Reviews with content warning for War - Conversations with Friends

Reviews tagging 'War'

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

10 reviews

mlovesbooks's review against another edition

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funny reflective tense 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

3.5

Better than Normal People but still not great.

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annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-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

4.5

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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redroseses's review

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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frantically's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

Was gonna rate this lower but I'm a hoe for chronic illness rep (and fellow ignorers of their chronic illnesses).

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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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ale15sousa's review

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective relaxing tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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nicolinebl's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Definitely prefer this book over Rooney's other novel Normal People, although, to be fair, I was probably a bit too young to read that book back then (time for a re-read!). Her characters are never very likeworthy and definitely remind me of the main characters in Exciting Times & A Year of Rest and Relaxation. Even though Frances wasn't likeable, she was quite relatable in other ways. I guess you will always relate more to a flawed character than some miss-perfect.

I'm not quite sure how to describe what I thought of this book other than it feeling like taking a road-trip, getting to know the characters through observing and listening to them. It is a book that is very much about its characters and their actions. It's not a wild adventurous story but I was still on the edge of my seat, curious where the story would go. This is the second book by Sally I've read and her characters tend to be quite pretentious, not sure if that is on purpose or not. I do like the philosophical and intellectual conversations they have with each other though.

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