Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Beautiful World, Where Are You

I think this might be the last time I’m reading a Sally Rooney novel. I’m not too surprised that I didn’t enjoy this, considering that I had lukewarm opinions about Normal People. However, I thought Normal People was interesting enough that reading Beautiful World, Where Are You would be worthwhile.

Reader, I liked BWWAY even less than Normal People. It felt less focused and lacked a particular depth (more on this).

To focus on one positive, I have to commend Rooney for nailing the general vibe of a very specific group of people (in my head, this was primarily college-educated white Millennials) and the way they talk about one’s moral values, the state of culture and society (and how it’s essentially collapsing), relationships, etc. I think it’s fair to say that these existential questions and conversations are bound to happen within such circles, and I won’t critique that. Rooney knows how to write incredibly flawed, imperfect characters that reveal something very human about them through these conversations they have amongst themselves, and it’s done in such a way that suits her writing style.

However, there was something really grating about the four characters in BWWAY that made me roll my eyes every other page. Maybe it was because they almost never talked about anything mundane. Maybe it was all the sex scenes that felt excessive and really didn’t do it for me (and this was an issue I had with Normal People). Maybe it was just the way Rooney presented them at an arm’s distance that, to me, made it harder to connect (to an extent) with the characters because. I think on this line of thought, my issue was that there wasn’t much depth in any of these characters, which is a bit strange, considering how deeply philosophical their conversations get and this book is by no means driven by a plot (because… there isn’t really one). There was something emotionally lacking in these characters that, ultimately, made them come off as pretentious and nothing more. For me, whenever an issue or desire or anything was presented, I would just think, “… okay then,” and expect some exploration of that. That rarely happens, though, and I think this book would have been so much richer and interesting with those details.

I also found the relationships between Simon/Eileen and Alice/Felix really unhealthy and problematic, which… I don’t know, maybe that was the intention, to continue showing the flaws of people. Even the friendship between Eileen and Alice felt really unbalanced at times, which, to Rooney’s credit, there was a brief(ish) acknowledgment and exploring why. Again, it would have been nice to see a deeper exploration that would make all the ruminating in BWWAY more poignant.

Content Warnings

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

Content Warnings

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

Content Warnings

saphirabloom's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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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alexan007's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-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

2.25

Content Warnings

sophnbooks's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective 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

Content Warnings

delilahgknight's review against another edition

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emotional 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

Beautiful World, Where Are You? is this perfect balance between grounded in reality and super philosophical. I’ve heard people rave about Rooney’s characterisation with her previous works (I’ve read Normal People and have Conversations with Friends sitting on my coffee table waiting to be read) but it is Beautiful Word, Where Are You? that I can see what they’re on about. The characters have so much depth and dimension.

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