1.68k reviews for:

NW

Zadie Smith

3.52 AVERAGE

vhlm's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 15%

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The writing style with its stream of conciousness and elliptic sentences just makes the reading very hard and creates a slow and stuttering pacing.
Apart from Leah, it is difficult to get a feeling for the characters, and the short and jumpy chapters don't help with that either.

chelsanne23's review

2.75

challenging emotional tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

victorianabigail's review

4.0

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Definitely my favorite Smith that I have read (I disliked White Teeth, was mixed to positive on On Beauty, and liked Swing Time for the most part). The writing is unusual and vivid, and I liked the different narration in the different sections of the book. The mood may be the strongest part of the book; there's often a suggestion of some problem lurking just out of sight. I did find the plot, such as it was, somewhat opaque, especially the ending.

cgevans's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 9%

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Poor quality of prose, "does this pass as literature" - a poem in the shape of an apple tree?

chiarawolter's review

4.0

challenging reflective 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: Complicated

swords_and_things's review

3.0

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I liked Smith's experimental writing style, but I feel like I didn't understand some of the references and slang...or the ending.

carleyraek's review

4.0

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I think this book would be more rewarding for people who know the city of London-- I feel like I lost out on a lot of the descriptions due to a lack of prior knowledge regarding the city and its different neighborhoods. But nonetheless, it was still an engaging story and I really liked the prose, which was set up more like a poem than paragraph text in certain chapters. I also thought the characters were very interesting and well developed.

cattyg's review

DID NOT FINISH: 20%

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I was too busy and it was too literary for the time and place

notshamlee's review against another edition

4.0

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liked it a latte but kinda got bogged down since it’s the end of the semester 

rachelasteen's review

3.5

challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes