he's very bad at reading the people close to himself and terrible at understanding himself entirely.