Sweet Tooth

I like the style of writing but couldn't tolerate the slow pace. A third of the way through this I just couldn't continue.

DNF at 10%.

Love doesn't grow at a steady rate, but advances in surges, bolts, wild leaps, and this was one of those.

Clever. There's a thin veneer of a spy story, but that's not really what this book is about. None of the characters are especially likeable, but they are all telling stories and some of the stories are about themselves. We know some of the stories are untrue, and others we wonder about. Even though I didn't like the characters at all (well, there was one marginal character I liked for his authenticity who was absent for most of the story), I wanted to know what was going to happen in their stories and what they would make of themselves.

I wasn't crazy about the characters themselves, but the stories within the story were better than the “story.” Knowing McEwan, that was done purposefully, which would give it a higher rating for me.

For the first 300 pages I thought I didn't like this book. And I still find the first 20 of the 22 chapters dull, McEwan's style not engaging, and the story not worth a novel at all. It was only in chapter 21 when I got somewhat attached to the characters and became curious of their fate, but in the final 22 I was thrilled. The ending is a pretty clever twist to an otherwise boring story.

I would go for 2,5 stars if I could, with the additional half star being a sign of my appreciation of McEwan's truly comprehensible explanation of the Monty Hall problem.

Felt tedious. Wonderful ending .... But not enough to make it worth it.

McEwan hits the nail on the head narrating as a female (seems to me as a male!) a tough thing to do indeed. An interesting plot with a few twists and turns keep you glued till the surprising end

Oh yeah, I haven't written a review yet for this book. I sort of forgot. Normally I forget to write reviews because I'm super busy. Yes, I have been busy lately, but that's not the only reason I forgot to write a review. Truthfully, I sort of forgot this book.

I like Ian McEwan and I like what he's trying to do in this book. The idea is good. The implementation almost works. But the delivery and the characters—well, they left much to be desired.

To illustrate this point, let me present two graphs. Here is my progress for this book. It is compiled automatically by Goodreads based on data I enter.


Ironically, the chart I compiled for my interest in this book bears similarity to my progress chart, but tipped.


What either of these charts have to do with exactly, I don't know, but since I forgot what this book was even about, I feel like I need some filler.

Truth is, despite McEwan's wonderful use of prose and his ability to form stories out of far-reaching ideas, Sweet Tooth didn't catch my interest. He's a great writer, but this one didn't work for me.

Is it true what some are saying, that this is his most ambitious novel since Atonement? Perhaps. But note that “ambitious” is not synonymous with any of the following words: satisfying, magical, endearing, beautiful, memorable...

On par with his last novel, Solar, this book is reasonably enjoyable but not as much so as some of his previous work.