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loveisthething's review
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
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
3.75
The writing style was very easy for me to fall into, I enjoyed that quite a bit. There were some moments where I had no idea what was going on though.
kaitlynraew's review
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
zinzinuler's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I was set on giving this book a bad review when I had read more than half of it and I was still bored… I feel asleep reading it not once but twice. But the reason I gave it more than 1,5 is because I had not seen the plot twist coming and the last pages especially made me truly feel emotions in my guts. Not my type of book at all. Would recommend for people who don’t mind nothing remarkable happening for the 170 pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
extemporalli's review
4.0
Danzy Senna is one of the most interesting writers in America today, and I'd highly recommend reading everything she's written (the fiction, yes, but the essays too are great). What was interesting about Symptomatic to me is the way she enlarges on certain themes present in her first novel, Caucasia, in a less hopeful, more cruel, and arguably more interesting, way. If the misanthropy was blink-and-you'll-miss-it asides in Caucasia, and settled fact in You Are Free, the short story collection following this, here's it's something to be explored at every twist, the feeling of discomfort building and building, and not just for reasons to do with the plot. And I'll be honest- the plot was the least interesting aspect of the book for me, I saw that twist coming a mile away, but it serves as a fairly sound backbone on which to hang the book on, and what Senna's REALLY interested in talking about: invisibility/passing, the fascination of similarity, inappropriate behaviour, and shit white people say to you when they don't know that you're black. Go read it.
gingerrachelle's review
4.0
There were moments in this book that were so close to my life that it was hard to read them. I am sorting my thoughts and feelings but parts of this book will stay with me for a long time.
coffeeandink's review
4.0
Nameless mixed-race narrator is befriended by and then stalked by another mixed-race woman who sees this as an essential kinship.
"She opened the door, but paused, and turned to smile at me through a web of rain. 'You know, you're never really alone. Not really.'
"I looked down and kicked the pavement. I hadn't known I was that obvious."
New York as winter incarnate; a place of exile. Undercover sister. Race as obsession and trap. Racial identity placed at the center of noir thriller conventions. Class issues.
"She opened the door, but paused, and turned to smile at me through a web of rain. 'You know, you're never really alone. Not really.'
"I looked down and kicked the pavement. I hadn't known I was that obvious."
New York as winter incarnate; a place of exile. Undercover sister. Race as obsession and trap. Racial identity placed at the center of noir thriller conventions. Class issues.
bohowallflower's review
4.0
I don't know what I expected from this book, but it wasn't this at all - and yet it's one of my favourite books. I really enjoyed the theme of a lack of identity.
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