A review by kellimartin22
The Fraud by Zadie Smith

challenging dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

Parts of this book I loved — details of the trial, Bogel’s story and how it connected to the book as a whole, and the interrogation of what it means to be free and what it means to be a fraud. I didn’t love the narrative style and found a lot of the writing a bit too tedious and flowery, and disliked every single character which gave me no one to root for or care about. Overall, I had mixed feelings about this book as I appreciated the message and the author’s intent but disliked the methods Smith utilized to get there. 
This could have been a five star read if the noise were edited down and the subplots/seemingly random timeline jumping were kept to a minimum.