Reviews

L'accidental by Dolors Udina, Ali Smith

alicroz34's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

4.75

Ali Smith is one of the most incredible writers I have ever come across. Her ability to play with form, while never making it feel superficial, is amazing to me. 

For this particular copy, whoever at the Observer called this book "sexy" and whoever at the publishing office decided to put that on the cover? You two? You call me. Let's talk about those choices. Y'all are wild. 

My favourite quotes included:

Ducks actually have their own road sign! There is a sofa warehouse called Sofa So Good. It is dismal. There is a church. The church has its own roadsign too. Nothing happens here except a church and some ducks, and this house is an ultimate dump. It is substandard. Nothing is going to happen all substandard summer. 

Any minute now she would step back through the door into the room. 
There she was now, in the doorway. 
Oh 

It keeps getting dark when it's light, he says. I mean, when it's not meant to be dark. 
Does it? Amber says.
She thinks about it.
Persistence of vision, she says. You must have  seen something so dark that it's carried on affecting your vision even though you're not looking directly at it anymore.
But how? Magnus asks. 
Exactly the same as if you saw something too bright, she says. 

The dead weren't the problem. The dead could look after themselves. Eve was beginning to grieve for the living. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

suudelmilla's review against another edition

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3.0

Tämä on outo ja omalaatuinen, mutta en osaa sanoa pidinkö tästä vai en. Ristiriitainen olo! Parhaimmillan todella viehättävää ja viehkeää, huonoimmillaan jotenkin harmaata, etäistä ja epäkiinnostavaa.

Eli tavallaan kirjallisuutta parhaimmillaan: jättää lukijan miettimään.

sandra_goodson's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a weird book. Not that is wasn't enjoyable because it was. But what makes it weird is the reader is at a loss as to if the character of Amber was malevolent or benevolent. Were the characters that encountered Amber's unique form of "friendship" better off by knowing her? Who was Amber? Where did she come from, where did she go? Was her visit premeditated? All these questions are left ultimately to the imagination of the reader. And what about that ending? What was that all about?

jdelloso's review against another edition

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

3.5

joyceontheroad's review against another edition

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3.0

Interesting, yet it leaves you wondering wtf actually happened. Why are these people so obsessed with her?

allmyexistentialcrises's review against another edition

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

4.5

i love Ali Smith and her unknowable characters

caitlinesq's review against another edition

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2.0

OK, I did manage to finish it but only by resorting to a very broad skim. I'm not very fond of this type of extremely stylized writing in fiction -- I prefer plot, structure, narrative, character development. Every chapter begins in lower case -- doesn't that say enough?

talitha's review against another edition

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

2.5

Naar dit boek was ik al jaren benieuwd, maar het viel mij helaas tegen. De schrijfstijl is heel stylistisch: korte zinnen, woorden die vaak herhaalt worden etc. De schrijfstijl houd je op afstand van de personages en dat is niet mijn smaak. 
Ondanks deze schrijfstijl wilde ik wel steeds doorblijven lezen en las ik het boek in twee dagen uit. De inzichten in de familiedynamiek (vooral tussen broer en zus) werden realistisch beschreven. 
Toch bleef het voor mij toch te fragmentarisch en de schrijfstijl stond boven de leesbaarheid en personages, waardoor ik het niet geweldig vond. 

amythereader's review against another edition

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

4.0

gailinapail24's review against another edition

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2.0

i really wanted to like this!