Reviews

Brick Lane by Monica Ali

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This was one book I would never had picked up if it wasn't for my book club. I thought it was interesting and enjoyed the humor and characters. However, parts were tedious and the book seemed too long. I understand why the author wrote the sisters letters in broken English but frankly it bothered me.

aislinn_mcd_harrison's review against another edition

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slow-paced

3.0

This book is at least 30% too long. I genuinely felt the Karim being a radical thing was kind of wedged in and didn’t add much, although maybe I was too younger at the time of 9/11 to understand why it was included. Alsothat the depiction of people in council housing was quite derogatory- and have since read that that is a sentiment shared by actual residents of Brick Lane, while the author is privately educated from Manchester! That being said I kept going because I liked the little observational humour and slow growth of Nazneen’s agency.

attempt23's review

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A beautiful read.
Complex and flawed characters that develop quietly.
Slow paced, illustrative and language chosen with meticulous love and care.

Content Warnings

ndfan19's review

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Good

bbqrplanting's review

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3.0

I almost rated this 2 stars but decided to kick it up to three. I didn't completely hate it, but considering how many great books are out there, I wouldn't recommend it. I didn't find it as boring as many of the reviewers did it seems. My main annoyances with the book where the letter from Hasina- they read like broken English when obviously the letters would have been in Bangladeshi -if she was trying to make her come off as uneducated she went about it completely wrong. Also, I found Karim to be totally unappealing and didn't really understand her draw to them (even her physical description of him didn't seem all that appealing).