Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Conversations with Friends

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

60 reviews

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

All of the characters are meh

It’s like a car crash, I couldn’t quite look away and kept debating about whether to DNF or not.

Sometimes the writing is nice and I get pulled in and other times it drags-the pacing is just all over the place. I finally decided to DNF because there hasn’t been any character development and the whole Frances/Nick relationship is just repeating the same things every single time. Nothing new has been happening and no one is just saying how they really feel?! Every character is so passive and unlikeable-I’m just not a Rooney girly 🤷🏻‍♀️

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_throne_of_roses_'s review against another edition

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reflective 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

3.0

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devlev7's review

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I just finished reading this book for the second time and it has given me a lot to think about. The first read was just for the plot, but the second read uncovered so many thematic through lines and made me question my initial reaction to the ending. It’s a captivating portrait of two young college students who become untwined with a married couple in their 30s, told from the perspective of Frances, one of the students.

Frances is so relatable in many ways, but so frustrating, and a highly unreliable narrator - not intentionally, but due to her own warped perception and misunderstanding of herself and those around her. Rooney’s characters are so detailed, so recognizable, and so dedicated to their own unhappiness. You want to shake them and say snap out of it. But of course, you understand. Because who among us hasn’t done something or continued to do something that you know will end badly.

Themes of body and self image, sickness as metaphor and literal, image vs. reality run throughout the story and characters, who each let their assumptions of what others think of them interfere with their relationships in their own ways. Rooney portrays these mistakes, fears, hurtful actions without judgment. Her characters are so human. There is no villain and no hero, only people and normal life.

When I first read the ending, I thought it was so sad. Maybe it only made me feel sad because it didn’t conclude. But isn’t that how life is. When is any story really over. It is sad, but, especially after reading her comments at the end of my edition of the novel, I feel that maybe it’s also hopeful. Finally, I can see how the characters do strive for happiness. It’s a hope so fragile and precious, and one that forces us to ask if maybe happiness is worth striving for, even when it causes so much pain.

But I could be wrong about my new interpretation. Ask me again tomorrow.

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reneeandreea's review

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emotional reflective 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

5.0

An insane attention to detail in otherwise mundane, day-to-day life. Makes you feel like one of the characters; Frances is both relatable and flawed. You couldn’t really love any character and you couldn’t really hate any character either, which I think is a lot like real life.

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thebookesquire's review

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emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

update:
Listen. When I first finished this book, I thought yeah this a 4/5. I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did and somehow I ended up loving it? Then a few weeks passed and I found myself thinking about it all the time. Going back to it constantly. I realized I was irrationally obsessed. I say irrationally because is it the best writing/plot/characters? No. But Rooney found a way to carve herself right into my little heart.

original:
Sally Rooney is incredibly skilled. Her writing is extremely intimate, almost to the point of discomfort. Her observations on the mundane daily life of her characters, their gestures, and the environment surrounding them is profound. She always leaves me craving more and I finish each of her novels disturbed yet seeing the world around me in a vastly different perspective.

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charity_ix's review

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funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I can't believe I've gone all this time without reading a Sally Rooney book. I loved this book so much I genuinely can't say a bad thing about it. I wasn't really sure what to expect from this one but it didn't disappoint! It follows two friends, Frances and Bobbi, and the married couple they get involved with, Melissa and Nick. Plotline wise, I was so invested in France's experiences throughout the book with her parents, Bobbi, Nick, and even her illness. In an awful sort of way I could actually relate to Frances' character a lot. She had such a unique voice and I found her actions throughout the book confusing but also intriguing. I felt the same way about almost every character as well, their actions read as very conflicting but I believe that was the point. I have many thoughts about Nick and Francis but they're not really relevant so who cares.

The stillness of this book was so enjoyable I loved it so much. The writing style was also amazing and it added so much character and warmth to the story. Overall, this definitely feels like a book I would reread in the future. I just had so much fun and can't wait to watch the Hulu series now!

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