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kattyenn's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault
Minor: Drug use and Incest
justnerissa's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-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? No
2.0
***Contains a Spoiler***
Smith has clearly honed her craft when it comes to character. Maybe Swing Time was an attempt at doing something different with plot. I found it frustrating that the narrator is slightly obsessed with her childhood friend Tracey, yet we never actually hear from Tracey.
And I didn't quite understand what was going on at the beginning of the book once we got to the end. Were people attacking the narrator because they saw that video from when they were kids? It was an interesting thing to have happen to a person; an interesting story to tell, sure, but it's almost like the narrative choice here avoids actually telling the story outright. You get the story but as a side to the narrator telling us about all the people in her life and how they people it.
Smith has clearly honed her craft when it comes to character. Maybe Swing Time was an attempt at doing something different with plot. I found it frustrating that the narrator is slightly obsessed with her childhood friend Tracey, yet we never actually hear from Tracey.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Death of parent
norah_'s review against another edition
dark
funny
slow-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
3.25
⭐️=3.25 | 😘=5 | 🤬=4 | ⚔️=3 | 18+
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual assault
ashmont27's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-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
3.5
I have very mixed feelings about this book! I love Smith's writing style and the rich characters. Our unnamed narrator is portrayed as a shadow of everyone else in her life and struggles to find her own, which I personally found to be a fascinating character to follow. However, this book tries to explore SO MANY issues (female friendships, mother/daughter relationships, class & race struggles, celebrity charity, etc.) that none of them really get the attention they deserve. Everything ended up feeling very surface-level, instead of a deep dive into the issues the author wanted to comment on. That being said, this book made an excellent book club book! There was so much to discuss and so much was left up to interpretation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia and Sexual assault
jojo_'s review against another edition
reflective
slow-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
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, Slavery, Antisemitism, Medical content, and Colonisation
nofacelif's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
5.0
Another brilliant novel by Zadie Smith. The way she integrates culture, roots, race, and history within her stories never ceases to amaze me. Her writing flows, making a relatively long book easy to read. The attention she puts into detail and the connections made between the past and present throughout the novel add to her writing. Her choice of telling the past and present plot at the same time stands out and makes the story more interesting, and the reader intrigued. The mother-daughter relationship and friendship between Tracy and the narrator are the highlights of the novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual assault
Minor: Homophobia
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This is the first time I’ve read a Zadie Smith book, and her writing immediately transported me. Swing Time tells the story of two girls who were friends when they were young, loved to dance, and took very different paths as they grew up and grew apart. The story jumps between time periods and continents, but the voice remains the same.
I found Swing Time to be a pendulum between states. Famous, unsuccessful. Comfortable, poor. Intellectual, cosmopolitan. Natural talent, hard work. Throughout the entire book, our unnamed narrator finds herself confused and learning. The world itself never seems to fit in the box she has built in her mind to fit it and as such the alternating chapters between Aimee and Tracey are in many ways repetitive, just from a slightly different perspective.
One thing I will criticize is that Swing Time feels… excessively wordy. Despite what a wonderful job narrator Pippa Bennett-Warner did with this book, I still had to play it back on 2x because otherwise I found my mind wandering. Each section is beautifully written, but with hours of material just like this, it’s easy to get fatigued by the philosophical ponderings, socio-economic lectures, and bemused conversation.
Like most literary fiction, this book explores the world. Smith’s writing is stunning and immersive despite its repetitive nature and wordiness. I enjoyed the slow transformation of not just our narrator, but Aimee and Tracey as well. Swing Time is a good book to pick up if you’re looking for something slow but interesting that is well-written and raw, though not abrasively so. I enjoyed it enough that I will pick up more of Smith’s work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Minor: Racism
jadams89's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
matilda123's review against another edition
read 100 pages, I liked the start, learning about protagonist's childhood and the social issues around it, but when she started her new job as the pop star's assistant, the story and style turned into fan fiction and was just annoying to read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual violence
bookedbymadeline's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Vomit, and Antisemitism