Reviews - Intermezzo | The StoryGraph

22.3k reviews for:

Intermezzo

Sally Rooney

4.04 AVERAGE

ladyinread_bbg's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

One of the most melancholic, if not depressing books I’ve ever read. A combination of James Salter’s A Sport and a Pastime and pretty much anything by Philip Roth (if Roth’s novels had real emotion - lol). An exploration of the complexity of love and loss.

aislingwhelan's review against another edition

4.5

emotional reflective sad 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

111enkh111's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

faithhhk's review against another edition

2.0

funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

very torn about how to rate this book because it started out promising but the ending felt so lazy??

I found the story realistic, full of complicated characters and real life problems and human emotions.

a part of me understands Peter but also HATES him because I've known so many Peters in my life - people who are hurting but can't get their shit together so they hurt everyone else

What i CANT STAND is the ending where Peter settled for an open relationship / polyamory. It's not so much the polyamory itself but the fact that it felt like super lazy writing on Sally's part as if she couldn't think of a proper resolve

habibagabr's review against another edition

4.0

I love the way she depicts the nuances of human emotions and experiences, I loved this book not because of the plot or the storyline, I loved it because Sally Roony knows how to strip down human beings to their very core and present them in a way that makes them understandable to people.

prathikshareads's review against another edition

3.0

3.5⭐
I was initially taken aback with the writing style which somehow was even harder to read than Rooney's previous books. It was very hard to progress through the pages in the usual reading speed that I have. I was almost giving up but after I continued onto Ivan's chapter and also reading some reviews, I understood that the writing styles of each brother's perspective were supposed to mimic their thoughts and personalities. I related to Ivan with the way he thinks about things, his opinions and views, etc. Ivan is definitely my favorite brother. Sally Rooney writes complicated human relationships very well. But I found myself not being really attached to the heavy subjects being discussed in the book such as grief, complicated sibling relationships or complicated romantic relationships. It's a well written book but the length felt unnecessary. The ending also felt rushed, ironically. Like, 'wohoo everyone gets a happy ending'. The amount of detail in the book was not needed.