Reviews - Big Swiss | The StoryGraph

16.4k reviews for:

Big Swiss

Jen Beagin

3.76 AVERAGE

thewikiway's review against another edition

4.25

funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

calpow's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 32%

Bored.

rschwaar's review against another edition

4.0

dark funny relaxing

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

mtndewlvr's review against another edition

3.25

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Capitol M MESSY. Honestly that kept me going through it- super interesting plot. A transcriber job sounds like a dream tbh. Omes would make me super uncomfy

hannahholm's review against another edition

4.0

Absurd realism

lizzie2327's review against another edition

2.75

dark reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

As a certified "weird girl book" lover, this one was aggressively mid. What starts out as an interesting premise and a promise to be strange, Big Swiss devolves into long tangents that lead to no where and contribute little to the overall plot. While it can be argued that it adds to the world building and fleshing out the character, these tangents are rarely, if ever, brought up or recognized by anyone again. Except the bees and the old house, which both additions leave much to be desired. The run-down house is a representation of Greta herself, old, rundown, and difficult to manage. The bees seem to be there to be an allegory for the trauma, but are also there for the sake of being strange. The other tangents can feel strange and out of left field, totally disrupting the flow of the novel. What I gleamed from the book, and what seems to be the entire characters of Greta and Big Swiss is that trauma makes you interesting. All these things happened to Greta, she didn't do anything herself but break up with her fiancé after 10 years, and even then that is forgotten by the book by page 150. Greta herself isn't interesting besides the things that happen to her in her past, her very very full and traumatic past as the author loves to point out over and over again. Big Swiss adds to this list by initiating the affair, another thing that happens to Greta. Big Swiss is only interesting to Greta because of this terrible thing that happened to her, and the fact that she suspects that Big Swiss is currently being stalked excites her even more. This is shallow novel that thinks its standing in the deep end, and fails to be interesting for itself.