travisppe's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
4.5
Wonderfully written. Love multi-generational stories told from diverse perspectives.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Pregnancy, and Death
relf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
4.0
A lively saga of two London families, from the World War II friendship of unlikely soldiers Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal, through the '90s with their children taking their places in a very different world. Our main protagonist is Archie's biracial daughter Irie, a clear stand-in for the author, and she is the most fully-formed and sympathetic character. It's a wonderfully drawn picture of London cultures in different eras. For me the tone of social satire becomes more and more pronounced as the book goes on; the second half was really more satire and less heartfelt than the the first. Still, it made a wonderful audiobook.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Colonisation, and War
ramalam98's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Listen... I wanted to love this, and when I started it I really did. But oh my god it DRAGGED. It provides excellent commentary and insightful ideas, but the narration (a bit holier-than-thou at times) really started to get on my nerves and I was begging for it to be over by the end of it. At over 500 pages of tiny font and huge paragraphs it's much longer than it needed to be. But I'm still giving it three stars because I'm glad I've read it and I would consider it to be a good book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation, Racism, Religious bigotry, and War
Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Sexual content
More...