Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Conversations with Friends

my second go with Sally Rooney (first being Normal People), and this time was much more enjoyable. nowhere near as bleak and depressing, but still very emotional. i found the narrator’s desperate need for validation relatable; me too girlie. really well plotted. don’t be fooled by the title though: it’s a lot of internal monologue and more about the conversations that didn’t happen than the ones that did.

i have to comment on the US cover, especially for the audiobook (storygraph shows a different one but you can see what i’m talking about here: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41DTekX2n4L._SL500_.jpg). first of all, i don’t mind the composition but i dislike the art style, its flatness and lifelessness when this book is all about complex characters. but what really bothers me is that i think some other artist was given the task of adapting the cover art to a square aspect ratio for the audiobook, and literally copied, pasted, and mirrored the original tightly-cropped faces, adding in the nose bits. because, why are they so symmetrical?? why are their facial features so small?? it’s firmly in the uncanny valley. shoutout to the Danish cover, though, so pretty: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/0bf9c4f3-3123-4d7b-a6b5-8955ff06e5f6
edit: the Russian hardcover is also beautiful: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/183d6a3b-d207-4cfb-aa9e-e36bc6df3f84

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leavesofmytree's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense 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

4.0

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maarigirl's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective relaxing sad tense 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

2.75

I found this easy to read quickly but this has got to be Sally Rooney's most unlikeable set of characters. It's almost like she's insisting throughout the book that these characters are awful. Frances, the main character has good things going for her but she never seems to care or show gratitude. Frankly, she seemed extremely depressed which was depressing to read. Reading her perspective on life made me hate life so I would not recommend this book if you want to feel better about the world or if you are already depressed.
What I liked about this book is the lack of plot because I don't like reading anything too stressful (but this might also be because I didn't really care what happened to the characters). I also think this could be a good read for anyone in university who is feeling a bit lost. This book won't help you feel less lost but at least you'll find solace in Frances' struggles.

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_tee_'s review

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sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

were you meant to despise every character and event in this book, longing to finish? (i especially despised bobbi)

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kdscolley's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

2.5

Rooney's writing style is so hard for me to read, but I wanted to give it another shot. So, I chose to listen to this on audio. It was hard to see the battle Frances was going through with trauma from her history, and I found I was constantly trying to cheer her on and root for her to be more open. I think it was hard for me to read because I related to the feeling of wanting to remain closed off and not a burden to anyone else. It's easy to mask that feeling as an "independent woman" when really you're struggling inside.

Though I could relate, and it was nice to see the relationship as normal, I think I just struggled with the way it was written

and the cheating element

. I just can't get past the frustration I have with those.

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