Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

89 reviews

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

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

nineinchnails's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity and Mental illness

Moderate: Chronic illness, Classism, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Body dysmorphia

labhaoise4's review

dark emotional funny reflective slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Vomit, Self harm, and Infertility

theliteraryteapot's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I have absolutely zero tolerance when it comes to adultery so obviously this was not a book for me. Yes, I understand the characters are meant to be very flawed and all that stuff, okay and then what? What do we do with this and them? Because it certainly didn't feel like any of them grew out of this, they seem stuck and there's barely a sign for a future character development. They all need therapy.
Add to that, as someone who grew up in the countryside, coming from a half-romani family, not rich, not bourgeois, with poor access to culture and literature, reading this book about privileged white rich and bourgeois (plus shitty and not genuine) people felt weird and useless. Their supposed political ideas felt so very performative.

On the endometriosis aspect, as I have the disease, I can't judge much because it can manifest in many different ways from one person to another. The only thing (maybe I'm nitpicking here), is that no you don't necessarily need a surgery to confirm a diagnosis, an mri scan is enough. And no, endometriosis is not just painful periods and infertility, it's so much more, so many other symptoms and different types of pain (outside periods and ovulations).

Also, I've seen people debating on Rooney's writing style and I don't get why? There's nothing to say to it, it's easy to read and very accessible.

It's funny because on paper Frances could have been my representation I guess: bi, endometriosis, poetess, studying literature, financially struggling (except for the fact her uncle owns her apartment), and yet... Nothing worked for me. It's just not for me.

I'm glad it got me out of a reading slump and I'm glad to see endometriosis more in fiction. That's it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Self harm, Alcoholism, Blood, Mental illness, and Vomit

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Pregnancy

jillaay_h's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Vomit, Blood, and Medical content

saradtotheb's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Self harm, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Blood and Vomit

kashrae99's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Mental illness, Infidelity, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcoholism, Medical content, Blood, Chronic illness, and Classism

Minor: Infertility and Vomit

komiification's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

I'm not smart enough to fully understand this book, but it made me so fucking sad. Every single line was a poetic punch in my stomach. It made me want to die I was so miserable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Vomit, Alcohol, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Cursing, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Police brutality and Racism

samanthaleereads's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Chronic illness, Medical content, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Infidelity

Moderate: Blood, Infertility, Mental illness, and Classism

Minor: Vomit, Cursing, Physical abuse, and Drug use