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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
abbywriwri's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
I love this author’s writing she writes character’s personalities so well. There is a sharp exact way to her writing even when she is writing about emotional topics she stays exact and succinct. I loved the characters and their flaws and personalities. I enjoyed the book but felt the ending was so sudden.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, and Drug use
ellaford's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-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
This is my favourite release from Sally Rooney yet. The way this is written gives so much yet leaves so much for interpretation, and her magic with describing emotional complexities we all feel is just amazing. This book is funny, dark, sexy, reflective and a great commentary on the state of the world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Mental illness
Moderate: Self harm, Biphobia, Classism, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Self harm, and Adult/minor relationship
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
issyd23's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-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
2.0
Wish sally would just write a collection of essays already - the extended emails were unenjoyable to read. Also hated the men in the book 2⭐️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship
gabbygarcia's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Mental illness
Moderate: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abortion, Blood, Cursing, Sexism, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, and Classism
jasminrain's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-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
4.0
I adore Rooney's way with words. This book is so beautifully written and the way in which she describes the world and moments is really extraordinary. I loved the letters and the intellectual discussion between the two main characters through them - they gave me a lot to think about. But as a story and characters, it was nothing out of ordinary. I didn't enjoy the characters or their relationships. There was just so much gaslighting and toxic relationships, and incidents such as sexual coercion that went unaddressed and the book seemed to normalise. On a lighter note, I also couldn't relate to any of the characters. For lots of people this seems to be the reality that we live in, but for me it seemed absurd.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual violence, Self harm, Bullying, Classism, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
theotheleo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy
james1star's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Oh my goodness!!! Personally this book was phenomenal, I absolutely loved it! Another incredible novel by Sally Rooney.
I’ll start the review with my cons (if you can call them that because some are also pros) but my main irk I don’t think I’ll ever get over with reading Rooney is her lack of quotation marks - hun, isn’t it basic grammar?? Maybe not but I just get irritated about this - which is annoying and once again requires a lot of ‘she/he/they said/murmured/etc…’ which does get very repetitive as you’re reading and also at times you don’t exactly know which character is talking but for the most part it’s decipherable. Likewise, in beautiful world, Rooney somewhat mixes up the ‘correct’ way of presenting speech (as in using separated lines) with combining speech and narration in huge and I mean HUGE paragraphs carrying over page after page which is quite hard to get your head around.
Moving away from these to actual book content, I do feel that the sex elements are in some places overkill and this goes for other topics and definitely gets repetitive. Personally I would maybe prefer some parts to have been omitted as very similar. Additionally, this book is de-scrip-tive (say it with emphasis huns) and very very very (yep it calls for three ‘very’s) heavy/dense. I’ll get onto why I like this in a sec but I did find it hard to read in places and a bit tiresome where I felt I was forcing myself to read huge passages just to get on with the narrative but maybe not enjoying the process. Also unlike ‘normal people’ and more like ‘conversations with friends’ I don’t think I could read it all in one go (or at least enjoy doing so) because of the density. As previously mentions, some topics are discussed a bit too much especially religion with recurring conversations but it wasn’t off-putting.
Now to the good bits. These characters I did root for. That’s not to say they’re unproblematic and certainly do things that made me want to get inside the pages and shake/hit/yell at them but overall they’re ‘good’ people with a variety of struggles and strifes in their lives. A little bias but the queer additions I did like (around page 270-80 I was so near to giving up on the main relationships and going full on gay shipping… but alas, I didn’t) and these were nice to read. Following on, the characters all deal with many things and the book acknowledges a lot of topics including: religion, sex (oof a big one), mental health, suicidal thoughts, toxic relationships, employment, celebrity culture, socialist ideals and many more. Mentioning that last point I will add they way Rooney let’s the characters discuss communism/socialism/politics sorta themes is done the best in beautiful world - via letters between Alice and Eileen - and most natural I feel.
Another major theme is the idea of what is the meaning of life in essence and how we’re all searching for a beautiful world. Side note but the discussions on ‘what is beauty?’ and other similar topics is really lovely to read and very insightful and makes you think for sure. But main point again that has really stuck with me is how… it’s so hard to articulate what I’m thinking right now. But basically the characters are discussing how there’s many issues in the world and these are BIG global problems e.g. poverty, world hunger, climate change, political minefields and lots more. But then at the end of the day… or at the end of one’s life as mentioned in one of the emails, what we really cling to is our friends and family, who we love/loved/missed out on loving, those who’s lives we touched and in what ways, how they touched ours and all these ‘little’ relationships and events that seem so minimal or unimportant in the grand scheme of problems/discussions facing the world but then when we add up each individual’s lived experiences (or the human condition in a more philosophical outlook) they actually end up amounting to so much more. Think about it… if we combine every single person’s seemingly irrelevant experiences together they obviously add up to something huge. I don’t know but Yhh this ideology and discussions really stuck with me. How all of us in search of a beautiful world as a whole should maybe look more for beauty in our personal worlds which would then creates a ‘whole’ beautiful existence. I don’t know what I am trotting on about anymore but this book definitely make me think about this and the way the email exchanges go off on tangents and rambles is so so magical and ‘human’ if you like.
Another thing I did really like was the descriptive nature of this novel. Whilst it does get a bit too much in places, I do feel there is a reason for this. Rooney really makes us feel so connected to the characters and it’s hard to realise at the end of the day there’s a page between you and them because it’s written so descriptively that you can image them being real. More so then all her previous characters and previous conversations. Likewise, I sense this is a more mature book compared to her previous works due in part to some themes but also her growth as a writer. Also the characters are all in their thirties as opposed to early twenties so naturally there will be more complex characters in a way. And complex they are.
The layout of the book I also really loved where we follow a third person narration of what’s going on in one of the ‘couples’ lives (Alice and Felix OR Eileen and Simon) interjected by email correspondences between Alice and Eileen which is in the first person. I really and I mean really loved these emails so much. They just seemed so real and Yhh… perfection. This follows up until they all meet where we have some chapters just narrating the plot ending with two emails set in the ‘present’ during a Covid—19 lockdown. Some reviews don’t like this addition and feel it’s an unnecessary add-on but I actually loved it. Before the emails the characters are in a somewhat precarious but happy state and then this is confirmed at the end. For me it was the best ending of Rooney’s previous books - I wasn’t left annoyed for once and just genuinely happy I guess.
I could literally talk on and on and on about this book so I think I’ve covered all grounds I wanted to !?! But Yhh I would totes recommend - a clear 4.75 stars from me. Thank you Sally xx can’t wait for more
I’ll start the review with my cons (if you can call them that because some are also pros) but my main irk I don’t think I’ll ever get over with reading Rooney is her lack of quotation marks - hun, isn’t it basic grammar?? Maybe not but I just get irritated about this - which is annoying and once again requires a lot of ‘she/he/they said/murmured/etc…’ which does get very repetitive as you’re reading and also at times you don’t exactly know which character is talking but for the most part it’s decipherable. Likewise, in beautiful world, Rooney somewhat mixes up the ‘correct’ way of presenting speech (as in using separated lines) with combining speech and narration in huge and I mean HUGE paragraphs carrying over page after page which is quite hard to get your head around.
Moving away from these to actual book content, I do feel that the sex elements are in some places overkill and this goes for other topics and definitely gets repetitive. Personally I would maybe prefer some parts to have been omitted as very similar. Additionally, this book is de-scrip-tive (say it with emphasis huns) and very very very (yep it calls for three ‘very’s) heavy/dense. I’ll get onto why I like this in a sec but I did find it hard to read in places and a bit tiresome where I felt I was forcing myself to read huge passages just to get on with the narrative but maybe not enjoying the process. Also unlike ‘normal people’ and more like ‘conversations with friends’ I don’t think I could read it all in one go (or at least enjoy doing so) because of the density. As previously mentions, some topics are discussed a bit too much especially religion with recurring conversations but it wasn’t off-putting.
Now to the good bits. These characters I did root for. That’s not to say they’re unproblematic and certainly do things that made me want to get inside the pages and shake/hit/yell at them but overall they’re ‘good’ people with a variety of struggles and strifes in their lives. A little bias but the queer additions I did like (around page 270-80 I was so near to giving up on the main relationships and going full on gay shipping… but alas, I didn’t) and these were nice to read. Following on, the characters all deal with many things and the book acknowledges a lot of topics including: religion, sex (oof a big one), mental health, suicidal thoughts, toxic relationships, employment, celebrity culture, socialist ideals and many more. Mentioning that last point I will add they way Rooney let’s the characters discuss communism/socialism/politics sorta themes is done the best in beautiful world - via letters between Alice and Eileen - and most natural I feel.
Another major theme is the idea of what is the meaning of life in essence and how we’re all searching for a beautiful world. Side note but the discussions on ‘what is beauty?’ and other similar topics is really lovely to read and very insightful and makes you think for sure. But main point again that has really stuck with me is how… it’s so hard to articulate what I’m thinking right now. But basically the characters are discussing how there’s many issues in the world and these are BIG global problems e.g. poverty, world hunger, climate change, political minefields and lots more. But then at the end of the day… or at the end of one’s life as mentioned in one of the emails, what we really cling to is our friends and family, who we love/loved/missed out on loving, those who’s lives we touched and in what ways, how they touched ours and all these ‘little’ relationships and events that seem so minimal or unimportant in the grand scheme of problems/discussions facing the world but then when we add up each individual’s lived experiences (or the human condition in a more philosophical outlook) they actually end up amounting to so much more. Think about it… if we combine every single person’s seemingly irrelevant experiences together they obviously add up to something huge. I don’t know but Yhh this ideology and discussions really stuck with me. How all of us in search of a beautiful world as a whole should maybe look more for beauty in our personal worlds which would then creates a ‘whole’ beautiful existence. I don’t know what I am trotting on about anymore but this book definitely make me think about this and the way the email exchanges go off on tangents and rambles is so so magical and ‘human’ if you like.
Another thing I did really like was the descriptive nature of this novel. Whilst it does get a bit too much in places, I do feel there is a reason for this. Rooney really makes us feel so connected to the characters and it’s hard to realise at the end of the day there’s a page between you and them because it’s written so descriptively that you can image them being real. More so then all her previous characters and previous conversations. Likewise, I sense this is a more mature book compared to her previous works due in part to some themes but also her growth as a writer. Also the characters are all in their thirties as opposed to early twenties so naturally there will be more complex characters in a way. And complex they are.
The layout of the book I also really loved where we follow a third person narration of what’s going on in one of the ‘couples’ lives (Alice and Felix OR Eileen and Simon) interjected by email correspondences between Alice and Eileen which is in the first person. I really and I mean really loved these emails so much. They just seemed so real and Yhh… perfection. This follows up until they all meet where we have some chapters just narrating the plot ending with two emails set in the ‘present’ during a Covid—19 lockdown. Some reviews don’t like this addition and feel it’s an unnecessary add-on but I actually loved it. Before the emails the characters are in a somewhat precarious but happy state and then this is confirmed at the end. For me it was the best ending of Rooney’s previous books - I wasn’t left annoyed for once and just genuinely happy I guess.
I could literally talk on and on and on about this book so I think I’ve covered all grounds I wanted to !?! But Yhh I would totes recommend - a clear 4.75 stars from me. Thank you Sally xx can’t wait for more
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content
Moderate: Classism, Drug use, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, and Infidelity