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kejames's review
lighthearted
medium-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
1.5
It was actually painful to get through this book. Though there is nothing exactly wrong with insecure, selfish, and at sometimes immoral characters, Rooney has somehow made it all that and boring. This novel felt like the embodiment of white woman tears. I at times had to remind myself that these characters are almost 30, but had the emotional intelligence of a toddler (no offense to toddlers btw). Uncomfortable sex scenes just showed the prison that gender and heterosexuality really is, but trying to make us believe this pleasurable. I won't even get into how the book and Alice just got passed Felix's illegal and gross encounter with a minor. I said this with Normal People and I'll say it again, it seems as if the writing is not supposed to be of substance or literary in any way, but rather an outline for future script production as an annoying romcom (again, no offense to romcoms).
Content Warnings
Minor: Pedophilia
danajoy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is not my first Sally Rooney. I'm one of the camp who read and loved Normal People (and was a bit too nervous to pick up Conversations with Friends as a result). I really enjoy her dialogue, the way she ignores the conventions so it occurs concurrently to everything else. There isn't much in the way of punctuation and occasionally it can be a but hard to work out who is talking but there is something about it I really like.
BWWAY didn't grab me in the same way that Normal People did. I found the characters pretty pretentious and immature. While the difficulty to communicate emotions felt very understandable for teenagers in this book the cast are almost thirty and feel like they're stuck in the mindset of self-important 20 year olds. The emails they send eachother are very philosophical and felt a bit too long and essay like to me.
BWWAY didn't grab me in the same way that Normal People did. I found the characters pretty pretentious and immature. While the difficulty to communicate emotions felt very understandable for teenagers in this book the cast are almost thirty and feel like they're stuck in the mindset of self-important 20 year olds. The emails they send eachother are very philosophical and felt a bit too long and essay like to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Pregnancy
Minor: Pedophilia and Abortion
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