Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Intermezzo: A Novel

Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Intermezzo: A Novel by Sally Rooney

140 reviews

aliciae08's review against another edition

1.75

sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Y’all, I’ve had enough.

This is my fourth Sally Rooney novel. And each one is more and more disappointing to me. Even though I have not had an enjoyable experience with any of the previous three, I could always see merit in Rooney’s writing style. So imagine my surprise when I found myself wanting to DNF Intermezzo multiple times.

With the exception of the last 3 chapters, this book was a mess. One review said “I can’t believe we’re still allowed to write autistic people like this” and I have to agree. Whilst both main characters are written horribly (pretentious, unlikable and lacking accountability) the character of Ivan is just egregious in that it seems to paint people with an autism diagnosis in this very specific way—with rage. It detracts from the grief.

Whilst Rooney is notable for writing the blandest of the bland, the female characters (Sylvia, Naomi and Christine) are written so flat. They’re just objects to move Peter along. We do get more of an insight into Margaret, but all of the female characters serve to bolster the ego of the men they supposedly love.

The last three chapters are the only ones I felt there was real feeling. What happens when grief causes us to explode at the people we ultimately blame? What happens when we can’t accept our own faults in the wake of loss? But I’m sure this could’ve been achieved in less than 400 pages.

Content Warnings

uwishuwouldknowthat's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

emilyseebold's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

Content Warnings

mark_kivimaki's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

lagaialettrice's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

acb17rmh's review against another edition

4.5

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

nathiddles_106's review against another edition

3.75

emotional sad medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

sksrenninger's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

I love me some Roons, but I would love to read something by her that doesn’t lean so heavily on what it’s like to be unfathomably brilliant at university in Ireland. Can she do it? Do I really care? Will I read it all and love it all anyway? Of course.
She has a section at the end with notes about quotes and references that she’s used across the book, particularly in Peter’s mind. I really loved the way she wove all of these in. Peter’s stream of conscious read intuitively to me, and I appreciated that I got some references and didn’t get others—which is how conversations with friends (indulge me) usually work—but that she left me a trail of breadcrumbs at the end. I suppose that what I like most about Sally Rooney is that her style reads intuitively to me—her characters think like I do.
She is weirdly good at sex scenes. I couldn’t help but wonder (now we’e really indulging me) if the sex scenes read equally well across genders, or if there’s something specifically for the female experience here. They’re really not that explicit but they are still somehow steamy and moving across a variety of pairings.
God, do we all say actually and literally that much?