Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Swing Time by Zadie Smith

3 reviews

amgarrido's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

3.25

I hate to be that person but this book had so much potential… I loved how it was started out and I was enraptured by the narrator and Tracey’s childhood antics in North West London. I also really enjoyed the exploration of complex family dynamics, the ambiguous  space of being mixed race and the analysis of social class and upbringing in the UK. Despite her flaws, I empathised with the narrator’s mother, although I felt that making her so cold and unmotherly almost reinforced a stereotype.

However, when this book started to focus so much on the narrator’s work for Aimee and centred largely around the glamorous and uninteresting life of this self-absorbed, narcissistic Australian I lost interest and had to force myself to finish it. I see what Smith was trying to do in terms of exploring the intersections between race and class through this employee/employer relationship, where the power dynamics were confused and the boundaries blurry at best. It was interesting how this relationship almost seemed like a (toxic) friendship at times, but could quickly turn back to cold and professional when it suited Aimee.

I will say I enjoyed most of the time the narrator spent in the unnamed West African country, but again, found Aimee’s white saviourism incredibly jarring (now that I express it, this was probably Smith’s intention).

This was my first Zadie Smith novel and despite not having been what I expected, I will definitely be picking up another, as her writing is delectable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Racism, Cancer, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Drug use, Infidelity, and Mental illness

jojo_'s review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Racism, Toxic friendship, Classism, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Infidelity, Medical content, Slavery, Antisemitism, Colonisation, and Drug use

bookedbymadeline's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Cancer

Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, Drug use, and Misogyny

Minor: Domestic abuse, Vomit, Antisemitism, Infidelity, Eating disorder, Self harm, and Homophobia