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1.95k reviews for:

Midnight's Children

Salman Rushdie

3.88 AVERAGE

challenging mysterious slow-paced
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I agree with other reviewers on this one. Rushdie's writing is, at times, excellent; there are genuinely shocking twists and moments in this book. Rushdie's ability to weave stories and events, both fictional and real, creates a fascinating web of stories within stories that kept me engaged. But the book is also weighed down by its frustrating and sometimes exhausting never-ending list of characters, a narrator who constantly gets lost in unnecessary tangents, and subplots that fizzle out. I would recommend but go in knowing it's going to take a while. 

slow-paced

STUNNING PROSE but ending is ultimately unsatisfying for such a long book :(
emotional funny informative slow-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

I get why this book is spoken highly of. It’s an intricate blend of humor, despair, history, reality, and magic. But my god, it’s hard to read. I recommend that anyone who reads this book reads a chapter recap via sparknotes or similar. It was really helpful in making sense of everything. 
amacollado's profile picture

amacollado's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 2%

Hard to follow. Lots of meandering. 
challenging reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

i feel like this book has given me equal parts enjoyment and headache…

and i still would recommend it to everyone!
the writing, the plot, the callbacks to south asian culture just warmed my soul! it really made me think about our beginnings as people and stories and everything tbh. i also really enjoyed the magic as something interesting but still felt very real

the only reason its not 5/5 is because i personally found it such a mind chore to read at certain points in that i had to reread parts because the writing style and flashbacks don’t promote that flow i’m used to but i think that was a deliberate choice.
challenging mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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tkerr's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 6%

I was so lost in the beginning that I couldn't get captured by the characters. Perhaps will try again another day.