Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Beautiful World, Where Are You, by Sally Rooney

64 reviews

abbruzzese's review

emotional lighthearted reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

the worst of sally rooney's books, imo, but they all go the same way: miscommunication, anger, arguments, self-pity, treating each other poorly, shitty parents. rinse and repeat.

normal people was excusable because most of it takes place before anyone's brains have finished developing, but this time it's real, full-grown adults. alice, felix, eileen—i can't stand any of them. simon is the only character i have a shred of patience for.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Mental illness

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Drug use

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Mental illness, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Injury/injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Grief, Cursing, Drug use, Blood, and Pregnancy

tinkithesquirelll's review

emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Mental illness, Sexism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Suicide, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

kashby's review

reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/injury detail, Self harm, Alcohol, Drug use, Mental illness, and Sexual content

antoniav's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use

em_gauts's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Cursing, Mental illness, Drug use, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

cylite's review against another edition

reflective

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I thought it explored a lot of different relationship dynamics and emotions around change and transition. Still, I wish it didn't center so much around the two women's relationship with the men. The book was not incredibly profound, but I see the value in it.

Spoiler

Also, the last chapter was so random and not really connected to the original plot other than to just give unneeded closure

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, and Death of parent

zannayo's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Drug use, Grief, and Sexual content

Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

sharkemoji's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I'm not quite sure how exactly I felt about this book. I found the characters hard to like and annoying and the relationships and plot to be very predictable and boring. The quasi-intellectualism in the emails between Alice and Eileen was a bit annoying and I found myself zoning out during some of the more obnoxious moments. But, it felt true to character.

Spoiler

The relationship between Felix and Alice was not only more compelling but more charged than whatever happened between Simon and Eileen. The subtle dynamics of power and control were very interesting, but I did find myself more interested in Felix than Alice for many of those moments. Simon, I found to be grating and annoying and I disliked nearly everything about his character. Maybe if we had had some moments with his interiority I would have felt differently but I really wanted to shake Eileen so hard and say she can do better than this weirdo loser creep. 
I HATED the fact that the epilogue is about COVID. Maybe if I had read this book during the height of the pandemic I would have felt connected to the characters' feelings but so soon after I was just annoyed and tired of it.

 
Some things I would have wanted to see more of was Alice's mental health struggles which are constantly mentioned by other characters but not obvious within her internal dialogue.

Spoiler

The moment where she says she wants to kill herself felt a bit out of nowhere and the fact that she has been on anti-depressants apparently the whole time without Felix or the reader or anyone knowing was just... I was confused by where any of this was coming from. Actually, that whole final fight between Alice and Eileen was a bit much for me. I would have been more interested in having that moment earlier in the novel and then seeing how they actually work through that instead of the jump to so SO far later. and once again I was just annoyed by Simon the whole time.

I also would have loved to see some more actual rumination on class differences, with the whole Alice being a millionaire and Felix working at a package facility. It gets close but Alice, Eileen, and Simon never recognize the differences between themselves and the working class. (Besides a moment of Eileen arguing that technically she is working class because she has a job... which... is certainly A Take...) 
So ok maybe I actually didn't like it. Maybe that is what I am realizing right now. But it was still a GOOD book with some really amazing lines about desire and love and depression and relationships and despite the pretentiousness of Alice and Eileen's emails, there were many moments of really impactful reflections on life and the human experience that I enjoyed. Rooney is really a great writer in terms of actual quality this was fantastic. But just not for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Infidelity and Drug use

claraandthebooks's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, and Sexual content