A review by avocadotoastbee
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I love Sally Rooney's writing style, but having first read Normal People and Beautiful World, Where Are You there is undeniably a pattern to her stories and characters. Although this is probably due to her own experiences and life, it makes her stories repetitive. Unfortunately, I even have to roll my eyes or put the book down every time one of her female characters asks to be hit by her partner for pleasure, when she is an English major at Trinity and a writer, or when she describes being a communist while coming from a wealthy family.
Viewing Conversations with Friends as a stand-alone novel, without considering Sally Rooney's other novels, I enjoyed the plot and found many of the characters' thoughts relatable. The way she describes all the unique relationships between the main character Frances, her ex-girlfriend Bobbi, and the married couple Nick and Melissa is exhilarating. All of them are flawed and have their own motives. As Frances narrates the story, it's hard to find any of the characters completely likable. But I found myself rooting for different characters at different times in the novel.
As the story progresses, Frances continues to develop as a person, grow up, and figure out more and more what she wants, who she is, and what she is capable of. It was fulfilling to see Frances come to conclusions at the end that I, as a reader, an outsider, had made from the beginning.
While I like Sally Rooney's novels, I have to say that this time I was  in part only able to empathize with the main character and find her transformation interesting because I am the same age (21) as her. I had higher hopes for Conversations With Friends and have to admit that I was a little disappointed.
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