A review by hannahgreep
Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I could read Sally Rooney's characters forever and still be in love with them - they're such complicated and complex yet ordinary people. This book was written in the third person, which gave it a different feeling from her previous books, leaving space for you to place your own feelings on a situation rather than telling you how the character themselves felt. I enjoyed the comments throughout the book, both directly in the email exchanges but also indirectly through the dialogue of the characters, on capitalism and working. The conversation around whether creative jobs which people 'enjoy' are more or less worthy than 'real jobs' was explored and neither side of the argument was given the prize of being 'right'. Both types of jobs were praised and criticised, which is a true reflection of real-life I think. The male characters seemed rather stunted compared to the female characters, with less being given away in the text as to how they felt, which sometimes came across as them being arrogant or nonchalant (especially Felix). I also really enjoyed the female friendship at the heart of the book and how it was very complicated, but they clearly loved each other a huge amount and cared more for one another than they did for the other characters in the book (the men and their families). I also loved the representation of bisexuality in the book from both male and female characters.