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dark
emotional
hopeful
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
sally rooney books make me think about how beautiful human connection is and they also make me want to kill myself ❤️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Car accident, Abandonment
emotional
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’m amazed at how observant and careful Rooney is with her characters and how they perceive the world. Loved the loose style and experimentation that still told a tight coherent narrative. It’s a wonderfully deep read about overcoming grief.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Death of parent
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Grief
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-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
seeing the high reviews i had high hopes for this book but i was kind of disappointed. took me almost a month to read. the book felt way too long winded, it genuinely could’ve been some solid 200 pages shorter.
also i didn’t enjoy the stream of consciousness and prose style that sally used. i understand, though, that it was meant to show the different character’s thoughts but i felt it was the thing sally focused on the most rather than on the development of the story. for some reason too much of the book was spent on random unrelated things like about the dog,naomis eviction and other technicalities. i felt as if so many aspects of the book were left untouched apart from just brief mentions (ivans job, college past, literally everything about sylvia)
the storyline was not bad, the ending was also not bad. but overall i wouldn’t recommend.
felt very disappointed that we didn’t get to read more about sylvias injury and accident as it was SUCH a big part of the story.
also i didn’t enjoy the stream of consciousness and prose style that sally used. i understand, though, that it was meant to show the different character’s thoughts but i felt it was the thing sally focused on the most rather than on the development of the story. for some reason too much of the book was spent on random unrelated things like about the dog,
the storyline was not bad, the ending was also not bad. but overall i wouldn’t recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
dark
sad
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Alcohol
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
I went into this one a little apprehensive as I had very mixed feelings about some of Rooney's other work - but Intermezzo was a truly lovely book about family and the complexities of personal relationships.
The best way I can describe it is that it felt to me like Rooney's previous books were practice runs for what she finally achieves so beautifully here. It is almost like the culmination of everything she has been exploring, and in my (albeit v unexperienced!) opinion, it is definitely her most mature book with the most depth and ambition to date.
I still can never quite sit 100% comfortably with her characterisation of women - but appreciate that might just be a personal preference thing, and Sylvia, Naomi, Margaret, and even Christine (!) were all great to read about, nonetheless.
Finally, I loved the sibling aspect of this book, and found it a really fascinating framework to explore some of the book's deeper topics and questions.
The best way I can describe it is that it felt to me like Rooney's previous books were practice runs for what she finally achieves so beautifully here. It is almost like the culmination of everything she has been exploring, and in my (albeit v unexperienced!) opinion, it is definitely her most mature book with the most depth and ambition to date.
I still can never quite sit 100% comfortably with her characterisation of women - but appreciate that might just be a personal preference thing, and Sylvia, Naomi, Margaret, and even Christine (!) were all great to read about, nonetheless.
Finally, I loved the sibling aspect of this book, and found it a really fascinating framework to explore some of the book's deeper topics and questions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death of parent
Moderate: Drug abuse
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts
emotional
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:
Yes
This book isn’t as strong as Sally’s other work to me. It’s quite male gaze-y at points in the beginning and the sex scenes are more graphic than her other books. Not my favourite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide