Reviews

Small Island by Andrea Levy

belindad's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

caitlin222's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad

• 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? No

3.5

aliceboi's review against another edition

emotional inspiring fast-paced

5.0

the_literarylinguist's review

emotional 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

4.25

gretasbookclub's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.5

bibliotequeish's review against another edition

4.0

I'm so glad I finally picked up this book.
This is a full circle story told through the eyes of multiple characters, all experiencing similar story lines completely differently. It looks at racism and immigration from multiple standpoints and despite the heavy topics and disturbing situations, the story flowed beautifully in a surprisingly easy read.

mister_goldfish's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

Almost perfect and very moving. Just knocked a little off my score for a scene I didn't really want to read and a character arc which didn't make an awful lot of sense to me. But otherwise, very impressive.

lauraelliott's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

thegeekyblogger's review against another edition

3.0

Small Island by Andrea Levy: I am not sure quite how to review this book. I think it was extremely well written and easy to read. That being said the story itself was not appealing to me. At least one-half of the story was not appealing, I did enjoy the other half immensely. This is where I don't blame the author but me as a reader because it was my POV's that stood in the way of taking the story as it was presented. I did feel a connection to these characters and maybe that is why I got so aggravated at Queenie (yes her story was the one that just annoyed me to high heaven). Though her reactions to her choices I felt were real, her choices to begin with are what drove me batty. So, like I said hard to actually review the story but the writing and presentation were superb!

cactusflower24's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5