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truittclark's review against another edition
2.0
I'm not really sure what the point of this was. Part 1, "Folly", was annoying. None of the characters are likeable or have much depth. Part 2, "Madness", was much better written and more interesting, but the tie-in to "Folly" (revealed in Part 3, "Ezra Blazer's Desert Island Discs") is trivial.
ambersbooks's review against another edition
As much as I wanted to read the second part, I didn’t care enough about the first part to put in the effort to get there.
cami19's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
bep18's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
billywraithcyrus's review against another edition
3.0
I don’t think anyone actually knows what this book is about. I’ve read several high-star reviews on here from people talking about how masterful the three stories tie together, but nobody actually explains it in their reviews. Myself, I am still working very hard, combing for strands to try to connect it all and….
lydiahephzibah's review
DNF @ page 95. Not what I was hoping it'd be, a bit too experimental for me and reviews suggest it'll only go downhill.
alisonjfields's review against another edition
4.0
Reading this the week after Philip Roth's death is a pretty weird experience. That aside, Asymmetry is a clever little book, maybe a shade too clever for its own good (I like that kind of thing though). I might wade end for a second trip through with its own interior booklists along the side. Asymmetrical, as it may eponymously be, the pieces do slide together rather neatly, and the more I think about this book, the more it slides closer to a 5-star read for me.
beefmaster's review against another edition
5.0
This is either the best novel from 2018 I’ll read or the best Emperor’s New Clothes situation I’ve been implicated in.
chillcox15's review against another edition
3.0
A solid 3.5 stars. The first section keeps ratcheting up the unspoken tension so you know that something bizarre is going to happen, but I was not expecting that second section-- and I wish it worked better for me, considering how in the bag I was for the riff on Roth/Updike style novelists at the start. I like Halliday's daringness, but that second section seems to be fighting against itself in certain ways (i.e. "Who can tell which stories?") without much of a resolution to that core conflict. It maybe requires a second reading just to see where I come down on if it melds these two plots together well enough.