Reviews - Gliff | The StoryGraph

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887 reviews for:

Gliff

Ali Smith

4.1 AVERAGE

indyblue's review against another edition

Not for me. It didn’t flow and felt very much like the author was congratulating themselves on how clever they are.

shelby_di's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

blankpaper's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

very interesting book — reminds of something you’d analyze in AP english. found it a little difficult to digest in the beginning since i’m not familiar with smith’s writing style but after sometime it began to click. might have to reread before glyph comes out to grasp everything.

literarycolin's review against another edition

4.0

In Gliff, Ali Smith is in no rush to reveal all the cards in her narrative hand. She takes her time unfolding an increasingly fascinating and complex story, injecting quirky humor and insights all along the way. A fresh, enjoyable read.

helendarby's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

womanpdf's review against another edition

3.5

really engaging voice and compelling ideas, all skirting a little too comfortably on the surface for me. i think that's the kind of book this is — sketching, impulse-based, not looking to build a cohesive world in part to enhance the sense of disconnection and disorientation the reader feels — so i can't fault it too much, but it does leave me wanting a little more investment in the characters. smith follows a really lovely pace and doesn't fall into too many dystopian cliches, although stuff about 'devices' could be a little more experimental, i think. also what is it with horses? literary fiction is obsessed with horses now. horse, kick the latch, just read fever dream which also had a huge horse thing…… like i love horses but now it kind of feels like a literary shorthand for ideas from other novels. maybe it's quietly linked to trends towards nostalgia / conservatism bc what other animal has featured so heavily in the western literary tradition esp. genre work like westerns, courtly romance, etc… anyway. my 2 cents.