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challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
”Attachment, the cause of all suffering, so the Buddhists say. To cling to what you have, what you have had, the life you have known, the handful of people and places you have ever really loved, to cling and not let go. Never relenting, never accepting, becoming all the time more enmeshed, holding harder, loving and hating more.”
I have this issue with Sally Rooney books where I usually go in expecting to like them okay and then leave feeling like she’s touched my very soul.
I will admit this took me a while to get into, especially Peter’s chapters, but once I was in, I was IN. I think that chapters 12 and 13 particularly are some of the best writing from Rooney that I’ve ever read. Arguably, one should not have to wait 2/3 of a book to get to something really meaningful and powerful, but once all the little dots connect, it just seems so worth it.
Ivan’s and Margaret’s relationship was from the very start what kept me invested and despite my early dislike for Peter, I felt such deep sympathy for him by the end and, unfortunately and uncomfortably, saw parts of myself in him too. His storyline, and that of Sylvia and Naomi, was for me the most truly profound and painful. Oh, Sylvia…
Grief, sibling dynamics, polyamory, age gaps, exploitation, pain and love - oh and of course Alexei, the best - dog - character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Infertility, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment
emotional
hopeful
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 think people aren't always very nice to the people they love."
The first chapter of this book is incredibly off-putting with the combination of Sally Rooney's lack of punctuation and formatting to separate dialogue and the fact that we start in Peter's head and he is very much not mentally well.
However, after sticking with it, I did get used to it and actually really loved the writing style. The sentence structure of Peter's POV made me feel like I myself was becoming manic it was that much in his head. And paired with Ivan and Margaret's POVs this novel gives a really deep insight into grief and connection. Through the brothers' relationship, and then their relationships with those around them.
Also I was pleasantly surprised that this book actually ends on a hopeful note despite getting quite dark in some moments (serious content warning for mental illness, suicidal thoughts, and a bit of drug and alcohol abuse).
"Go on in any case living."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Vomit
challenging
tense
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
I just finished this book and I can't even describe what it was about. This book is written like a stream-of-consciousness from 2 brothers' perspectives after the loss of their father. Ivan is a self-centred, naiive, brutally honest man-child, and Peter is a self-centred, emotionally distant, performative, hypocritical man-child who blames everyone else for his choices & issues and uses people without considering how it affects them. The best part was the ending, because it felt like they were finally experiencing an emotion and recognising some of their own flaws.
Favourite quote:
[Naomi to Peter] "You tell me you love me and then it's alright, goodbye, I never want to see you again. Just so you can delude yourself that you're normal, everything is normal. You're so fucking sick in the head you dont even see what you're doing to yourself. Trying to put everyone in their little box. And if we would all just stay there, then there wouldn't be any problems."
Favourite quote:
[Naomi to Peter] "You tell me you love me and then it's alright, goodbye, I never want to see you again. Just so you can delude yourself that you're normal, everything is normal. You're so fucking sick in the head you dont even see what you're doing to yourself. Trying to put everyone in their little box. And if we would all just stay there, then there wouldn't be any problems."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol
dark
emotional
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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
Graphic: Cancer, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Classism
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
Beautiful reflections on family, grief, and love. This was my first Sally Rooney. I really enjoyed it!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident
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
Trots att det ofta var mörkt, ville jag hänga länge i Ivans och Peters Dublin. Tur då att boken är lång och låter oss göra det! Jag uppskattar karaktärernas komplexitet och att alla tydligt har bra och dåliga sidor. Margarets perspektiv var behövligt, om inte annat för att hon är en kvinna och inte är lika självcentrerad.
Jag vet inte helt vad jag tycker om stream of consciousness-stilen; ibland var jag lite förvirrad över om det jag läste var en del av en dialog eller monolog, men det gjorde också de vardagliga händelserna och tankarna mer relaterbara.
Jag vet inte helt vad jag tycker om stream of consciousness-stilen; ibland var jag lite förvirrad över om det jag läste var en del av en dialog eller monolog, men det gjorde också de vardagliga händelserna och tankarna mer relaterbara.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Drug use, Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Death of parent
Minor: Vomit, Religious bigotry, Pandemic/Epidemic
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
Sally Rooney’s writing style choices feel more extreme and unconventional here. I almost put it back on the library shelf after the first chapter. I would have really missed out. It is a wonderful novel about characters navigating grief (mainly, the death of a parent; but also, the loss the life they almost had; and the loss of a marriage) while struggling between their desires and what society deems appropriate. Each POV felt very distinct to me, and contributed largely to understanding Peter, Ivan and Margaret.
The stream of consciousness writing is unleashed compared to her other work that I’ve read (Normal People). Combining a rationing of paragraph breaks with her consistent boycott on quotation marks, the narrating voice is a distinct experience. There are many sections that are a first hand account of a character experiencing a memory. The details all blurred together but the feelings, especially uncomfortable ones, coming through in sharp pangs. Absolutely anxiety inducing at times, particularly when following Peter in third-person POV.
Let's talk about the characters. Peter. I hate him and also find him the most relatable. I wanted to scream into the void reading about him continuously walk down self-destructive paths. Two eyes wide open, but blinded by grief. Grief exacerbated by anxiety, self-loathing, depression. Completely hypocritical in the judgements he makes of others, but slightly redeemed by judging and hating himself the most. It was always Peter that had me putting down the book to go touch some grass.
Ivan. Intensely awkward but also hyper-aware of social norms as though he has studied them as a non-participant. Ivan is not the only character steadfastly aware of social norms, but does seem the character least concerned with them. Peter, on the other hand, ties himself up in knots according to what is socially accepted. I only recall four scenes where Peter and Ivan directly interact, yet the characters are so intertwined.
Then the women characters. Naomi, Sylvia, Margaret. We only ever see the POV of one, Margaret, but they are all beautifully fleshed out. There are beautiful snapshots of all of them, in different ways, reckoning with how to survive, and attempt to thrive, within patriarchal conditioning, despite being people who lead very dissimilar lives.
This is in the running for my favorite read this year. Rooney did not give me the character events, ending, or number of paragraph breaks that I wanted. If she had, I probably wouldn't have liked it as much.
The stream of consciousness writing is unleashed compared to her other work that I’ve read (Normal People). Combining a rationing of paragraph breaks with her consistent boycott on quotation marks, the narrating voice is a distinct experience. There are many sections that are a first hand account of a character experiencing a memory. The details all blurred together but the feelings, especially uncomfortable ones, coming through in sharp pangs. Absolutely anxiety inducing at times, particularly when following Peter in third-person POV.
Let's talk about the characters. Peter. I hate him and also find him the most relatable. I wanted to scream into the void reading about him continuously walk down self-destructive paths. Two eyes wide open, but blinded by grief. Grief exacerbated by anxiety, self-loathing, depression. Completely hypocritical in the judgements he makes of others, but slightly redeemed by judging and hating himself the most. It was always Peter that had me putting down the book to go touch some grass.
Ivan. Intensely awkward but also hyper-aware of social norms as though he has studied them as a non-participant. Ivan is not the only character steadfastly aware of social norms, but does seem the character least concerned with them. Peter, on the other hand, ties himself up in knots according to what is socially accepted. I only recall four scenes where Peter and Ivan directly interact, yet the characters are so intertwined.
Then the women characters. Naomi, Sylvia, Margaret. We only ever see the POV of one, Margaret, but they are all beautifully fleshed out. There are beautiful snapshots of all of them, in different ways, reckoning with how to survive, and attempt to thrive, within patriarchal conditioning, despite being people who lead very dissimilar lives.
This is in the running for my favorite read this year. Rooney did not give me the character events, ending, or number of paragraph breaks that I wanted. If she had, I probably wouldn't have liked it as much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual content
Minor: Misogyny, Sexual violence
regarding suicidal thoughts one of the main characters makes up their mind to kill themselves and describes a deep sense of relief associated with this decision. suicide does not occur though
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wish I could read this for the first time again and again!!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a crushing way to explain that relationships of any kind are not in fact always easy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent