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astral_disaster's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
2.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts
mandalacb19's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
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
4.75
this book was amazing - not only does sally rooney display her cinematic style of writing, but she also encapsulates the feeling of pure emotion. from love, to panic, to desire, to deep fear. i loved the parts in the emails when eileen and alice discussed politics, and our beautiful world. a modern classic, filled with the picture of our time and age.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm
Moderate: Pregnancy
bliddicott's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
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
4.75
she gets it
Content Warnings
Minor: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts
erinbarton's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
i’m very much experiencing mixed feelings about this one - i found the first third to be extremely slow and boring, the middle third to be okay and the last third really good. overall i think it evens out. the huge amount of hype surrounding this (as well as sally rooney’s other works) probably contributed to these mixed feelings.
i wasn’t a fan of the email chapters, i thought since they recapped plot points and also included large chunks of opinions on big topics they felt quite unnatural and like a way of the author to just state her views - i didn’t disagree with any of them, i just wish they were integrated into the book in a more covert way. for instance, eileen and felix’s conversation towards the end about their jobs and income, the parallels between felix having to leave for work while the other characters have a beach day, etc. i think the emails were good to give the sense that eileen and alice are drifting in and out of touch and struggling to stay connected, with the great irony being that the book’s end is during the pandemic wherein they are unable to see each other anyway , but i wish the emails were shorter and more infrequent.
initially i felt the characters all quite difficult to connect with and none of them felt distinctive to me, however by the last third i felt we got to know them all a lot more, and i loved that whole portion of the book where all four of the main characters were interacting and the relationships were being shown in the real light. eileen and alice’s friendship, and eileen and simon’s relationship in particular felt very authentic and realistic to me.
overall, this one was definitely a slow burn but in the end i did enjoy it and liked all the characters and relationships. the writing style wasn’t my favourite but i understand the choice to be distinctive from sally rooney.
i don’t think sally rooney will be cracking my list of fave authors any time soon, but i’ll definitely continue to read her works as and when they come out. i’ve not read any of her short stories, but i think her style would translate well to a short story collection, each story exploring different questions and types of relationship
i don’t think sally rooney will be cracking my list of fave authors any time soon, but i’ll definitely continue to read her works as and when they come out. i’ve not read any of her short stories, but i think her style would translate well to a short story collection, each story exploring different questions and types of relationship
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
jadewindsor's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
shannon_3690's review against another edition
relaxing
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Mental illness
james1star's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Oh my goodness!!! Personally this book was phenomenal, I absolutely loved it! Another incredible novel by Sally Rooney.
I’ll start the review with my cons (if you can call them that because some are also pros) but my main irk I don’t think I’ll ever get over with reading Rooney is her lack of quotation marks - hun, isn’t it basic grammar?? Maybe not but I just get irritated about this - which is annoying and once again requires a lot of ‘she/he/they said/murmured/etc…’ which does get very repetitive as you’re reading and also at times you don’t exactly know which character is talking but for the most part it’s decipherable. Likewise, in beautiful world, Rooney somewhat mixes up the ‘correct’ way of presenting speech (as in using separated lines) with combining speech and narration in huge and I mean HUGE paragraphs carrying over page after page which is quite hard to get your head around.
Moving away from these to actual book content, I do feel that the sex elements are in some places overkill and this goes for other topics and definitely gets repetitive. Personally I would maybe prefer some parts to have been omitted as very similar. Additionally, this book is de-scrip-tive (say it with emphasis huns) and very very very (yep it calls for three ‘very’s) heavy/dense. I’ll get onto why I like this in a sec but I did find it hard to read in places and a bit tiresome where I felt I was forcing myself to read huge passages just to get on with the narrative but maybe not enjoying the process. Also unlike ‘normal people’ and more like ‘conversations with friends’ I don’t think I could read it all in one go (or at least enjoy doing so) because of the density. As previously mentions, some topics are discussed a bit too much especially religion with recurring conversations but it wasn’t off-putting.
Now to the good bits. These characters I did root for. That’s not to say they’re unproblematic and certainly do things that made me want to get inside the pages and shake/hit/yell at them but overall they’re ‘good’ people with a variety of struggles and strifes in their lives. A little bias but the queer additions I did like (around page 270-80 I was so near to giving up on the main relationships and going full on gay shipping… but alas, I didn’t) and these were nice to read. Following on, the characters all deal with many things and the book acknowledges a lot of topics including: religion, sex (oof a big one), mental health, suicidal thoughts, toxic relationships, employment, celebrity culture, socialist ideals and many more. Mentioning that last point I will add they way Rooney let’s the characters discuss communism/socialism/politics sorta themes is done the best in beautiful world - via letters between Alice and Eileen - and most natural I feel.
Another major theme is the idea of what is the meaning of life in essence and how we’re all searching for a beautiful world. Side note but the discussions on ‘what is beauty?’ and other similar topics is really lovely to read and very insightful and makes you think for sure. But main point again that has really stuck with me is how… it’s so hard to articulate what I’m thinking right now. But basically the characters are discussing how there’s many issues in the world and these are BIG global problems e.g. poverty, world hunger, climate change, political minefields and lots more. But then at the end of the day… or at the end of one’s life as mentioned in one of the emails, what we really cling to is our friends and family, who we love/loved/missed out on loving, those who’s lives we touched and in what ways, how they touched ours and all these ‘little’ relationships and events that seem so minimal or unimportant in the grand scheme of problems/discussions facing the world but then when we add up each individual’s lived experiences (or the human condition in a more philosophical outlook) they actually end up amounting to so much more. Think about it… if we combine every single person’s seemingly irrelevant experiences together they obviously add up to something huge. I don’t know but Yhh this ideology and discussions really stuck with me. How all of us in search of a beautiful world as a whole should maybe look more for beauty in our personal worlds which would then creates a ‘whole’ beautiful existence. I don’t know what I am trotting on about anymore but this book definitely make me think about this and the way the email exchanges go off on tangents and rambles is so so magical and ‘human’ if you like.
Another thing I did really like was the descriptive nature of this novel. Whilst it does get a bit too much in places, I do feel there is a reason for this. Rooney really makes us feel so connected to the characters and it’s hard to realise at the end of the day there’s a page between you and them because it’s written so descriptively that you can image them being real. More so then all her previous characters and previous conversations. Likewise, I sense this is a more mature book compared to her previous works due in part to some themes but also her growth as a writer. Also the characters are all in their thirties as opposed to early twenties so naturally there will be more complex characters in a way. And complex they are.
The layout of the book I also really loved where we follow a third person narration of what’s going on in one of the ‘couples’ lives (Alice and Felix OR Eileen and Simon) interjected by email correspondences between Alice and Eileen which is in the first person. I really and I mean really loved these emails so much. They just seemed so real and Yhh… perfection. This follows up until they all meet where we have some chapters just narrating the plot ending with two emails set in the ‘present’ during a Covid—19 lockdown. Some reviews don’t like this addition and feel it’s an unnecessary add-on but I actually loved it. Before the emails the characters are in a somewhat precarious but happy state and then this is confirmed at the end. For me it was the best ending of Rooney’s previous books - I wasn’t left annoyed for once and just genuinely happy I guess.
I could literally talk on and on and on about this book so I think I’ve covered all grounds I wanted to !?! But Yhh I would totes recommend - a clear 4.75 stars from me. Thank you Sally xx can’t wait for more
I’ll start the review with my cons (if you can call them that because some are also pros) but my main irk I don’t think I’ll ever get over with reading Rooney is her lack of quotation marks - hun, isn’t it basic grammar?? Maybe not but I just get irritated about this - which is annoying and once again requires a lot of ‘she/he/they said/murmured/etc…’ which does get very repetitive as you’re reading and also at times you don’t exactly know which character is talking but for the most part it’s decipherable. Likewise, in beautiful world, Rooney somewhat mixes up the ‘correct’ way of presenting speech (as in using separated lines) with combining speech and narration in huge and I mean HUGE paragraphs carrying over page after page which is quite hard to get your head around.
Moving away from these to actual book content, I do feel that the sex elements are in some places overkill and this goes for other topics and definitely gets repetitive. Personally I would maybe prefer some parts to have been omitted as very similar. Additionally, this book is de-scrip-tive (say it with emphasis huns) and very very very (yep it calls for three ‘very’s) heavy/dense. I’ll get onto why I like this in a sec but I did find it hard to read in places and a bit tiresome where I felt I was forcing myself to read huge passages just to get on with the narrative but maybe not enjoying the process. Also unlike ‘normal people’ and more like ‘conversations with friends’ I don’t think I could read it all in one go (or at least enjoy doing so) because of the density. As previously mentions, some topics are discussed a bit too much especially religion with recurring conversations but it wasn’t off-putting.
Now to the good bits. These characters I did root for. That’s not to say they’re unproblematic and certainly do things that made me want to get inside the pages and shake/hit/yell at them but overall they’re ‘good’ people with a variety of struggles and strifes in their lives. A little bias but the queer additions I did like (around page 270-80 I was so near to giving up on the main relationships and going full on gay shipping… but alas, I didn’t) and these were nice to read. Following on, the characters all deal with many things and the book acknowledges a lot of topics including: religion, sex (oof a big one), mental health, suicidal thoughts, toxic relationships, employment, celebrity culture, socialist ideals and many more. Mentioning that last point I will add they way Rooney let’s the characters discuss communism/socialism/politics sorta themes is done the best in beautiful world - via letters between Alice and Eileen - and most natural I feel.
Another major theme is the idea of what is the meaning of life in essence and how we’re all searching for a beautiful world. Side note but the discussions on ‘what is beauty?’ and other similar topics is really lovely to read and very insightful and makes you think for sure. But main point again that has really stuck with me is how… it’s so hard to articulate what I’m thinking right now. But basically the characters are discussing how there’s many issues in the world and these are BIG global problems e.g. poverty, world hunger, climate change, political minefields and lots more. But then at the end of the day… or at the end of one’s life as mentioned in one of the emails, what we really cling to is our friends and family, who we love/loved/missed out on loving, those who’s lives we touched and in what ways, how they touched ours and all these ‘little’ relationships and events that seem so minimal or unimportant in the grand scheme of problems/discussions facing the world but then when we add up each individual’s lived experiences (or the human condition in a more philosophical outlook) they actually end up amounting to so much more. Think about it… if we combine every single person’s seemingly irrelevant experiences together they obviously add up to something huge. I don’t know but Yhh this ideology and discussions really stuck with me. How all of us in search of a beautiful world as a whole should maybe look more for beauty in our personal worlds which would then creates a ‘whole’ beautiful existence. I don’t know what I am trotting on about anymore but this book definitely make me think about this and the way the email exchanges go off on tangents and rambles is so so magical and ‘human’ if you like.
Another thing I did really like was the descriptive nature of this novel. Whilst it does get a bit too much in places, I do feel there is a reason for this. Rooney really makes us feel so connected to the characters and it’s hard to realise at the end of the day there’s a page between you and them because it’s written so descriptively that you can image them being real. More so then all her previous characters and previous conversations. Likewise, I sense this is a more mature book compared to her previous works due in part to some themes but also her growth as a writer. Also the characters are all in their thirties as opposed to early twenties so naturally there will be more complex characters in a way. And complex they are.
The layout of the book I also really loved where we follow a third person narration of what’s going on in one of the ‘couples’ lives (Alice and Felix OR Eileen and Simon) interjected by email correspondences between Alice and Eileen which is in the first person. I really and I mean really loved these emails so much. They just seemed so real and Yhh… perfection. This follows up until they all meet where we have some chapters just narrating the plot ending with two emails set in the ‘present’ during a Covid—19 lockdown. Some reviews don’t like this addition and feel it’s an unnecessary add-on but I actually loved it. Before the emails the characters are in a somewhat precarious but happy state and then this is confirmed at the end. For me it was the best ending of Rooney’s previous books - I wasn’t left annoyed for once and just genuinely happy I guess.
I could literally talk on and on and on about this book so I think I’ve covered all grounds I wanted to !?! But Yhh I would totes recommend - a clear 4.75 stars from me. Thank you Sally xx can’t wait for more
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content
Moderate: Classism, Drug use, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, and Infidelity
saminahadam's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Self harm
solouncapitulomas's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
4.75
this felt like a movie script but in a good way ofc, heard some ppl that considered that bad so I am just clarifying, ok?
alice marry ME pls
alice marry ME pls
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Pregnancy, Self harm, and Abortion
marthevercammen's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts