Reviews

There But For The by Ali Smith

flubbinit's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No

3.0

I LOVED this book when I was a pretentious artsy hipster in high school. Reading it now 10 years later, it's still a charming read with clever word play, concept, and plot structure. It can be stylistically heavy-handed which can be grating, so it was best taken in small doses for me. 

yentagon's review

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

3.0

geoffry's review against another edition

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3.0

Een originele plot (man gaat naar feestje, sluit zich op in logeerkamer, komt er maandenlang niet meer uit) die enorm sterk begint, maar halverwege stoom verliest. Wie het toch nog tot het einde volhoudt, wordt beloond met een hilarische "knock knock" joke. Da's ook al iets, he?

annabranson's review against another edition

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

4.0

amie_fox's review

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

3.0

pollydye's review against another edition

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

4.5

sarasofraz's review against another edition

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3.0

I enjoyed it in the way you enjoy a smoothie. It was good, interesting but you would rather have had a milkshake, because something was missing.

hannahsakura's review against another edition

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4.0

Loved this but I had to go back so many times to understand who I was reading, where I was, what I was reading about etc. Ali smith writes similarly in her other novels but for some reason this one just felt confusing to me. But it all came together in the end!!

keencreation's review against another edition

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funny mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

breadandmushrooms's review against another edition

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

4.0