4.5 stars!

I feel like Zadie Smith is definitely becoming one of my favourite authors! Loved On Beauty almost as much as White Teeth, although it wasn't quite as compulsively readable (she says, having devoured it in two days).
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On Beauty explores the lives of two academics with very different beliefs - Howard Belsey is a white liberal, Monty Kipps is a black conservative, and their lives clash as their families intertwine in ways that can't be undone. I loved how the two characters are placed side by side, as it turned out that where their morals are concerned, they actually aren't that different (hint: they are not high morals).
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And it must be said that Smith is a master of dialogue! I don't know if I've ever read a book with as much dialogue before, and it totally changes the way you perceive it. Most of the time I felt like I was sitting at the Belsey kitchen table or in a lecture hall in Wellington eavesdropping on the public and private lives of these two families, like I feel like I know them on a way intimate level!!
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There are also similarities to White Teeth, in that there are several young people trying to find their way in life, struggling to find their identity and perhaps break away from that of their family. Zadie Smith's knack for characters is a gift! They are flawed, and messy, and brilliant. Kiki in particular I loved!