Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Beautiful World, Where Are You

I enjoyed this book a lot, even though there were a few things I didn't like. For example, I found the first few chapters in particular to be slow paced, making it difficult for me to get into. Although I like the letter and email format, it took me longer to read those chapters than the rest. However, what Rooney does extremely well in this novel is explore sex, religion, sexuality, and mental health. All very important topics to discuss. I loved Eileen and Simon's relationship development, as I think it represents a lot of modern relationships.

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danajoy's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This is not my first Sally Rooney. I'm one of the camp who read and loved Normal People (and was a bit too nervous to pick up Conversations with Friends as a result). I really enjoy her dialogue, the way she ignores the conventions so it occurs concurrently to everything else. There isn't much in the way of punctuation and occasionally it can be a but hard to work out who is talking but there is something about it I really like.

BWWAY didn't grab me in the same way that Normal People did. I found the characters pretty pretentious and immature. While the difficulty to communicate emotions felt very understandable for teenagers in this book the cast are almost thirty and feel like they're stuck in the mindset of self-important 20 year olds. The emails they send eachother are very philosophical and felt a bit too long and essay like to me.

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claragweny's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

4.0

A nice, easy to listen to audiobook. I found myself surprised by the significant number of emails in the book but I absolutely loved it. I’m a big fan of epistolary novels so loving this wasn’t a very far stretch for me. The dynamic between Simon and Eileen was a bit strange for me but the way these characters acknowledge the age gap/power dynamic in the story felt genuine. Felix was most definitely my favorite character in the story. His short, funny manner mixed with his indifferent queerness made me want to see more of him. If Sally Rooney wrote a story about Felix I would read it in a heartbeat.

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junji_ito_hoe's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

I picked this book up by chance. I was intrigued by Salley Rooney after hearing about her beloved writing style. Normal people was on my radar, however, when I attended the books store I saw that Beautiful World, Where Are You was on sale and this short but enjoyable experience began. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I stayed up all night one night in an attempt to finish this before my eyes grew drowsy around 3 am. I was invested in the relationships between the characters from chapter 3. In addition to this, I found that at times the character dynamics fell flat and came off as superficial and recycled. Alice was my least favorite character because she was very pretentious and exasperating at times, however, I can see her appeal and how others might relate to her.

Towards the end, Alice appeared to be on a high-horse believing that she was superior to our other main characters and their mediocre jobs while also believing that her life is significantly harder than Eileen's when the circumstances are not comparable in that form

. Simon was a confusing character because it was unclear how Rooney was attempting to portray him…Creepy or Caring? I also felt that Felix was an underdeveloped character and he felt more like the dumb character who is just around to say something smart every once in a while. The emails every second chapter were too over-polished to be believable as two friends talking. I found the topics discussed in the emails interesting because they gave us as readers insight into who Eileen and Alice are and their motivations. Overall I did enjoy this book and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction and doesn’t mind the sexual content.

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storykath's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.5

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anima_vestaa's review against another edition

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inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

A lovely, inspiring and beautifully realistic book about finding meaning and beauty in a cold modern world. The conclusion of the book is disputable imo and I would have loved a bit more diversity w the characters. Still manages a great rating for the inspiring remarks on the modern world and the great writing.

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samvansam's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.5

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xenamollie's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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