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A review by kathywadolowski
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Oh Sally Rooney, you mysterious mysterious woman...
I fell in deep love with "Normal People," and have been continuing to open Sally's books since in the hopes of re-encountering that same magic. And when I started "Intermezzo," I thought I was in for an immediate flop. The writing style, as many others have noted, is WEIRD and takes a lot of getting used to; it's essentially all stream of consciousness, without punctuation, quotation, or anything you expect to encounter in typical narrative fiction writing. And while I did get used to it and did appreciate how it allowed us to really intimately inhabit the headspaces of our main characters, I still won't say that I loved it by the end.
Because being in their heads meant feeling fully DEPRESSED, and I was just not really enthralled by that prospect for the first mmmmm third/half of the book. It was real, like almost too real and intimate that it almost made me uncomfortable to read their innermost thoughts. #classicSally. And though it could be tough to read (both literally and emotionally), this book did get better and more encouraging by the end. A book doesn't have to be happy to be enjoyable of course, but if this one didn't perk up at some point it really would've been a slog and I might've dnf'ed it.
So be prepared to confront your inner turmoil through Sally Rooney's characters if you pick this one up, and also to reread the first few pages to get a handle on how the experience if going to go. But if you can power through, I think you'll appreciate the rawness of this one. 3.5/5 stars.
I fell in deep love with "Normal People," and have been continuing to open Sally's books since in the hopes of re-encountering that same magic. And when I started "Intermezzo," I thought I was in for an immediate flop. The writing style, as many others have noted, is WEIRD and takes a lot of getting used to; it's essentially all stream of consciousness, without punctuation, quotation, or anything you expect to encounter in typical narrative fiction writing. And while I did get used to it and did appreciate how it allowed us to really intimately inhabit the headspaces of our main characters, I still won't say that I loved it by the end.
Because being in their heads meant feeling fully DEPRESSED, and I was just not really enthralled by that prospect for the first mmmmm third/half of the book. It was real, like almost too real and intimate that it almost made me uncomfortable to read their innermost thoughts. #classicSally. And though it could be tough to read (both literally and emotionally), this book did get better and more encouraging by the end. A book doesn't have to be happy to be enjoyable of course, but if this one didn't perk up at some point it really would've been a slog and I might've dnf'ed it.
So be prepared to confront your inner turmoil through Sally Rooney's characters if you pick this one up, and also to reread the first few pages to get a handle on how the experience if going to go. But if you can power through, I think you'll appreciate the rawness of this one. 3.5/5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent