Swing Time is my first read by Smith and I was excited to learn about the hype of her writing. I will say, I do love her flow and description. Swing Time also acknowledges a lot of difficult conversations in regard to race, gender roles, and the rollercoaster of a mother-daughter relationship. I was really engaged until Aimee was introduced. From there, I had difficulty picking up the book and started reading other “side” books to get me through it. I want to read more by Smith in the future (especially from reading comments of other other work in comparison), however I needed to let this one go.
This is the first book that I read in the series. It was a cute love story and I will definitely be reading the others. Sometimes I wish there was more character development in secondary characters (or have them not mentioned at all). It felt like filler once I finished it and realized that the secondary characters had gaps. However, the love story made me feel mushy and giggly and that is what I want from my romance reads.
Evelyn Hugo is one of my favourite characters that I have ever read. She is a complicated woman that experienced life events that I hope to never encounter and she handled them the best way she could. I was constantly engaged in her story. I have no complaints.
Adichie is one of my favourite writers and I will never dislike her work. This novel was slow to get into and it took me awhile to finish it, however it was worth it. Once Kambili and Jaja visit their aunt, I couldn’t put the book down. I would suggest reading this novel when you are in a lighter state of mind, there are very challenging scenes to get through. However, the novel ends on an uplifting note and it really shows the courage and strength of women.
I appreciate the lessons and reminders. It allowed me to adapt habits to remain calm within stressful situations. So, for self help, it did its job. However, Manson’s anecdotes sometimes took me out of the book. I didn’t need the extra fluff. It felt forced at times.
I really wanted to be invested in the characters, however the lack of development in their communication and relationship made this novel a drag to read after the first half.