bayres's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
It was hard to follow. I just find Smith’s fiction writing style hard to follow.
rcriii's review against another edition
2.0
I tried reading this book but had trouble at first. I was coming down with a fever and I cannot read heavy books because I get delerious and dream about them. The book is written in short, declarative sentences and a stream if consciousness style. I came back to it after by fever broke and ended up reading half if it. I had read good things about this author so I gave it a chance. The characters are deeply unlikeable. Astrid is a teenager with some sort of angst and a love if filming. Magnus, the brother drove a schoolmate to suicide. Michael the step father is uninterested in parenting and sleeps with his students. It is unclear why they would sleep with him. Eve, the mother is a writer who had had some recent success but now is failing to make progress on a book she has contracted to write. I thought the book might get better but it did not. The book also shifts points if view with no warning, sometimes in the middle if a sentence. Into all this lives comes Amber, who basically tricks them into taking her in, and ingratiates herself with each if them. It is in fact quite clever how she does this, she just says as little as possible and each assumes she is a friend of the other.
Probably the best sub-plot is Magnus'. His inner dialog as he deals with his guilt is believable to me. But the main plot with Amber leaves me little faith that we'll get a resolution. So I must leave this book half-
Probably the best sub-plot is Magnus'. His inner dialog as he deals with his guilt is believable to me. But the main plot with Amber leaves me little faith that we'll get a resolution. So I must leave this book half-
likecymbeline's review against another edition
2.0
I tried to watch Teorema once because I thought I might like it, but I found it so dreadfully slow and I just didn't care. I cared somewhat more here. The characters were fairly interesting and I wanted to know more about what was going on with them and how it would resolve. I thought there were a lot of things in this book that were well done, capturing how the family interacts with each other, with a stranger they need, and with the events going on in the world around them. However the story had little overall impact on me, even if there were several individual parts of it that were quite good, such as:
i. I was around Astrid's age when the war in Iraq began and she's the one who is thinking about it the most, which seems oddly appropriate--she's the only one young enough not to feel jaded.
ii. Her name is Alhambra and only the maid knows because only the maid is not so self-absorbed, not interpreting actions around herself or according to her own disposition, rather than around Amber. This is a family that constantly thinks they know more than they do, especially about themselves.
iii. I like the epigraphs. Books need more excellent epigraphs.
iv. I love the myth where the contestant "wins" a battle and becomes their opponent, so that ending was unexpected but perfect. However, like I said, the book itself didn't do much for me.
Spoiler
i. I was around Astrid's age when the war in Iraq began and she's the one who is thinking about it the most, which seems oddly appropriate--she's the only one young enough not to feel jaded.
ii. Her name is Alhambra and only the maid knows because only the maid is not so self-absorbed, not interpreting actions around herself or according to her own disposition, rather than around Amber. This is a family that constantly thinks they know more than they do, especially about themselves.
iii. I like the epigraphs. Books need more excellent epigraphs.
iv. I love the myth where the contestant "wins" a battle and becomes their opponent, so that ending was unexpected but perfect. However, like I said, the book itself didn't do much for me.
danielle2610's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
frankiecully's review against another edition
2.0
This started off really good.
But it just died on me. I found it got really boring.
Did not finish
But it just died on me. I found it got really boring.
Did not finish
emilybh's review
3.0
Smith's writing is unpredictable and fragmented - she plays with words, and their place on the page. It's also a patchwork of contemporary references; 21st Century phrases, newspaper headlines from 2003, glimpses of contemporary history. Plot-wise, this book asks what happens when a stranger lets herself into a family that is bruised, bored of itself, traumatised by recent events. The stranger brings their secrets and hidden behaviours out into the open. It didn't quite work for me - not in the same way as Hotel World - but I enjoyed reading it all the same.
5hoursoffiction's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
_pickle_'s review against another edition
4.0
A brilliant book: with clear, vibrant writing. There's a real sense of something being different about this book. There's a freshness to it (a freshness that feels as strong now as it presumably did in 2007) that is appealing and quite exciting.
A book like this could easily be awful, but Smith knows when to pull back or change course to prevent this happening. My only complaint is that sometimes I wanted things pared back to a sharper level. One can get a bit lost in the garden of Smith's writings. It's a beautiful garden, yet the reader isn't always helped sufficiently.
A book like this could easily be awful, but Smith knows when to pull back or change course to prevent this happening. My only complaint is that sometimes I wanted things pared back to a sharper level. One can get a bit lost in the garden of Smith's writings. It's a beautiful garden, yet the reader isn't always helped sufficiently.
elijah_28's review against another edition
3.0
A very interesting contemporary novel that makes you question reality. Also a great example for understanding the difference between narration and point of view. Each character's relationship to the past was my favourite aspect of the book.
However, there are inappropriate relationships in the book and, in my opinion SA is brushed over as it is happening to a teenage boy by an older woman.
Overall, there are many aspects of the novel which show the issues in society, but I believe they are overlooked or briefly mentioned.
However, there are inappropriate relationships in the book and, in my opinion SA is brushed over as it is happening to a teenage boy by an older woman.
Overall, there are many aspects of the novel which show the issues in society, but I believe they are overlooked or briefly mentioned.