Reviews with content warning for Self harm - Hová lettél, szép világ

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.

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carbs666's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Having now read this whole book I still don't know if I enjoyed it or not. I have really enjoyed the previous books I've read by Rooney, and this one has some overlapping elements, but overall I found it slow and sad and without a clear purpose.

I would argue this novel is largely atmospheric, and those moments of quiet when the characters aren't looking and the "beautiful world" does reveal itself are some of my favorites in the book. I also really enjoyed Eileen and Alice's insightful correspondence, and found it kind of funny how these long emails tell you what the book is actually about; without them, I don't feel the book would have much substance.

This book is mostly about a handful of sad and confused people who cannot speak honestly with each other and resort to immature emotional manipulations that made me forget the characters were all 30 or older. So I guess they were just regular people, then. Nothing much happens in the book, and this nothing much ultimately leads to a large emotional crisis that has been brewing under the surface the entire book, that you may not have noticed because you were too busy feeling annoyed with Simon and Eileen and wary of Felix or Alice. Strangely, this emotional crisis does not actually reveal anything new about Alice and Eileen, but gives opportunities for Felix and Simon to take centre stage in the aftermath.

Why so much God in this book? Can the beautiful world not exist secularly? Also, if God IS so important why is faith and its meaning only briefly explored? Mostly this book left me a little unsatisfied, despite the ending being tied up with a neat little bow.

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