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kristenreads's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content
Minor: Pregnancy
withlivjones's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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
4.25
I absolutely adored the exploration of friendship in this novel, and I really liked the narration style - it feels quite distant and almost clinical, focusing less on the characters’ thoughts and feelings and more on how they express those feelings through their actions. I also loved the inclusion of the emails between Alice and Eileen. Again, Sally Rooney does a fantastic job of creating flawed, three-dimensional characters with deep and intricate relationships. It did take a while for me to get into the book, though, as it felt very slow-paced and the long paragraphs were quite difficult to follow at times. I know quite a few people take issue with the ending, and though the final two chapters weren’t strictly necessary, they were very sweet, and it’s not often that Sally Rooney gives us a happy ending to her stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts
elliefardell's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic and Mental illness
Minor: Death of parent
georgiealdridge's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Self harm and Mental illness
cakrawala's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
tense
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
4.5
It’s not the life I used to imagine for myself either. But it’s the life I have, the only one.
Friendship and love, you have it all here. 4 adults, trying to figure out what they want and where do they belong. Each characters have their own complexity. Their relationship is so complicated, a lot of misunderstanding and miscommunication. The character development is so strong until you could feel the frustration that happened within them. I love how Sally Rooney could portray that there is no one in this world who's special and always win. Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win, sometimes it's in between.
The situation is also described very well and detailed. The plot is slowly going forward, it's a bit boring at first (i would say the half of the book) but the ending is finally a happy one. Sorry for being traumatized because of Sally Rooney's previous books that I thought they won't have a good ending, or open ending (worst case). I'm so satisfied at the end. Overall, I definitely love with this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
siob___'s review against another edition
dark
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
3.75
I liked it at first, but it went on a little too long and the longer it went on the less likeable I found the characters. Maybe that’s supposed to be the case?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual content
mariabacterium's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual content, and Mental illness
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
addisonpatrice's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I've only read one other Rooney novel (Normal People), but it seems so far that she likes to reuse characters. The women are insecure and distant and deep, the men are good "deep down" and hopelessly in love with the woman. The relationships are harder than they need to be because no one fucking communicates. Overall this book was okay. Not quite at the same level as Normal People, but maybe that's just because I read that one first. I did love the exploration of Alice's health issues and the ways she thought about them. It was refreshing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Mental illness
a_rash_read's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Vomit, Toxic friendship, Pandemic/Epidemic, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Drug use, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
theothergrl's review against another edition
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
4.5
Sally Rooney's characters are nothing if not realistic. I felt I was reading about the people in my own life, about the actual stories of ordinary folk. These aren't love stories that swell the heart with big gestures and serendipitous circumstances that have one believing in the miracles of romance. But they are real. The end game is flawed, the relationships are messy, not in the dramatic sense, but ordinarily so. Sally Rooney writes, with good understanding, about the socio-economic factors that play into our interpersonal lives. How class differences can forge oceans between us, how power dynamics in age gaps can be so easy to fall into and so hard to crawl out of. I found it smart, the way she wrote in third person, as an observer, because it really instated the reality of such things. That most of the time they aren't overcome. That, at the end of the day, these are just the normal people we see at the supermarket or catching a train. I appreciated that the most when I finished the book. I felt like I was being told that it's going to be okay, that even though I can't overcome everything, there is still beauty to be found amongst it all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Drug use, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Bullying, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide