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A review by danielleboldry
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-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
5.0
the most sally rooney book to ever sally rooney. i am floored.
i have so many thoughts on this book. all messy and complicated and tangled up like the exact themes of this story. i read someone say this book goes from family dog drama to contemplating the meaning of life and i don’t think i could describe it any better.
grief is laced throughout this story, ever-present in everything these characters do without hardly ever being the main focus. the characters themselves are probably the messiest, most complex, frustrating ones i’ve ever found myself sympathising with. during the first half i really didn’t think i’d end up caring about them so much, especially the ones i genuinely dislike. but it’s just another one of rooney’s incredible literary devices that reflects real life; you don’t necessarily have to like everybody you care about.
the one qualm i have with this book is the age gap relationships. i understand that they are (kind of?) necessary for the story but it will never quite sit right with me how often they appear in rooney’s books? however, i feel it would be reductive and slightly naive to lower my rating because of this, the saving grace for me is that not once are these relationships romanticised. they are what they are; messy, complex, morally questionable and destined for suffering.
this book does an outstanding job of dissecting the relationships we try to sustain in a world of standards and rules (a chess game, perhaps), and how none of them stand to survive against interpersonal human connection.
i have so many thoughts on this book. all messy and complicated and tangled up like the exact themes of this story. i read someone say this book goes from family dog drama to contemplating the meaning of life and i don’t think i could describe it any better.
grief is laced throughout this story, ever-present in everything these characters do without hardly ever being the main focus. the characters themselves are probably the messiest, most complex, frustrating ones i’ve ever found myself sympathising with. during the first half i really didn’t think i’d end up caring about them so much, especially the ones i genuinely dislike. but it’s just another one of rooney’s incredible literary devices that reflects real life; you don’t necessarily have to like everybody you care about.
the one qualm i have with this book is the age gap relationships. i understand that they are (kind of?) necessary for the story but it will never quite sit right with me how often they appear in rooney’s books? however, i feel it would be reductive and slightly naive to lower my rating because of this, the saving grace for me is that not once are these relationships romanticised. they are what they are; messy, complex, morally questionable and destined for suffering.
this book does an outstanding job of dissecting the relationships we try to sustain in a world of standards and rules (a chess game, perhaps), and how none of them stand to survive against interpersonal human connection.