Reviews

The Little Snake by A.L. Kennedy

isabellarobinson7's review against another edition

1.5

Rating: 1.5 stars

Aaaaaaaah. The Little Snake was quite boring. I guessed basically every occurrence long before it took place, and overall, the story just fell really flat for me. A.L. Kennedy's style of writing was not particularly memorable, but it wasn't especially bad either. I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by the author, and Kennedy's narration had a similar feeling to her writing to me.

There is nothing I can say and point out that is distinctly wrong with The Little Snake, which is probably why I gave it an extra 0.5 of a star in the end, but it was obviously not for me. What probably happened was that the book was full of deep and metaphorical meaning that completely went over my oblivious head.

beaboleto's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

ellenrosef's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

roxyc's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.5

rocky_road_7's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

leithd15's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

emilyastr's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

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

4.75

speakingskies's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

kaitoro_walker13's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Perfect. The characters were lovely, the plot was beautifully simple, and the ending was superb. A book for everyone, and one I will always recommend.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Suicide, and War

michaela_s's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

What a clever, quirky little book. I loved the writing style and part of me wishes that the entire story followed just Mary's childhood, but I also appreciate the choice to follow her through her entire life. My favourite part was definitely when Mary was a little girl but overall was just such a good little book. I think short stories can be harder to write to a good quality with that same full fleshed feeling of a normal novel, however I think this was very well done.