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mauraneandbooks's review against another edition
2.0
I used to think I was a Sally rooney fan but maybe I'm just a normal people fan :(
chaun_sox's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jaclyncrupi's review against another edition
5.0
Rooney’s writing is always character explored through relationships and sex. This book hinges on those three things, the friendship between Alice and Eileen being the most important of them all. I loved novelist Alice fiercely. Her commentary on writers, publishing and the whole damn mess was delicious. It’s hard not to equate her with Rooney despite my best intentions to never conflate art and artist. It’s worth talking about form and structure, too. Rooney’s use of the epistolary form works particularly well. The friendship between Alice and Eileen is so interesting and their long emails back and forth standing in for conversations is clever and effective. These emails are broken up by real world contained moments between each woman and usually Felix or Simon respectively. The insights the emails the women write each other offer about these moments opens them up for the reader. Form and structure work in perfect harmony here and there’s a lovely contrast between the intimacy of the emails and the coolness of the scenes. When she does finally get them in a room together the feeling is electric. I believe in Rooney’s vision of a beautiful world. This book is wonderful and my personal favourite Rooney yet.
odahalv's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
mransford's review against another edition
4.0
Weird narration choice.. third person objective but guessing about what the characters might be feeling. Like asking questions and giving no definite answer. It felt like a play in this way; like she was giving stage directions. The disjointedness between the narration and emails between the girls is shocking, but those emails showed me how talented Rooney is
byzeio's review against another edition
medium-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
2.0
brookplouffe's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-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
4.25
tinlizzyd08's review against another edition
2.0
Nope.
I didn’t like this book at all. It’s written mainly as emails between two long term friends, Alice and Eileen. Alice is a famous but depressed writer and Eileen is a scatter brained editor for a literary magazine who is unsure if she is in love with her best friend Simon. The emails ramble on in some type of pseudo-intellectual babble that is supposed to be thought-provoking, I suppose. I found both women arrogant and annoying, criticizing religion, people older than 30, and each other. The writing was pedestrian and overinflated with no real storyline. Just a terrible book.
I didn’t like this book at all. It’s written mainly as emails between two long term friends, Alice and Eileen. Alice is a famous but depressed writer and Eileen is a scatter brained editor for a literary magazine who is unsure if she is in love with her best friend Simon. The emails ramble on in some type of pseudo-intellectual babble that is supposed to be thought-provoking, I suppose. I found both women arrogant and annoying, criticizing religion, people older than 30, and each other. The writing was pedestrian and overinflated with no real storyline. Just a terrible book.
deatheslowreader's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
At 24 years old, this is a 5 star book. I’m curious about the way it will hold up for me over time. I’m so impressed with the way Rooney is able to make the mundane captivating.
ms_jo's review against another edition
2.0
I’m sorry, but I found that this just dragged. It has taken me weeks to get through, even when I was so excited to start. The care team characters are actually pretty engaging and there are some beautifully intimate scenes and poignant lines, but all interspersed with just… kind of… waffle.
There’s lots of long paragraphs of internal character monologue, all of which actually seem to be slightly self-indulgent and not too subtle musings from Rooney herself. You may have seen reviews about ‘left wing political messaging’ etc but there is also a lot said about the role of the author and ideas of privacy and scrutiny of the individual which feel like Rooney trying to make a pointed comment. This isn’t, in and of itself, a problem. But it wasn’t interesting to read…
The last 10 pages have been talked about a lot and frankly I liked the ending the gave in that it was all pretty nice and neat, but it didn’t at all feel like the ending the book was building towards. More like an extra addition or afterthought because otherwise literally nothing happened.
There’s lots of long paragraphs of internal character monologue, all of which actually seem to be slightly self-indulgent and not too subtle musings from Rooney herself. You may have seen reviews about ‘left wing political messaging’ etc but there is also a lot said about the role of the author and ideas of privacy and scrutiny of the individual which feel like Rooney trying to make a pointed comment. This isn’t, in and of itself, a problem. But it wasn’t interesting to read…
The last 10 pages have been talked about a lot and frankly I liked the ending the gave in that it was all pretty nice and neat, but it didn’t at all feel like the ending the book was building towards. More like an extra addition or afterthought because otherwise literally nothing happened.