Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - How to Be Both

This is a real stream-of-consciousness novel with some beautiful prose and a real no-plot-just-vibes feel. Half historical fiction, half contemporary literary fiction, it’s like two interconnected novellas in one. Ali Smith’s exploration of grief in the second half of the novel is so real and heartbreaking, and her classic insertion of contemporary politics into the novel did not go amiss (I personally rather enjoy it, although I can see why others might not). I do, however, feel that occasionally the narrative wandered a little too far off course and the book could’ve done with being a bit shorter to really hammer home the themes of grief and love.

Content Warnings

aisha_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

The lack of chapters makes it hard to dip in and out of- leave time to devour it in a weekend!

Content Warnings

magicsarah's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging reflective 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

3.0

Content Warnings

helen's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

This book was published with two editions which have the same text but swap who's story comes first. The first half of the book will either be about George, a 16 year old girl living in contemporary Cambridge who's mother has just died, or Francescho, a Renaissance artist in 15th century Ferrara, who painted the fresco visited by George and her mother just before her death.

In my ebook version, Francescho's story came first*. This part starts off with an unconventional structure and I had difficulty sinking into the narrative. If I'd read George's story first, I would've enjoyed it more.

So with the caveat that you should read George's story first, I recommend it for readers who like:

Queer protagonists
The power of art (definitely look up the real artwork while reading)
Writing that has humour while deftly dealing with some heavy themes, including death, grief and identity
Re-reading - you get so much more on a second read, once the whole story (the overpainting and the underpainting) is revealed.
The occasional experimental writing - word fragments, layout, tense trickery, song lyrics (including a lyric about DNA set to the meter of Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus and then translated into Latin)

*My ebook version had both editions - Francescho followed by George, and then George followed by Francescho.

Content notes:

both protagonists have mothers who die young, grief, references to war executions, racist/xenophobic slur (infidel), plague, a character is discovered to be cross-dressing after being grabbed in the crotch (no outing happens as a result), on page sex, off page violent death of minor character, description of flaying as depicted in a painting, alcohol abuse

Content Warnings

bectothebooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

afion's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.25

Content Warnings

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

With How to Be Both it was the structure of the novel which was unique. There are two main sections, each from the perspective of a main character separated by centuries. George is a girl trying to come to terms with the death of her mother. Francesco del Cossa is a renaissance painter, a woman who lived as a man, and whose frescoes George visited with her mother. The unique aspect is the book can be read in any order. In fact two separate versions were printed, half with George’s section first, half with the Francesco’s. I was really interested in the connections, parallels and intertwining between the two stories, especially around topics like gender, the boundary between life and death, the link between past and present, not to mention the concept of seeing - what we see first versus the many different layers that can be seen by those who take the time to look. I do wonder how my reaction to this book was affected by the version I read. It’s no secret that I struggle a little with Ali Smith and with meditations on art. I initially felt a little all-at-sea and wonder if that could have been avoided had I read George’s section, which i found more accessible, before Francesco’s.

Content Warnings

penofpossibilities's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

You should read this without knowing anything about it and with an open and philosophical mind (or not)

I thought it was near perfect

Content Warnings

More...