3.5
Like
ByPublisher Description
Ali Smith's "beautifully written, precise, poetic" (The Observer) debut that follows the briefly intertwined lives of two young women
When we meet Amy Shone, she is a young parent struggling to raise Kate, a precocious eight-year-old. Amy is an enigma-a brilliant scholar who has forgotten how to read. She is estranged from her wealthy English parents and lives a nomadic life in Scotland, dragging Kate from one school to the next, barely scraping by.
And then there is Ash, a fiery Scottish actresss who cannot shake her demons-chief among them an unrequited passion for Amy that has obsessed her ever since they met as teenagers. Like is the story of two parallel lives that intersect briefly, then diverge. It is also a timeless evocation of adolescence and its agonizing anticipations, its contradictory yearnings for freedom and safety, its blind quest for mastery over pleasure and pain. Deftly constructed, passionately imagined, Like is a remarkable debut from a powerful talent.
When we meet Amy Shone, she is a young parent struggling to raise Kate, a precocious eight-year-old. Amy is an enigma-a brilliant scholar who has forgotten how to read. She is estranged from her wealthy English parents and lives a nomadic life in Scotland, dragging Kate from one school to the next, barely scraping by.
And then there is Ash, a fiery Scottish actresss who cannot shake her demons-chief among them an unrequited passion for Amy that has obsessed her ever since they met as teenagers. Like is the story of two parallel lives that intersect briefly, then diverge. It is also a timeless evocation of adolescence and its agonizing anticipations, its contradictory yearnings for freedom and safety, its blind quest for mastery over pleasure and pain. Deftly constructed, passionately imagined, Like is a remarkable debut from a powerful talent.
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3.5
“Title: Like
Author: Ali Smith
Publication Year: 1997
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Pages: 301
Source: book
Genre: literary fiction, queer
At last, the moment has come: time to review Like by Ali Smith—after reading it twice in just two months. Yes, twice. Voluntarily. Mostly.
So, why did I read it twice? Is it *that* good? Well… it’s good. But not “read it back-to-back like a literary maniac” good. Don’t get me wrong: it’s not bad at all. It’s just not my favorite Ali Smith novel so far (and I’ve read, what, three now?). Let me explain.
First of all, on my initial read—done for our beloved “One More Book Club”—I apparently glided past several important parts and events with the grace of a distracted pigeon. Only later did I realize I’d missed things that everyone else seemed to catch. So, back I went, metaphorical magnifying glass in hand. The second reason is more serious: we’re having a conference on Ali Smith’s work, so this became a work-first, fun-second situation.
Now, what *is* this book? Honestly, I’m not sure it’s “like” anything else I’ve read. It is, of course, “like” Smith’s other work, and feels very much like a prototype of the Smithian style she later perfects. You can see her future self taking notes in the margins.
Like tells the story of Amy and Ash, their relationship, and what happens after that relationship. The problem is that everything I say about this “relationship” might be completely wrong, because I’m not convinced there actually *is* a relationship in the way we usually define it. So how do we talk about the future of a relationship that may not even have existed? Exactly. I might be entirely mistaken, but Ali Smith is not in the business of giving us answers, so we all get to sit here happily confused together.
What I *can* say—with, let’s say, 95% confidence—is that the book deals with sexual orientation, the messiness of being in the closet and then out of it, and the way time behaves more like soup than a straight line. There are some dates, yes, but time feels fluid and slippery. We also get England–Scotland tensions, plenty of sharp little academic jabs (actually, not a few—*a lot*), class, politics, and many others, and book burning, lots of book burning.
As an early work, it’s a fascinating glimpse into what Smith wants to do with her literary life. You can trace the outlines of her later work here. I really appreciate what she’s trying to do with narrative, and I’m fairly confident that “answering our questions” or “clearing up confusion” is absolutely *not* on her to-do list.
As for the characters: I found almost all of them unlikeable, annoying, and teetering somewhere on the edge of psychosis. The only exception is Kate, whom I adored. Maybe Kate represents the future, or the answer, or some kind of hope. Maybe. I honestly have no idea, but that has never stopped me from forming opinions before, and it’s not going to start now.
Another realization about Smith’s work: do *not* be fooled by the order of the POVs. Often, you should read the second one first. I just had to share this public service announcement. If you don’t—if you’re like me, or simply not the most attentive reader—you may find yourself going back to the beginning to reread everything in a new light. Then you’ll wonder whether you should reread the second part again to catch anything you missed, and suddenly you’re trapped in a narrative time loop with no obvious way out.
I can’t really give you concrete specifics about the story without misleading you, because half the point seems to be not knowing. If you enjoy confusion, ambiguity, and the feeling that the author is always one step ahead of you and slightly amused by it, then by all means: pick up Like and see what you make of it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
https://bibliophilescompass.blogspot.com/2026/04/like-by-ali-smith-1997-review.html”
“Like
as in I like you,
as in I become you.
A mirror unsure
which side is real.
Too alike
not two,
not one,
just repetition
trying to name itself.
Like:
meaning that slips.
Closeness that confuses.
A word that wobbles under weight.
After this,
everything feels like echo.
Reading Like is a lot like trying to look at your own reflection in a moving stream.. you see the shape of something beautiful, but the moment you try to grab it, the water ripples and everything distorts just enough to make you question what you saw in the first place.
Ali Smith has written a story where everyone is a “psycho” in their own refined, intellectual way. You’ve got Amy, the queen of controlled chaos and intellectual manipulation, and Ash, the literal arsonist who prefers burning bridges (and books) rather than crossing them. I spent half the time wondering if they were two different people, or just two sides of the same very messy coin rolling around in different directions.
I’m still not 100% sure whose daughter is whose, how it suddenly came to be, or who actually “won” the war between England and Scotland.. if anyone even can win that kind of war, but I couldn’t stop reading. Smith’s writing is minimalist and elegant in this deceptively calm way, even when the characters are behaving like absolute disasters to each other.
I’m giving this a 4-star rating for the beautiful confusion alone. I still have about fifty questions.. mainly about how many layers of pride it takes to destroy a life rather than admit you like someone. It’s confusing, it’s intense, and it’s deeply unhinged in the most intentional way.
And yet, somehow, I’ve come out of it with a desperate need to read everything else she’s ever written. I have no idea what just happened, but I know I’m definitely reading more of her.”
“I love Ali Smith’s characters and writing style but this one left me confused and wanting more!”
“Well it just deleted my whole review.
I’ll try this again.
If this had been my first Ali Smith read I might have liked it less. Because I was anticipating her typical stylistic choices: non-linear narrative, non-intersecting but interrelated characters, little to no plot resolutions, and dueling perspectives I didn’t find them as jarring here. But I don’t think they worked as well as they do in some of her later work.
We needed a few more answers. Similar to How to be Both I found it hard to leave behind characters I liked with literally no answers or updates. I gave the book a 2-3 day break after reading Amy’s section and before changing to Ash’s. I found the plot more interesting in the first section but the narration more compelling in the second. Smith is an excellent writer so I enjoyed the book but it didn’t leave me with the same lasting impression as some of her later work.
Quite a feat for a debut novel though.”
About Ali Smith
ALI SMITH is the author of many works of fiction, including, most recently, Companion Piece, the "Seasonal Quartet," Public library and other stories, and How to be both, which won the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, the Goldsmiths Prize, and the Costa Novel of the Year Award. Her work has four times been short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. Most recently, she won the George Orwell Prize for Fiction for Summer. Born in Inverness, Scotland, she lives in Cambridge, England.
Other books by Ali Smith
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