Another wonderful tragicomic family story from the Canadian novelist Miriam Toews. Basically a two-character study where the characters are unforgettable and the dialogue sparkles. I never believed Swiv was an actual child, but Toews’ artistry is such that I didn’t even care. The audiobook is beautifully performed by Toews and her daughter, Georgia.

This would have been a 1* if it wasn't for Grandma. I wouldn't even remember this book in few weeks time.

Very sweet. Maybe a 4 star but I’ll have to see how it sticks with me after… I love children and old people and their perspectives and the fact that this book took those head on was so fantastic to see. The prose and meandering nature of the novel lost me at times, but I feel like this might be a good book to cure your book hangover after reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog??

[3.7] Enjoyable, uplifting read. Poignant at times with laugh-aloud moments. The relationship between Swiv and her grandmother was wonderful. But as a novel, it didn't quite feel complete to me.

I loved this book! It was absolutely hilarious. I can't even remember the last time that I  laughed out loud so much while reading a book!! This is a story about three generations of women living in the same house, but mostly focuses around the grandmother and her granddaughter; their relationship was so sweet. The grandmother was extremely feisty, frank and outspoken and talked to her granddaughter like she was an adult; I loved her character so much. This book was about love and fighting throu...

Swiv is nine years old, precious and wise beyond her years. She lives with her mother and grandmother in Toronto. Grandma’s health may be fragile—but she’s feisty-lively-and bluntly outspoken. Mom is pregnant, an actress, and doesn’t know where the heck Swiv’s dad ran off to. “Fight Night” had a touch of the same flavor as “My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry”, by Fredrik Backman….‘Tad’ similarities. Both books are charming - with heart endearing quirkiness. But “Fight Night” is more...

3.5 stars rounded up. Eight year old Swiv, precocious and unrealistically mature, has responsibilities and an understanding of things far beyond her years. In spite of my reservation about that, she’s a memorable character as is her loving, quirky grandmother. It’s easy to care about them and root for them along with her depressed, pregnant mother. It’s a touching story that is filled with the love they have for each other. This was a monthly read with Diane and Esil. I received an advanced copy...

Miriam Toews is one amazing author. In an NPR review, reviewer Kristen Martin states “In Toews’s hands, mundanity teems with comic detail”. I don’t know how she does it, but Toews writes absorbing novels that contain very dark subjects, such as suicide and depression, intertwined with comedic and absurd situations.In “Fight Night” Toews continues writing about women who struggled in the Mennonite community. This time, the narrator is nine-year-old Swiv. She has been expelled from school for figh...

Life is a mystery.There are no real rules or patterns. We all just wander through without guidelines or parameters, just vibing and seeing what happens. Surprises around every corner.In other words: I should have hated this book, and instead I loved it.I hated the other book I've read by this author very much, and I expected to feel neutral at best about this one, and yet - I am stubborn. I refuse to not read books I have no chance of liking.And look how well it works out for me!!!I am so in lov...

A quick, fun read, Fight Night is about Swiv, a nine year old child living with her pregnant mother, her unborn sibling Gord, and her grandmother. The grandmother was a total riot, and Swiv's observations made her even funnier. Though not everything is "fun and games!" (as Grandma likes to say), the book is lighthearted and serves as a reminder to live in the moment and enjoy life as much as one can.Grandma's advice: "You can only die once so don’t die a thousand times worrying about it."(Note,

Well... that was perfect, and beautiful. Perfect and beautiful. And touching, and funny, and really heartwarming, and again... perfect. I don't know... it's difficult to know what to write as the book is really just kind of a play-by-play of life written by nearly 10-year old Swiv as she and her family go about their days. Mom is a very pregnant stage actress, Dad disappeared recently (off fighting fascists, she's told), and then there's Grandma—the funniest, most loveable character I've ever en...

This was my monthly read with Angela and Esil, and I'm the outlier with my rating. The book is a letter that eight year old Swiv is writing her father. The father who disappeared from their lives. She lives with her grandmother, Elvira, who is a hoot. Nothing gets her down, everything is an adventure, and her mother, who is a stage actress. This is a funny book but after a while I felt the humor was too much, overkill. Also question whether a child as young as this could or should have had the r...

To be alive means full body contact with the absurd. Still, we can be happy. Even poor old Sisyphus could figure that much out. And that’s saying something. You might say that God is an absurd concept but faith in God’s goodness. . .I find joy in that. I find it inspiring. Oba! I’m rambling. But I brought up Romeo and Juliet for a reason. What was it. . .yes! My town. . .my hometown, and your Mom’s too. Hooooooooo. And Momo’s, of course. . .it had a similar tragedy, in my opinion. The church. .

Let me open by saying that if I could give Fight Night six stars, I would. In fact, I'd give it seven. I'm a big fan of Mirian Toews' work, and Fight Night is my favorite by far. Fight Night is absolutely, positively, unendingly hysterical (in both the mirthful and the teetering-on-the-brink ways) and is also dead serious. The only other books that have left me guffawing the way this one did are Louise Rennison's Georgia Nicholson series. (If you've read them, you know what I mean; if you haven'...

A story narrated by Swiv, a 9-year-old girl, shared through rambling thoughts she shares as she writes to her father. She’s wise in the ways of the world, but has stopped attending school because she has been made to feel like an outsider, a freak not only by other students, but by teachers, as well. As a result, she acts out, and is suspended from school.Swiv’s mother is an actress, who leaves their home in Toronto for periods of time for her work, but Swiv’s grandmother is an almost constant p...

It’s always a shock to my system when I go from a book written in 1949 to a contemporary book. The writing style, the dialogue- it all feels like I have stepped into a modern world that I cannot identify with. But luckily, Miriam Toews knows how to draw a reader in. I would call this book a high energy book- there is always some antic or joke going on. Borders on exhausting at times. I loved meeting this trio- Swiv (100 months old), so almost 9; her mother, who is pregnant with “Gord” and her gr...

Swiv is given the task of writing to her absent father about life in her house by her grandmother, Elvira, who is teaching her after Swiv was expelled from school. Swiv's mother is pregnant and in the later stages of her pregnancy. Three generations living under one roof make for interesting writing for Swiv. She writes in a rambling way which is both entertaining and endearing. Try not to laugh at times or not have a smile on your face during other times.There is heart here, there is also a you...

Had to fight through tears toward the end and then had to email Miriam to tell her how much I loved it immediately after. Fight Night is charmingly narrated by nine-year-old Swiv and revolves mostly around her relationship (and trip to Fresno) with her grandmother. The dueling concerns of a young girl figuring out the world and an old lady making sure she gets the most out of the time she has left in it give this beautiful and funny novel a double-dose of naivety and wisdom that feels larger tha...

I have always really enjoyed books narrated by children. I have also always enjoyed books about people who look difficulties in the face and laugh. This book combines both those things, and this is why I chose to read it. Many thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for making it available to me to read and review.The story is entirely narrated by Swiv, a 9-year-old Canadian girl who was expelled from school for fighting. She lives with her pregnant mother and her elderly, but spirited gra...

“We need tragedy, which is the need to love and the need…not just the need, the imperative, the human imperative…to experience joy. To find joy and to create joy. All through the night. The fight night.”Nine-year-old Swiv and her mother and grandma are fighters. They’ve been fighters all their lives. They fight to love…to love themselves…to gain access to their feelings. And in the process, we –the witnesses to their fight—fall in love with them.Would that every girl had a Grandma as filled with...