Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

On Beauty by Zadie Smith

8 reviews

semeyers's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, though I do think it could have been 50-100 pages shorter. Smith tends toward over descriptive paragraphs that wore on me after a while.

The journey of the Belsey's and the other characters in their lives was an interesting one. 

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issyd23's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Monty Kipps and Howard Beasley deserve to be in jail! 3šŸ–¼ļø

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yukirats12's review

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challenging sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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emilo's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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kylieqrada's review

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reflective slow-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

3.5

3.5 ā­ļøs. Lesbehonest, this was a Goodwill cover buy, because she is STUNNING, HONEY. However, I'd always heard about Zadie Smith being a staple of lit fic, so I thought I'd give her a try. I honestly really liked this. I loved how unlikable and nuanced all of the characters were allowed to be while still being clear that their opinions, such as fatphobia or racism, were not supported by the author. However, it was a little too intellectual for me, and I hate a butthole description 

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skbgfd's review

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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

The characters are so vivid and the writing is beautiful and flows so well. There just isnā€™t much of a plot and parts of the story that could have been (maybe should have been) more fleshed out, werenā€™t. 

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aweightytome's review

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challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Iā€™ve sat with this book for a week now and I am still in awe with the way Zadie Smith writes people. These characters felt real, their flaws are real and each character has a unique voice. Perhaps itā€™s my small brain, but parts of the book I was lost. I would recommend if you enjoy a character based plot where people make questionable decisions and make you hurl your book across the room 

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I had a few false starts with the print version of this book, so I went ahead an listened to the audiobook. I did enjoy the twisty turns and how drama-ridden this book was. Overall, though, I donā€™t think it was for me. I am not really into books where characters wreck their own lives unnecessarily (ahem, Howard). Iā€™m also unfamiliar with the source material, so that wasnā€™t a draw either. Oh well

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