Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Swing Time by Zadie Smith

5 reviews

amgarrido's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

3.25

I hate to be that person but this book had so much potential… I loved how it was started out and I was enraptured by the narrator and Tracey’s childhood antics in North West London. I also really enjoyed the exploration of complex family dynamics, the ambiguous  space of being mixed race and the analysis of social class and upbringing in the UK. Despite her flaws, I empathised with the narrator’s mother, although I felt that making her so cold and unmotherly almost reinforced a stereotype.

However, when this book started to focus so much on the narrator’s work for Aimee and centred largely around the glamorous and uninteresting life of this self-absorbed, narcissistic Australian I lost interest and had to force myself to finish it. I see what Smith was trying to do in terms of exploring the intersections between race and class through this employee/employer relationship, where the power dynamics were confused and the boundaries blurry at best. It was interesting how this relationship almost seemed like a (toxic) friendship at times, but could quickly turn back to cold and professional when it suited Aimee.

I will say I enjoyed most of the time the narrator spent in the unnamed West African country, but again, found Aimee’s white saviourism incredibly jarring (now that I express it, this was probably Smith’s intention).

This was my first Zadie Smith novel and despite not having been what I expected, I will definitely be picking up another, as her writing is delectable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Racism, Cancer, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Drug use, Infidelity, and Mental illness

kers_tin's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Racism, Grief, Terminal illness, and Abandonment

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Cancer

Minor: Antisemitism, Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Drug use

rbacon's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense 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? Yes

I loved the way dance was intertwined into the whole story, as well as touching on important themes like fame, international development, motherhood, friendship, and class. It makes you think which is what's so gripping about it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Terminal illness

jojo_'s review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Racism, Toxic friendship, Classism, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Infidelity, Medical content, Slavery, Antisemitism, Colonisation, and Drug use

nofacelif's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Another brilliant novel by Zadie Smith. The way she integrates culture, roots, race, and history within her stories never ceases to amaze me. Her writing flows, making a relatively long book easy to read. The attention she puts into detail and the connections made between the past and present throughout the novel add to her writing. Her choice of telling the past and present plot at the same time stands out and makes the story more interesting, and the reader intrigued. The mother-daughter relationship and friendship between Tracy and the narrator are the highlights of the novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual assault and Domestic abuse

Minor: Homophobia