Reviews

Symptomatic by Danzy Senna

katlin_b's review

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

4.5

zilliejr's review against another edition

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1.0

BORING!

joyful24's review against another edition

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4.0

as tragic mulatto stories go this one is pretty darn good. i was lulled into the twenty-something angst of a young woman trying to find herself after college. the situation is familiar; but, it was very apparent that the main character had some extra growing pains to contend with in this quick read. her narrator was steady. you share each moment of her life syllable by syllable as she accounts for life during her journalism internship. seems like a simple premise. about as simple as the invisible man emerging from his cave full of light bulbs!

as i read this story i was impressed. i kept hearing amiri baraka/the roots "there is something in the way of things" play as your eyes flow across the page. displacement. that is the boding feeling you get as you journey down the rabbit hole...Clotel meets Single White Female. yes it is that intense. the delivery of the conclusion is a bit weak, but the set up is beautiful. fifty pages in you are told: "learn your lessons early and you'll save yourself a lot of bullshit down the line."
page ninety seven: i would never do anything to jeopardize your fellowship. page one thirty three the narrator ends the chapter with a memory: "i sat digesting by the window, staring out at the freeway in the distance. that stream of lights and the deserted city streetsdescribed the world for me now, and not here, this bright full space of laughter and friends. this is the strange effect of getting lost. you become aware not so muchof what is absent-all that is faimiliar and safe-but rather of what the familiarity has been keeping at bay: a world of strange shadows and cruel laughter, of odious companions just waiiting fo ryou to come out and play. and they know you will."

now all of this spaced out by some very odd things. there is talk of quadroons, porch monkeys, friendship, abandonment, family, failed relationships, being color struck and color fu ked. its all very brilliant. everything leads you to ride a train of thought (especially when then narrator rides the train and talks about her reflection like its another person) that terminates at the traindepot of crazy white bitches!

msckocheva95's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

2.25

misssusan's review against another edition

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3.0

I'm surprised that none of the reviews I've looked at here have noted how this book is talking back to Single White Female. I thought it was pretty clearly alluding to the film, particularly with the way it echoes some scenes nearly word for word at the beginning (Greta asking if she's sure she won't be getting back together with Andrew). Like I think it would be pretty legit to describe it as Single White Female if race were the central feature. I also think the comparison explains the messiness near the end, like most everyone here I liked the beginning better but I was also expecting the melodramatic thriller turn of the second half. 3 stars

axmed's review

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emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 He had an aversion 
to this world of productive, white-collar, Midtown 
professionals. He was funny that way. He fancied himself a 
workingman’s writer, but his background flared up in certain 
moments, making its presence known, like malaria emerging 
from remission. 
[...]
Don’t take it personally,” he said, stroking my back with his 
fingers. “It’s just that, well, I don’t feel at home with you. At 
the end of the day, I don’t feel comforted when I see your 
face. And when you get to my age, that’s what you’re 
looking for. Comfort.” 

[...]

“He would have just hidden his true colors, played Mr. Sensitive 
for a while, Mr. Curious, Mr. Enlightened, and then one night, 
when you were in real deep, he’d let his real self slip out.” A 
hint of anger had crept into her voice. “At least this way everything came out at the start.” 
I nodded. It made sense what she was saying. 



leilaniann's review against another edition

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4.0

This book made my heart race several times, mostly because I have known a few people like Greta (at least how Greta is in the first 3/4 of the book). I liked this book way better than Senna's book of short stories I recently read, You Are Free.
Do yourself a favor and don't read the book jacket before you start the book. I was lucky enough to check it out after I finished the book - the damn description gave away the ending. At least in the version I got from the library it did. Who signed off on that?!?!

charliej99's review against another edition

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4.0

so gay, so good

just_tosh's review

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3.0

I borrowed this book from a friend. It was a good read. Not as good as Caucasia, but still recommended.

brinaleee's review

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75