Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Conversations with Friends

Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

467 reviews

valsometimesreads's review against another edition

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emotional tense slow-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

3.0

4 of the worst people you know discover

polygamy, kind of? Bad polygamy.

I think sally rooney’s characterization and dialogue are really well done. Her characters feel real in the sense that I sometimes want to strangle all of them but I simultaneously feel for them. I think in particular characters’ defense mechanisms and deflections add an interesting subtext. You know and sometimes directly hear the opinions of the central four on one another; however, since they are all complex and unreliable, you are required to read in between the lines. Sally Rooney never explicitly condemns anyone and I think that is a big strong point of this novel.

However, I still don’t really think her novels are for me. This is likely the last book I’m picking up from her. While her characters are unflinchingly realistic, it is extremely difficult to invest in them as they are at times cruel and hard to redeem. Something off-putting about the characters in this book as well as “Normal People” is that they all seem to buzz around interesting class politics, but to me it always falls flat and comes across as pretty pretentious and empty.

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mariabacterium's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

djenkin96's review

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challenging dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I think it was just a story of repeated behaviours from all the main characters. There were sections of self development or self awareness with the intent to improve, but did any character actually develop ? In the end I didn’t even end up liking Bobbi or Frances or even Melissa. I’m not even sure I liked nick. A lot of loose ends at the end ? It’s Like the author got bored, undid all the self-awareness and ended the book ?

I did like the relevant topics And The nod to endometriosis.However I Feel the author glazed over a large amount of obvious body image issues and an eating disorder ?

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hello_lovely13'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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

There is something about Sally Rooney's writing that just clicks with my brain! I've read many different things that try to do something similar, but somehow it doesn't resonate with me the way her writing does. There's something deeply (and sadly) relatable about each of her characters, and it highlights similarities many people have, particularly ones that we are ashamed of. Frances' inability to be honest with her emotions (and refuse to express them, then somewhat believing her to be superior because of it, only to conflict with her deep-seeded self-hatred) touches every relationship and leads her to make amoral, selfish, and insensitive decisions. She desperately wants to be loved and admired, and she hates herself for it. Did I particularly like her relationship with Nick? Not really. I wasn't rooting for them, but that wasn't really the point.

I can't believe (yet simultaneously absolutely can) the book ends with them starting the cycle all over again and getting back together.

They both have an inability to express their own thoughts that it is weird (and makes sense) that their relationship lasted for as long as it did. Everything each character did was a recipe for disaster. For the first part of the book, I didn't particularly like Bobbi. I oftentimes found her selfish and mean. Her relationship with Frances was so toxic (again, that is part of the point), but at the same time so sad because they do genuinely have great moments of friendship. Sometimes Bobbi misses the point when she calls Frances out, but other times (particularly that last time she does in the book) really hits the nail on the head.

I don't particularly think they should have restarted their "non-relationship", but it's messy and suits them both, I suppose. Although, the ending scene promises even more destruction.

The dialogue is always top tier, and the conversations on the world, privilege, and politics stood out to me as it was one of the things I liked the most about Beautiful World, Where are You (though of course I loved the constant opportunities to psychoanalyze each character the best). This is definitely a sad girl, hot girl book, where a mentally ill woman makes terrible, amoral, self-destructive decisions. I liked it a lot, particularly the dialogue, commentary, and writing style, but I wasn't obsessed with it.

Content Warnings

kashrae99's review against another edition

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emotional sad 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

3.75

Content Warnings

maddiechristine15's review

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emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

benteasm's review

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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

3.75

Content Warnings

rosapalskov's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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

4.25

I loved her way of writing, and how mundane the story was. The characters are so relatable and real, and the author trusts the reader to understand what is happening between the lines, instead of making things too obvious. I loved how you didn’t always quite know what was being said and what was just a thought, and the miscommunication between the characters was not frustrating, but realistic, and showed each characters insecurities. Every relationship dynamic was really interesting, which I rarely find in other books. The story made reflect on friendships and human behaviour, and had an impact on me in general, i will probably think about it for a long time.

Content Warnings

magpienicky's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

littlelizzieborden's review against another edition

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challenging emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Content Warnings

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