Beautiful World, Where Are You

This one won’t be for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Many people would read this book and wonder what the point is. I’ll admit there’s really no plot, and there’s a slight barrier, being that Sally Rooney is of Dublin so that the writing style can throw American readers off, but I found that part intriguing and fun. I loved reading things with a bit of a different language and experiencing the most *common* parts of life through the lens of characters in another country. At first, I was completely put off by the interactions depicted by the characters, which made it all the more fun when I got far enough along and started to love their connections, personalities, etc. If this book doesn’t magnify our detailed and often nuanced experiences connecting with others, you’re simply not paying attention. I loved the subtle way Rooney impacts the reader through the most complex feelings and anxieties surrounding seemingly ordinary experiences. Seeing anxiety, personality dynamics, romance, and more depicted in such a true-to-life “story” was impactful. This book will annoy some readers, but I think just the same, it will captivate others: And, ah, we almost see the entire point of the book in real time! We all experience life differently; the small things are significant to some, and catastrophes are nothing to fret about for others. Immense feelings are hard for one person, and for the next, it’s hard not to have big feelings at every little turn in life. I think this book provides a unique reminder and an opportunity to enjoy the rollercoaster of life through the eyes of these different characters. For someone who has a lot of complex feelings, this book was a unique way to contemplate them; a simpl read that I enjoyed for it’s own dainty, special and intriguing qualities.

Never have I struggled so much with reading a book than I did with Rooney's Beautiful World, Where Are You. Not only was the writing hard to follow, the characters were quite unlikable with little to no motivations within the plot. As my first Rooney book, I was unaware of her particular writing style, in which punctation is mostly ignored and paragraphs are non-existent. While it was difficult to adjust to at first, I soon thought that if I paid enough attention, I would still be able to follow. But as I continued to read, the plot became quite boring and difficult to follow, that the narrative style only made it harder to follow. While I understand ignoring the punctuation to symbolise breaking down norms, it felt quite necessary, and mostly pretentious. The characters only made the book harder to follow. There is little to root for in either relationship, one in which both characters are very unlikable and the other with little development and built mostly on sex. In between each point of view, an email is sent between the two friends of the story, and while some of the points they made seemed valid and criticism that made me think, I feel as though the book would have served better as a book of essays. While the book is a critic on real world issues and serves to show whether or not we can find love and happiness in such an unforgiving world, I found myself bored throughout the entire read. I found myself forcing myself to read this book, and still struggling to pay attention.

Really good, found it was easy to pick up and put back down, and was easy to learn the characters x

I feel as though it was a little weirdly written, the ending was rushed, and it was repetitive but I enjoyed the the different concepts discussed in the book and the characters.

I have such a love-hate relationship with this book. On one hand, I love how real the MCs are, but on the other hand, they can be so annoying and frustrating.