Reviews - The Thing Around Your Neck

1.59k reviews for:

The Thing Around Your Neck

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

4.22 AVERAGE

confusedsquirrel's review against another edition

5.0

hopeful reflective sad 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: N/A

vyhurz's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

alli3na's review against another edition

5.0

beautiful. devastating. important.

zuleika's review against another edition

4.75

So, so good. Adichie is always reliable for an absolute belter.

One of the best examples of a collection where I really understand the rationale for choosing that form and it enhances rather than compromises what she‘s saying.

careymacaulay's review against another edition

5.0

"Jumping Monkey Hill"

"She could not tell his age from his face; it was pleasant but unformed, as though God, having created him, had slapped him flat against a wall and smeared his features all over his face."

I can honestly say that I loved every one of these short stories. None fall flat. As with every short story collection, some stories make me yearn for a full-length novel (as the characters pull me in to their world) and others are perfection on the page. If I HAD to pick favourites it would be "The Arrangers of Marriage" due to the feelings the story brought out in me and my love for the two central female characters. The other would be "The American Embassy" -- every line is heartbreaking, with similarities to the war on Ukraine. These stories will make you pause and think. But, sometimes, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi horrifies as with "Tomorrow is too Far" -- the perfect story of extreme sibling rivalry. Big fan!