Take a photo of a barcode or cover
challenging
mysterious
reflective
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
Not really sure how I feel about this one, like where did it end? the brothers having Christmas dinner together with their respective gfs??
I underlined a fair amount of sentences and I really resonated with Ivan. I do wish we got Sylvie's pov as well
I underlined a fair amount of sentences and I really resonated with Ivan. I do wish we got Sylvie's pov as well
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity, Xenophobia, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
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
Sally Rooney has released her penultimate work, diving headfirst into the complexities of interpersonal relationships. I found myself splitting with laughter, tying my heart back together, & squeezing with tension throughout this work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit, Car accident
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very beautiful book, it made me emotional in more than one bit. Complex depiction of Love in all of its colours and of relationships, specifically with relatives
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Death of parent
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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
Wow, what a book! The ending was absolutely brilliant. A bit slow to get going & get into it but so worth it by the end. In the beginning of the book I truly dreaded every Peter chapter hahaha, I thought he was the worst but by the end I wouldn’t say I liked him but I wasn’t avoiding reading his chapters anymore that’s for sure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ich bin froh, dieses Buch jetzt endlich beendet zu haben. Es hat sich angefühlt, als würde ich es seit einer Ewigkeit lesen, weil es sich so sehr gezogen hat.
Wirklich, es wurde irgendwann einfach anstrengend, die Geschichte weiterzulesen. Ich weiß nicht, ob es daran lag, dass ich es auf deutsch gelesen habe, aber es war gefühlt eine endlose Aneinanderreihung von Wörtern ohne viel Inhalt. Es passiert zu wenig und vor allem Peters Persoektive war schon nach den ersten paar Kapiteln nur anstrengend für mich zu lesen. Seine Person hat mich auch einfach nur genervt. Das stündige Hin- und her, dieses selbstmitleidige Gefasel und so seine ganze Art. Bis zum Ende hab ich sein Problem einfach nicht gecheckt. Und es fühlt sich nicht an, als wäre er der große Bruder.
Ivans Perspektive fand ich hingegen ganz guut und auch besser geschrieben irgendwie. Ich mochte auch Margaret, ABER für mich wird die Beziehung irgendwie so geschildert, als wäre Ivan so ein pubertierender Schuljunge. Klar, Age Gap ist da, aber dass Ivan soo geschildert wird udn andererseits aber in manchen seinen Gedanken total reflektiert rüberkommt, macht das ganze irgendwie widersprüchlich.
Ich hatte auch nicht das Gefühl, eine Geschichte über zwei trauernde Brüder zu lesen. Für mich kam die Trauer nicht wirklich an, es hat mich nicht bewegt, die Geschichte zu lesen. Zum zweiter haben die beiden Brüder so ca 5mal überhaupt eine Interaktion und das war irgendwie schade.
Die Geschichte hat mir leider nicht so viel gegeben, ich konnte mich mit dem Schreibstil nicht anfreunden und auch zu den Charakteren keine wirkliche Verbindung aufbauen....schade.
Wirklich, es wurde irgendwann einfach anstrengend, die Geschichte weiterzulesen. Ich weiß nicht, ob es daran lag, dass ich es auf deutsch gelesen habe, aber es war gefühlt eine endlose Aneinanderreihung von Wörtern ohne viel Inhalt. Es passiert zu wenig und vor allem Peters Persoektive war schon nach den ersten paar Kapiteln nur anstrengend für mich zu lesen. Seine Person hat mich auch einfach nur genervt. Das stündige Hin- und her, dieses selbstmitleidige Gefasel und so seine ganze Art. Bis zum Ende hab ich sein Problem einfach nicht gecheckt. Und es fühlt sich nicht an, als wäre er der große Bruder.
Ivans Perspektive fand ich hingegen ganz guut und auch besser geschrieben irgendwie. Ich mochte auch Margaret, ABER für mich wird die Beziehung irgendwie so geschildert, als wäre Ivan so ein pubertierender Schuljunge. Klar, Age Gap ist da, aber dass Ivan soo geschildert wird udn andererseits aber in manchen seinen Gedanken total reflektiert rüberkommt, macht das ganze irgendwie widersprüchlich.
Ich hatte auch nicht das Gefühl, eine Geschichte über zwei trauernde Brüder zu lesen. Für mich kam die Trauer nicht wirklich an, es hat mich nicht bewegt, die Geschichte zu lesen. Zum zweiter haben die beiden Brüder so ca 5mal überhaupt eine Interaktion und das war irgendwie schade.
Die Geschichte hat mir leider nicht so viel gegeben, ich konnte mich mit dem Schreibstil nicht anfreunden und auch zu den Charakteren keine wirkliche Verbindung aufbauen....schade.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Car accident
Minor: Alcoholism
challenging
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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Alcohol
Minor: Bullying
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Drug use, Violence
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Alcohol
Moderate: Cancer, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail
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
ouchouchouchouchouch. this book hurt.
god i don’t even know where to start with this review.
for one, this book was HARD. as in emotionally. having a dead dad and reading this……. Pain. literally started sobbing reading ivan talking to margaret on the phone about his dad. too relatable fuck you sally rooney (/j she ate this up).
usually i’m not the biggest fan of character-driven novels, as i find there are no stakes and tension. and yeah i found that an issue here too i guess. but fuck can sally rooney write characters well. this is my first book of hers so my expectations were pretty all over the place, but i did not expect such superb character writing. like at some points i felt like i had been transported into someone else’s life, watching their days from their eyes. i don’t think in all my reading life i have read characters with such depth as ivan and peter. holy shit.
also side note but i feel like anyone reading this should know that the entire time reading this i imagined ivan as oliver quick from saltburn (obv before he starts licking bathtub water). if this was ever turned into a movie adaptation barry keoghan would devour the role (although ntm for hurting my girl sabrina).
this review has gotten away from me.
like this book.
usually i also often despise stream of consciousness books!!! but!!!! rooney yet again leaves no crumbs!!!! it is like watching a car crash happen right in front of you for 442 pages and you can’t look away because you are oddly mesmerised by the sheer magnitude of what is happening. Yeah. that’s intermezzo in a nutshell.
also how can i not shout out my three homegirls — margaret, sylvia & naomi. i’ll be real and say i didn’t like naomi, and even by the end she felt a bit one-note, but that could be some meta-commentary on how peter views the women in his life blah blah blah. sylvia had a bit more depth, what with her chronic pain (spoonies rise up!!!) and her life outside of peter, and was by far the most interesting out of the main female cast. margaret was… also a bit boring? she also felt quite repetitive with her dialogue and inner thoughts at times, especially surrounding her relationship with ivan. like yeah the age gap isn’t small but homegirl it’s not like ur 78 and ivan is 19 like. take a xanax like ol peter boy over here.
i don’t really know what else to add. this book is a fever dream. i honestly didn’t want to pick this up for dread of what i would encounter, but once i started reading i couldn’t peel my eyes away. the book had some issues for me personally, but they weren’t due to the actual writing being bad or anything, just preferences. like i didn’t mind the dialogue choice but what i did mind is the no plot no tension insanely philosophical thoughts appearing out of thin air. although if you asked me what my favourite parts of this book were i’d have to say the insanely philosophical thoughts appearing out of thin air.
this book is a paradox for me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence
Minor: Medical content