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kookabucka 's review for:
Intermezzo
by Sally Rooney
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
Piercing look into the impact of grief and longing on people’s lives and choices. I found this a little less accessible than some of her other novels due to some of the grammatical style choices (eg starting sentences with adjectives) but it also made it feel more poetic which fit with the overall vibe of the novel.
The characters were flawed and complex, although the women almost too good in comparison to the male characters. I appreciated how the book used staccato sentence fragments to give a sense of the scattered trains of thought of the main characters. It felt like you were basically inside their head with all the associated complexity and indecision. It didn’t try to make things easy or necessarily wrap things up with a nice bow even though the ending was slightly - perhaps not happier, but gentler - than I expected.
Overall I liked and appreciated this work but I think I would be a bit nonplussed by it if I hadn’t read any of her other books, so I’d start with something like Normal People if I was new to Sally Rooney.
The characters were flawed and complex, although the women almost too good in comparison to the male characters. I appreciated how the book used staccato sentence fragments to give a sense of the scattered trains of thought of the main characters. It felt like you were basically inside their head with all the associated complexity and indecision. It didn’t try to make things easy or necessarily wrap things up with a nice bow even though the ending was slightly - perhaps not happier, but gentler - than I expected.
Overall I liked and appreciated this work but I think I would be a bit nonplussed by it if I hadn’t read any of her other books, so I’d start with something like Normal People if I was new to Sally Rooney.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Violence