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emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol
Minor: Drug use
emotional
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
I’ve never read a Sally Rooney book before and that’s honestly because the way people talk about Normal People makes me bored. I feel as though some people are doing her a disservice, because Intermezzo was less about romance and more so very real, heartbreaking character studies and the characters’ relationships with one another, some of which just so happen to be romantic. Don’t get me wrong I’m not rushing to read her other books because I think from my very limited knowledge, that this book was the least romantic, and although I do read romance, most of the time its unconvincing and I can’t bring myself to care. This was one of the rare circumstances where I did care.
Every character is so well crafted, and I love them all— especially Ivan. In my completely unbiased opinion, none of the main characters have ever been in the wrong in their entire lives. They’re so important and perfectly imperfect to me. I feel foolish for letting random tiktok edits make me misinterpret what makes her writing so great. It’s reflective, and forces you to read and understand every single word because it’s all important. Rooney takes so much care to make this book so stellar in every way.
Also my Intermezzo playlist is fire so thanks for that
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief
Moderate: Drug use
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted to love this but I could not fall in love or hate with any of the characters so there’s still this dissection for me with caring about what happens to them.
They are profoundly real feeling characters and the story gives the essence of messy real life intricacies, it is almost like I just listened to two brothers trauma dump to me but they both think too highly of themselves to know if I should believe them. I found the whole thing felt like reading from an unreliable narrator with no one to confirm or deny except the other unreliable narrator.
Aspects of Rooney writing I love, like her authentic to real life themes and ability to weave philosophical ideas through her storytelling, however, I’ve never loved the lack of speech marks. As much as I understand it’s serving a process in her story I found too often I was needing to check in on what was said aloud. Particularly with Peter, his thoughts were so quick and often unfinished.
A lot of this book left me feeling frustrated and as if nothing was happening aside from two brothers centring their entire existence around their respective love interests. The themes of family and loss were too secondary to the chaotic relationship dynamics for me to feel like it impacted me in any way.
They are profoundly real feeling characters and the story gives the essence of messy real life intricacies, it is almost like I just listened to two brothers trauma dump to me but they both think too highly of themselves to know if I should believe them. I found the whole thing felt like reading from an unreliable narrator with no one to confirm or deny except the other unreliable narrator.
Aspects of Rooney writing I love, like her authentic to real life themes and ability to weave philosophical ideas through her storytelling, however, I’ve never loved the lack of speech marks. As much as I understand it’s serving a process in her story I found too often I was needing to check in on what was said aloud. Particularly with Peter, his thoughts were so quick and often unfinished.
A lot of this book left me feeling frustrated and as if nothing was happening aside from two brothers centring their entire existence around their respective love interests. The themes of family and loss were too secondary to the chaotic relationship dynamics for me to feel like it impacted me in any way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Abandonment
emotional
reflective
sad
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
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief
Minor: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Death of parent
emotional
reflective
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
Sally Rooney has a gift for writing about interpersonal relationships and the imperfect characters that try to navigate them. I think the quote that best sums up this book is: “The demands of other people do not dissolve; they only multiply.
More and more complex, more difficult. Which is another way, she thinks, of saying: more life, more and more of life.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Grief
Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Car accident
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty, Violence
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Finally a novel from Sally Rooney with an original plot and different characters to her other novels.
As someone who is on the spectrum, I was able to empathize with Ivan's struggles very well as I find him to be autistic coded. Unfortunately, like most autistic-coded characters, Ivan is portrayed as a genius.
In a way, I could also empathize with Peter, as he is the older brother, the protector and often left on his own.
Peter's parts were hard for me to read, but maybe that was just Rooney's way of expressing his problems with alcohol and drugs.
If you combine both brothers into one character, they would remind me of Beth Harmon from The Queen's Gambit.
All in all, a good read. Might be one of my favorite Sally Rooney books. I'm glad she has evolved.
As someone who is on the spectrum, I was able to empathize with Ivan's struggles very well as I find him to be autistic coded. Unfortunately, like most autistic-coded characters, Ivan is portrayed as a genius.
In a way, I could also empathize with Peter, as he is the older brother, the protector and often left on his own.
Peter's parts were hard for me to read, but maybe that was just Rooney's way of expressing his problems with alcohol and drugs.
If you combine both brothers into one character, they would remind me of Beth Harmon from The Queen's Gambit.
All in all, a good read. Might be one of my favorite Sally Rooney books. I'm glad she has evolved.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Alcohol
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
almost dnf in the beginning i was bored and the style of writing was hard but im glad i stuck it out bc last 50% was ver good very sad almost cried
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Medical content
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
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:
Complicated
There is nothing more quintessential Sally Rooney than her book being called “Intermezzo”—an interlude or brief composition—as that’s what Rooney does best: stories about ordinary people during short intervals of their lives.
I have always liked “slice of life” fiction and perhaps that’s what has always drawn me to Rooney’s works. They’re not trying to be some epic tale of woe or romance or adventure. They’re human, they’re impassive at times but still multidimensional, they’re extraordinary in the ordinary. They’re passionate but not in a way that feels overdone. They’re full of love and desire, but that’s not the entire point.
More than ever before, “Intermezzo” brings to the forefront the complexities, intricacies, simplicities and extremities of existence, this time following the reflective but not parallel lives of brothers Peter and Ivan whose father has recently died.
Though separated by a decade and differing personalities, they both look for the same things in a partner. They don’t get along, they don’t see eye to eye and yet—they care for people in similar ways. Ivan, a stellar chess player and the younger of the two, wants to make Margaret happy and to feel safe despite her being older than his brother. Peter wants to take care of both Sylvia and Naomi, one the love of his life and the other his current girlfriend. Ivan is an overthinker, humble in his overly capable abilities, funny in simple ways, if a little socially awkward. While Peter is an addict but often the more adept and sensical of the two. They clash in their feelings toward each other and each other’s romantic relationships as they make their way through their grief, not always acknowledging it in healthy ways. It’s messy and real. You’ll root for one brother over the other, and the next moment desperately wish for resolve. Family is complicated, and even more so when you bring outside romantic interests into the equation. Such is life.
While long winded in its paragraphs and the lengthiest of Rooney’s books to date, “Intermezzo” is essential reading if you are looking for a novel about the interpersonal complexities of the average millennial amidst the backdrop of modern day Ireland. Or really if you’re looking for any book that takes a deep dive into sibling relationships and how they change and take shape over time.
I feel like I have a lot more to say about this one but I’m unsure how to express it in a way that makes sense, so I’ll just leave you with some favorite lines:
“Peter naturally unable to be thirsty on main, he has a career to think about.” (Rooney is so funny and I think people forget that since her books are supposed to be serious and melancholic)
“But say if you take the example of a teacher, they go into work every day and like, teach children to read. The school isn't making any profit, obviously, because it's free to go there. But I think we all agree, the children should learn to read, so we better pay someone to teach them. Since that person needs to eat, and so on. If we organise everything in view of profit, we get things happening in the economy that make no sense. Like in this example, no one has a direct profit motive for teaching children, but the whole economy will collapse if people can't read. You get the same problem with infrastructure, and all kinds of things.”
“You know, life can be sad. It’s no good pretending to be happy all the time.”
“They were both embarrassed, he thinks, but happy at the same time, and there was a pleasant feeling of foolishness between them that made them want to laugh even though nothing was funny.”
“And what if life is just a collection of essentially unrelated experiences? Why does one thing have to follow meaningfully from another?”
“… mutual attraction - which even makes sense from the evolutionary perspective - is simply the strongest reason to do anything, overriding all the contrary principles and making them fall away into nothing.”
“—life, which is now the most painful ordeal conceivable—“
“Go on in any case living.”
God, I love Sally Rooney!!!
I have always liked “slice of life” fiction and perhaps that’s what has always drawn me to Rooney’s works. They’re not trying to be some epic tale of woe or romance or adventure. They’re human, they’re impassive at times but still multidimensional, they’re extraordinary in the ordinary. They’re passionate but not in a way that feels overdone. They’re full of love and desire, but that’s not the entire point.
More than ever before, “Intermezzo” brings to the forefront the complexities, intricacies, simplicities and extremities of existence, this time following the reflective but not parallel lives of brothers Peter and Ivan whose father has recently died.
Though separated by a decade and differing personalities, they both look for the same things in a partner. They don’t get along, they don’t see eye to eye and yet—they care for people in similar ways. Ivan, a stellar chess player and the younger of the two, wants to make Margaret happy and to feel safe despite her being older than his brother. Peter wants to take care of both Sylvia and Naomi, one the love of his life and the other his current girlfriend. Ivan is an overthinker, humble in his overly capable abilities, funny in simple ways, if a little socially awkward. While Peter is an addict but often the more adept and sensical of the two. They clash in their feelings toward each other and each other’s romantic relationships as they make their way through their grief, not always acknowledging it in healthy ways. It’s messy and real. You’ll root for one brother over the other, and the next moment desperately wish for resolve. Family is complicated, and even more so when you bring outside romantic interests into the equation. Such is life.
While long winded in its paragraphs and the lengthiest of Rooney’s books to date, “Intermezzo” is essential reading if you are looking for a novel about the interpersonal complexities of the average millennial amidst the backdrop of modern day Ireland. Or really if you’re looking for any book that takes a deep dive into sibling relationships and how they change and take shape over time.
I feel like I have a lot more to say about this one but I’m unsure how to express it in a way that makes sense, so I’ll just leave you with some favorite lines:
“Peter naturally unable to be thirsty on main, he has a career to think about.” (Rooney is so funny and I think people forget that since her books are supposed to be serious and melancholic)
“But say if you take the example of a teacher, they go into work every day and like, teach children to read. The school isn't making any profit, obviously, because it's free to go there. But I think we all agree, the children should learn to read, so we better pay someone to teach them. Since that person needs to eat, and so on. If we organise everything in view of profit, we get things happening in the economy that make no sense. Like in this example, no one has a direct profit motive for teaching children, but the whole economy will collapse if people can't read. You get the same problem with infrastructure, and all kinds of things.”
“You know, life can be sad. It’s no good pretending to be happy all the time.”
“They were both embarrassed, he thinks, but happy at the same time, and there was a pleasant feeling of foolishness between them that made them want to laugh even though nothing was funny.”
“And what if life is just a collection of essentially unrelated experiences? Why does one thing have to follow meaningfully from another?”
“… mutual attraction - which even makes sense from the evolutionary perspective - is simply the strongest reason to do anything, overriding all the contrary principles and making them fall away into nothing.”
“—life, which is now the most painful ordeal conceivable—“
“Go on in any case living.”
God, I love Sally Rooney!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic