The Accidental

Brilliant. Utterly gripping. Explosive, sexy, iconoclastic and HUGELY enjoyable. A genuine pleasure.

4.85/5I have taken a pretty long time to finish this book in lieu of preparations for tests and back-to-back classes from Monday to Saturday, but the essence of this book kept me hooked to it right from page one. The book is written in an intelligent way divided into three parts, each part containing a chapter focusing on one character of the Smart family spending their summer in Norfolk languidly until a stranger creeps into their shells and tickles their inner threads of being. The characters and their story are very well suited and thoughtfully portrayed. It was amusing to see how these characters and their stories are a part of one household and these are people breathing under the same roof, tied together but are miserably apart. The themes of redemption, loss, transience, ambition are some of the themes that I particularly took to while reading the book. I am looking forward to reading more of Ali Smith’s books now!

Not your typical fare. Ali Smith captures a child's mind so well. Lovely, although it isn't like her other books.

Rather a weird style of writing - rather unusual - written from the viewpoint of a 12 year old girl whose behaviour is very out of control for my liking. I found the whole family rather dysfunctional, but entertaining all the same.However, I did find it easier to read after the first few chapters, but found the whole of the book rather out of my realm of understanding - perhaps too 'modern' for me!!!!

Oh dear, I loved the idea of this book, it promised a thought provoking, interesting read and it turned out to be the opposite. It tries to be clever with an immediate but bizarre narrative which doesn't allow the characters to flesh out. Their thoughts just spill out haphazardly across the page and frequently lead the reader nowhere. It's like a butterfly flitting from one thought to the next and although I'm well aware that many of us have minds that work just that way it proves tedious to read someone else's. If I could write down every thought I had during the day would anyone want to read it? If the answer is yes then you may enjoy this book but I suspect the vast majority would answer no and this majority should steer clear.