Rating: 🌟🌟🌟/5
Publication date: 7 September 2021
Synopsis:
Alice, a novelist, meets Felix, who works in a warehouse, and asks him if he’d like to travel to Rome with her. In Dublin, her best friend Eileen is getting over a break-up and slips back into flirting with Simon, a man she has known since childhood.
Alice, Felix, Eileen and Simon are still young – but life is catching up with them. They desire each other, they delude each other, they get together, they break apart. They worry about sex and friendship and the world they live in. Are they standing in the last lighted room before the darkness, bearing witness to something? Will they find a way to believe in a beautiful world?
Review:
I think reading this book will be a personal experience for all. .It is very subjective and a hit or miss for readers. What makes it personal is that the writing and event will relate to each reader differently and in some way or another, you will see a spectrum of your life reflect to you. This book is mainly about 4 characters having a mid-life crisis, adulting, and exploring the different types of relationships, be it platonic, sexual or a more serious mature kind or even a genuine friendship. It is also about rediscovering yourself amidst chaos and uncertainty. With Sally Rooney’s books. you never know if you will like it or not unless you give it a try. Her writing is very factual, which can feel like a lot of info dump, if you get through it with patience, I’m positive that you will find some beautiful quotes that are universal truths written in a unique way that is Sally Rooney.
“And we hate people for making mistakes so much more than we love them for doing good that the easiest way to live is to do nothing, say nothing, and love no one.”
Beautiful World, Where Are You
I think I wasn’t in the right headspace when reading this book, because I did not enjoy my experience at all. I found it really draggy and confusing. I had a hard time telling apart the dialogue where the characters are having a conversation and the emails between the two friends. There were not any indication as to those situations were happening. I was left frustrated when I realised halfway through a page, the paragraphs were a dialogue/email. I had the same experience with Normal People. I think Sally Rooney just isn’t for me. I did tremendously enjoy the quotes and notable stunningly written phrases. I will definitely find a time to reread this book when I’m in a better place, being a mood reader has loads of disadvantages 😦
The 3/4 of the book was such a hard hit of reality, it was very existential. It threw me back into the real world, which was very rude of you Sally, I was enjoying living in a fictional world. I recommend you to try this book out for yourself, forget about the GOOD reviews or the BAD ones. Read it for yourself, I guarantee you will learn something.
Thank you to @times.reads for a review copy. You can get a copy of this book here
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