Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

388 reviews

bowelhaus's review against another edition

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emotional 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

3.75

Funny and full of drama. The characters feel like real people and you’re the normal friend listening to them tell you how they’re fucking up their lives.
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lumew2's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

idk how i started liking the characters by the end but i did. good god. 
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rqs8236's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective 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

4.0

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kvera10's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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seventhswan's review against another edition

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reflective 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

3.75

Hot take, definitely never posted by anyone before: Sally Rooney is an excellent writer. Her observational and descriptive skills are really like no-one else, and Conversations with Friends was no exception - I didn't want to put this book down, and got the same sense of being acutely seen that I always do from her writing. 

That said, this was definitely my least-favourite book of Rooney's three currently-published novels. In Normal People and Beautiful World, I liked or at least sympathised with the main characters; here I spent most of the book actively hating them, and Frances' voice grated on me throughout. This still represents considerable skill in writing, and I'm not averse to an unlikeable narrator in the slightest, but it did weaken my emotional investment in most of the story.

Or so I thought, until I got to the final chapter, and promptly threw the book at the wall, which is not something I believed people actually did until now. Have I been Frances? Absolutely! Did that make me want to give her head a wobble any less? Absolutely not!

Overall, then, I wouldn't say I enjoyed CwF in the same way that I got genuine delight from parts of Normal People and Beautiful World, but I'm glad I read it, even if a lot of what I liked about it was the smug self-satisfaction that I'm Not Frances Any More.
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adisiki's review against another edition

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3.0

I hate the cheating/infidelity/affair trope in any context, so I should’ve realized that before I got into this. I did like the writing style and structure, I didn’t mind the lack of quotation marks and thought it was well-written. Every character was super insufferable and unlikeable, Frances was a complex character and her relationships with Bobbi, Nick, and even Melissa were interesting to dive into.
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addanumlaut's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

i am notorious for hating anything that has infidelity as a plot device. this book surprised me in the second half with just how much i enjoyed it. the characters are complex and i found myself relating to the feelings and insecurities they had even though i would never do something like frances. this is my first sally rooney novel and i'm eager to read more by her.
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vannahcabana's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

This book follows Frances’ journey as a young college student. This book is not what I thought it was when I picked it up. However, it’s not terrible, but I didn’t think it was great. A great deal of intimate moments throughout that I personally didn’t think were necessary to the storyline. 
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jeffgoldblumsbeats's review

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3.5

ack once again sally rooney exposes my inability to deal with conflict even in character form - well written, hard to read
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nineinchnails's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

frances was painfully relatable and i really loved her despite all the secondhand embarrassment and frustration. i definitely came out of it confused and conflicted on how to feel about nick but at least i don’t completely loathe him! for now this is tied with normal people but i’m not sure if it’ll measure up beyond the short term since i really loved normal people.
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