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shaylac's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The characters and their relationships are intriguing, yet there's a sense of self-absorption that can be a tad much. The prose, while occasionally sophisticated, may border on pretentious, and the pacing tends to drag in certain spots.
The exploration of friendship and love carries depth, but it feels like Rooney didn't quite hit the mark. There are glimpses of brilliance, but the overall storytelling lacks the punch I was hoping for. It's a hesitant four stars, acknowledging the highlights amid the imperfections.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Drug use, Mental illness, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, and Death of parent
katjayorke's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a breezy, stimulating read that covered macro and micro topics. The love stories were realistic and jarring, similarly to the characters themselves. It was relatable and relieving all in one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Drug use, Alcohol, Bullying, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Suicidal thoughts
booitsnathalie's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
What an exasperating novel! Literally half of it is made up of the most inane, indulgent emails where characters ponder about consumerism and cosmetics and the philosophy of relationships, with zero theoretical background. Literally hundreds of pages of people just saying shower thought nonsense about labor and the exploitation of the global south and being like "idk if that makes sense, I've just been thinking about it." These are the sorts of conversations I have with friends over coffee and they tell me to read a fucking book.
The parts that aren't Wikipedia rehashes are also bizarrely inert. Huge chunks of the book read like alt text (constant plain descriptions of characters opening messaging apps), with almost no character voice because it's written in this detached third person style where everyone is a soup of the author just trying to have a single coherent idea. The back third of the book is the best by a wide margin because the emails go away and characters actually interact, but even that is too little too late because it's coming in with dynamics that are explicitly pulling from decades of friendship we barely see. We're meant to assume these characters are best friends despite only having uncomfortable interactions and bizarre emails. Then - psych - it's COVID time and we're talking about how actually nothing changed and isn't it sad we can't go to the cinema. Just exhausting stuff.
Finally, there are ongoing gestures at queerness which are so fucking obnoxious. Two of the characters are supposedly bisexual but everyone craves the traditional stability of heteronormativity. The book literally ends with a character getting pregnant and talking about marrying her childhood best friend and moving to the country.
This will certainly appeal to a certain type of middle class liberal that fancies themselves progressive but refuses to engage with actual materialist reality. Why consider decades of theory when you can act like you're the first person who has ever thought maybe it's wrong to subjugate much of the world to preserve an expendable lifestyle. Rooney is so transparently trying to come to terms with her own wealth and celebrity and it's just embarrassing.
What a fucking let down after Normal People.
The parts that aren't Wikipedia rehashes are also bizarrely inert. Huge chunks of the book read like alt text (constant plain descriptions of characters opening messaging apps), with almost no character voice because it's written in this detached third person style where everyone is a soup of the author just trying to have a single coherent idea. The back third of the book is the best by a wide margin because the emails go away and characters actually interact, but even that is too little too late because it's coming in with dynamics that are explicitly pulling from decades of friendship we barely see. We're meant to assume these characters are best friends despite only having uncomfortable interactions and bizarre emails. Then - psych - it's COVID time and we're talking about how actually nothing changed and isn't it sad we can't go to the cinema. Just exhausting stuff.
Finally, there are ongoing gestures at queerness which are so fucking obnoxious. Two of the characters are supposedly bisexual but everyone craves the traditional stability of heteronormativity. The book literally ends with a character getting pregnant and talking about marrying her childhood best friend and moving to the country.
This will certainly appeal to a certain type of middle class liberal that fancies themselves progressive but refuses to engage with actual materialist reality. Why consider decades of theory when you can act like you're the first person who has ever thought maybe it's wrong to subjugate much of the world to preserve an expendable lifestyle. Rooney is so transparently trying to come to terms with her own wealth and celebrity and it's just embarrassing.
What a fucking let down after Normal People.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol and Toxic relationship
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Death of parent
lovelybubbles's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexism, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Self harm, Death of parent, Mental illness, Bullying, Biphobia, Drug use, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, and Classism
plumdustsuns's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I like Simon, I believe, but Rooney’s choice with the age gap with him and Eileen made me SO UNCOMFORTABLE. Yes, they’re both older now but it was insinuated that he had these feelings since she was young even though he didn’t act on it.
I’m not sure if I feel the best towards Eileen, though. While I understand her, she also undermined Alice’s work and mental health a lot and I don’t think that was fair or nice of a friend to do. Especially as someone who’s also in the literary field, it’s a little hypocritical.
But I’ve liked reading Rooney’s work so far (just read this and Normal People though). I like how she is able to portray the everyday life and the ‘seemingly mundane’ as dramatically and importantly as it feels. The ending of this felt a lot better and less sterile than that of Normal People’s (the book, at least).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Pandemic/Epidemic, Toxic relationship, Classism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Suicide, and Toxic friendship
clairew97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Pandemic/Epidemic, Drug use, and Emotional abuse
nataliem_98's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
A beautiful dive into relationships, friendships, mental health and everything that goes along with them. Flawed and sometimes toxic characters stumbling through messy lives and loves, but ultimately helping eachother figure out who they are. Easy to read, not for lack of style.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism
marpaige's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness
risemini's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Infidelity, Drug use, Classism, Blood, Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
writingcaia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I’m not even sure how I’m going to review this book.
What can I say?
It lies heavily on the characters or solely, to be honest, as if by living their lives, dealing with their internal and external struggles, the way of the world, the way of people, their meetings, their encounters, their love for each other however crooked and moulded by their own fallibility and fears, they carry the plot. And, they carry it wonderfully, insightfully, painfully, sometimes - for me the also fallible and emotionally pained reader - annoyingly, but without a doubt very candidly and passionately.
Maybe this is not enough for some people, maybe you didn’t or can’t, unlike me see so much of yourself in the characters - me especially in both Alice and Eileen, with their sadness at the world and the people, Eileen with such consuming fear and self-destructiveness and Alice with such crippling anxiety.
The narrative is interesting alternating between third person, with the most beautiful writing that can really put you in there seeing everything as if it was a movie set or the real deal - you know? -, and the first person by way of emails Alice and Eileen exchange between them. Also, pretty good queer representation without being anything about it.
I understand why this author is as hyped as she is, and why, still, there are many who don’t understand that hype. But, as you can clearly imagine after this review, I’m going to devour the rest of her work.
One last note indeed proving how much this book meant to me and how much I related to it, I never mark books, but there was so much I didn’t want to forget, so much I may want to go back to, that I finally made use of those tiny post it thingies and marked the hell out of it.
That’s it folks.
What can I say?
It lies heavily on the characters or solely, to be honest, as if by living their lives, dealing with their internal and external struggles, the way of the world, the way of people, their meetings, their encounters, their love for each other however crooked and moulded by their own fallibility and fears, they carry the plot. And, they carry it wonderfully, insightfully, painfully, sometimes - for me the also fallible and emotionally pained reader - annoyingly, but without a doubt very candidly and passionately.
Maybe this is not enough for some people, maybe you didn’t or can’t, unlike me see so much of yourself in the characters - me especially in both Alice and Eileen, with their sadness at the world and the people, Eileen with such consuming fear and self-destructiveness and Alice with such crippling anxiety.
The narrative is interesting alternating between third person, with the most beautiful writing that can really put you in there seeing everything as if it was a movie set or the real deal - you know? -, and the first person by way of emails Alice and Eileen exchange between them. Also, pretty good queer representation without being anything about it.
I understand why this author is as hyped as she is, and why, still, there are many who don’t understand that hype. But, as you can clearly imagine after this review, I’m going to devour the rest of her work.
One last note indeed proving how much this book meant to me and how much I related to it, I never mark books, but there was so much I didn’t want to forget, so much I may want to go back to, that I finally made use of those tiny post it thingies and marked the hell out of it.
That’s it folks.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness
Minor: Alcohol, Confinement, and Death of parent