Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney #sallyrooney @librofm @MacmillanAudio #fiction #literaryfiction #bookreviewer

Susanne’s Review:

What can I say?:  Sally Rooney has something that I don’t believe that many other authors have and what is even more spectacular is that she can put it down on paper.  She has a deep, innate understanding of life, love, friendships, and relationships, and that is intangible. 

“Beautiful World, Where Are You” is the story of life.  People who interact with one another and who form relationships of one kind or another.  Friends, perhaps lovers and who at times, are unable to communicate their thoughts and feelings properly, and because of that, their relationships suffer. 

Here we have Eileen and Alice, who are best friends, though they haven’t seen each other in years and communicate only via email.  Alice is a famous author, who dates a man named Felix, who is elusive, difficult, and brooding.  Felix likes Alice though he treats her poorly at times, and is often unable to give her exactly what she needs. Eileen’s other best friend is Simon, with whom she has been friends since childhood. The two have had unresolved feelings for each other forever, though they have always had a hard time expressing themselves and always misunderstand each other.  Life for these four is at times easy and at other times, complicated as hell, but then that’s life. 

In Beautiful World, Where Are You, Sally Rooney delves into these relationships with a deft hand.  Diving deep and identifying every multifaceted aspect of the relationships between both friends and lovers.  My takeaway?  Nothing is ever easy and yet, everything worth having is worth working towards.  

I had been eagerly awaiting Ms. Rooney’s next novel and it was worth the wait.  While I didn’t quite love this as much as either Conversations with Friends or my absolute favorite novel of hers, Normal People, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to her next novel. This once again showcased Sally Rooney’s writing style and her brilliant understanding of people, humanity, and of relationships.

Thank you to Libro.fm and Macmillan Audio for the alc.

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