Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

1241 reviews

bowelhaus's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Sexual content, Self harm, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Infertility

adilop's review against another edition

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

lumew2's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Toxic friendship, Blood, Infidelity, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Self harm

Moderate: Vomit, Alcohol, and Cursing

Minor: Addiction, Lesbophobia, and Classism

rqs8236's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Minor: Self harm

manukahoney_reads's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Medical content, and Self harm

Minor: Miscarriage and Police brutality

caitlynburns2007's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Medical content, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

kvera10's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Infertility, and Infidelity

seventhswan's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Chronic illness, Self harm, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual violence, and Vomit

alexandradogbe's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective

4.75

aahhhhhhhh

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm and Chronic illness

sowall's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

I was a bit hesitant for the first 50 or so pages, but then I loved this?

Rooney’s writing just works for me, and the character study is perfect.

We never reach a conclusion, because that’s the points. I can’t hate any of the characters but I also can’t really love them. Such a good novel.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Self harm