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Way too triggering
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship
Minor: Child abuse
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
challenging
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book. It was recommended to me, and I’m glad I picked it up. At first I was hesitant. There’s no quotes used and it moved very fast, so it felt rushed. But seeing as how it’s a story that unfolds over many years, the fast pace quickly made sense and felt natural. Rooney successfully told the story of two lovers who can’t let one another go so well. My favorite part is how Marianne and Connell’s relationship is depicted. It’s not this firey passionate, “you’re the only one for me!!!” type of unable to resist. It’s a slow burning, comfortable, peaceful, knowing relationship that comes from them being the one person the other can be comfortable with. They know one another almost better than they know themselves. My favorite Connell and Marianne was the early Trinity one, where they were content together, and seemed to slip into a very natural relationship. I just…can’t get over how much themselves they could be together. like the part about Marianne and Connell talking about sending each other nudes is so breathtaking to me, because that’s something deeply personal. And they trust one another wholly and completely with it. Also, every time they meet again, after some distance, its always natural. And the emails Connell writes to Marianne are like love letters in the sense that they’re so personal and thoughtful. Not performative at all, like some of the few letters I’ve written people. They’re letters of someone who has meaningful conversations with the other often. And just can’t help but continue to have them. The end got pretty intense for me. I was not a fan of Marianne’s dominance “kink.” I hesitate to say kink, because it wasn’t really one. She was just trying to heal her psychological trauma through sex, unsuccessfully, and probably causes more damaged. It unnerved me that it never seemed resolved. Yes, Rooney talked in the end about how she found a way to submit without the violence, but it still seemed to me that her reason for submitting was to relive the trauma from her brother in a controlled environment. Even if Connell was not violent or even spoke cruelly, she is in the same headspace as when those things were done to her. And that doesn’t heal anything. Overall, it was a heartbreaking—in the best way—book. 10/10 would recommend.
3/12/22 update
I don’t know if I’ll ever untangle the tone of the ending obviously with Connell assumed to be leaving, it would seem it’s supposed to be sad. But Marianne seems at peace with it, happy with their relationship. It’s not even clear that they’d break up. And from her saying “I’ll always be here” it’s pretty obvious they’d find their way back to one another no matter what. But also, Marianne doesn’t seem healed, so can her supposed peace be taken as happy? She seemed at peace with Connell in the ending, but she also continued to submit to him. And her submission is entangled in a lot of psychological trauma, so it’s not necessarily healthy.
Her relationship with sadomasochism is fascinating to me. It’s definitely stemming partly from trauma, and not entirely healthy. And she seems to always be on the cusp of realizing this. Or maybe she did know it’s hard to tell. Either way, she didn’t seem interested in healing that damaged part. She just let it stay damaged, get more damaged. Which is a very normal thing for people to do, but I would’ve thought when it came to Connell, at the end, she’d wake up to it. And the way Connell recognizes her submission and is sickened by it, but also indulges it at the end is interesting. Does he see how entrenched in trauma it is? Does he care? Is their relationship—in the ending—one that is based in submission? It seems they have a normal one, from how it’s described, but Marianne appears to submit often outside of sex so it seems it’s not entirely vanilla.
3/12/22 update
I don’t know if I’ll ever untangle the tone of the ending
Her relationship with sadomasochism is fascinating to me. It’s definitely stemming partly from trauma, and not entirely healthy. And she seems to always be on the cusp of realizing this. Or maybe she did know it’s hard to tell. Either way, she didn’t seem interested in healing that damaged part. She just let it stay damaged, get more damaged. Which is a very normal thing for people to do, but I would’ve thought when it came to Connell, at the end, she’d wake up to it. And the way Connell recognizes her submission and is sickened by it, but also indulges it at the end is interesting. Does he see how entrenched in trauma it is? Does he care? Is their relationship—in the ending—one that is based in submission? It seems they have a normal one, from how it’s described, but Marianne appears to submit often outside of sex so it seems it’s not entirely vanilla.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Alcohol
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
i honestly really liked this book although the lack of quotation marks took me a bit to get used to. i found it so refreshing to see the relationship develop but still have its issues and to see the characters in relationships with other people; seeing how different they act or are with others compared to eachother and how that affected C and M's relationship in the end
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment
reflective
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
Enjoyed this book more than I thought I would when I began reading it. Never read a book like it before and was unsure whether I was enjoying it or not. It was only towards the end that I definitively decided I did indeed like the book. I couldn’t stop thinking about for days afterwards. Plot wise - nothing significant ever really happens but I always felt engaged; and the characters themselves are quite mundane. The beauty of this book is it’s mundane and often uneventful nature. It feels so relatable, down to earth and raw. The characters are flawed but you can’t help but love them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse