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Intermezzo
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Fiction (2024), Nominee for Readers' Favorite Audiobook (2024)Sunt frați, însă au puține lucruri în comun. Peter Koubek este un avocat din Dublin în vârstă de treizeci și doi de ani – competent, curajos și de succes. Pe de altă parte, la douăzeci și doi de ani, campion la șah și proaspăt ieșit de pe băncile facultății, sfiosul Ivan abia își începe viața.
În urma morții tatălui lor, constată că, deși uniți de suferință, trăiesc în lumi răsturnate: în vreme ce Peter face față înghițind pumni de pastile și pierzându-se în legături tulburi, pentru Ivan se înfiripă, nesperat, o relație amoroasă. Între ei, ca niște ancore pe timp de furtună, Sylvia, Naomi și Margaret își păstrează gândirea limpede. Doliul deschide, pentru cei doi frați, un spațiu nou în care să se distanțeze și să se reapropie, o perioadă cu dorințe, disperare și posibilități noi.
În urma morții tatălui lor, constată că, deși uniți de suferință, trăiesc în lumi răsturnate: în vreme ce Peter face față înghițind pumni de pastile și pierzându-se în legături tulburi, pentru Ivan se înfiripă, nesperat, o relație amoroasă. Între ei, ca niște ancore pe timp de furtună, Sylvia, Naomi și Margaret își păstrează gândirea limpede. Doliul deschide, pentru cei doi frați, un spațiu nou în care să se distanțeze și să se reapropie, o perioadă cu dorințe, disperare și posibilități noi.
448 pages, Paperback
First published September 24, 2024
64993 people are currently reading
659780 people want to read
About the author
Sally Rooney
37 books68.8k followersSally Rooney was born in 1991 and lives in Dublin, where she graduated from Trinity College. Her work has appeared in Granta, The Dublin Review, The White Review, The Stinging Fly, and the Winter Pages anthology.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56,543 reviews
September 26, 2024
"what if life is just a collection of essentially unrelated experiences? why does one thing have to follow meaningfully from another?"
rating: ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
i am still processing this book after a month, so please bear with me. i will have a full review up on my substack (https://postcardsbyelle.substack.com/) in a week or so. i am so so grateful i had the privilege of reading this as an advanced copy…the dream of a lifetime.
sally rooney is my favorite author, and one of the reasons why i love her is that she is able to inspect any relationship—romantic or platonic—at a microscopic level. she takes mundane moments, day in and day out, and creates a bigger picture that is worthy of reading; when you are finished, it will imperceptibly but surely change the way you view the world.
intermezzo felt reminiscent of beautiful world where are you, with the way two characters' alternating perspectives diverged and mirrored the way they felt about life and each other.
the heart of intermezzo is about two brothers—peter and ivan. peter, the older brother, is a successful lawyer, and ivan, the younger brother, a competitive chess player. grief for their father pervades them, mourning him looms over them like a shadow, and thus causes them to question both how they have spent their lives and the future. they grieve alone, mostly, unable to be vulnerable to each other for a large portion of the book.
what happens when you finally look in the mirror after something life changing, and the reflection that you see is unrecognizable? how do you come back from that? how do you approach intimacy and vulnerability when those feelings are completely foreign to you? how do you reconcile with and concede to love and human connection?
while peter and ivan both have complicated relationships of their own, much of the book is bereft of the romantic aspect that is often present in her other books. instead, rooney takes the time and care to vigilantly flesh out the two brothers’ personalities, and by extension their strained relationship. both brothers have distinctly unlikeable traits of their own, but she never lets go of the authorial kindness and grace she offers to her characters.
in a book that is, at its core, about love and grief and regrets, i think that is the most wonderful thing she could have done.
thank you so much to fsg for the arc! you truly made my year
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mini review
i put off reading the last ten pages for as long as i could because i knew how absolutely empty i'd feel after i finished it. i took two months reading this—a chapter every few days with emma—and it was the best decision ever. it made me appreciate rooney's words so much more, and this book is one that should be read slowly and analytically.
i'll post another review soon, but all i have to say is: be excited!!!!! this lives up to every expectation ever.
i'm literally buddy reading a sally rooney ARC with my best girl emma??? this is what our dreams are made of
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brothers??? one is a loner??? one is in love with two women??? grief?? despair??
welcome back dostoyevsky
July 8, 2025
this book was the most exciting news of my year and i got engaged the week it was announced.
somehow, it still exceeded my life-altering, world-centering, unrealistic-to-the-point-of-being-annoying expectations.
with every book, sally rooney seems to challenge herself in a new way, showing that in the years since her last release while we've all been pining and watching paul mescal fan edits she's been ever (somehow! still!) building on her craft. in beautiful world, where are you, for example, she displayed a totally new and mesmerizing use of visual language and natural motif that i fell in love with.
here, her use of perspective is stunning. i'm a multi-pov hater, but this manages to feel like something entirely different even as it follows the interiority of three characters. it seamlessly transitions between the three while still being vividly distinct: peter's staccato trains of thought, margaret's quiet self-reflection, ivan's anxious rambling. i've never read anything like it.
decisions like the little we see from within the two female characters in peter's orbit, and are immersed in the world of ivan's, feels so true to their characters and to their stories — and such an interesting facet to the characteristic sociopolitical explorations that are the true gem of rooney's writing.
rooney also challenges herself to create characters who are simultaneously unlikable and real, making decisions that threaten to get you to put the book down and sigh while being mercilessly relatable and easy to understand.
that's what we're working with here. a novel in which every choice is so thoughtful that you can spend a minute reading a page, then pause for five minutes just to consider it. which is basically what i did (read: make myself spend a month reading this because i so dreaded not having any more of it to draw out).
peter and ivan each represent a shade of misogyny, of straight-white-man-ism in modern society, that doesn't forgive itself even while it refuses to let you ignore their own humanity and histories.
peter's perspective, made up of brief ulyssean phrases and stunning descriptions, varies as much from ivan's terminally introspective one as the two brothers do from each other.
rooney's past books have focused on waxing and waning romantic (and semi-romantic) relationships; beautiful world also features a platonic one at its core. this one takes as its subject siblings, at first nearly estranged, as they struggle toward each other.
anyway. i often hate multiple perspectives because it always feels there's one the author is more comfortable with, that the choice to distinguish the two is because they have to be different because they're different characters. rooney's decision is deliberate, each perspective difference thought out, and because of that both are wildly impressive.
i loved this book.
bottom line: all the it girls love intermezzo and all the it girls are right.
(thank you from the bottom of my heart to the publisher for the arc)
(buddy read of a lifetime with my favorite girl elle)
somehow, it still exceeded my life-altering, world-centering, unrealistic-to-the-point-of-being-annoying expectations.
with every book, sally rooney seems to challenge herself in a new way, showing that in the years since her last release while we've all been pining and watching paul mescal fan edits she's been ever (somehow! still!) building on her craft. in beautiful world, where are you, for example, she displayed a totally new and mesmerizing use of visual language and natural motif that i fell in love with.
here, her use of perspective is stunning. i'm a multi-pov hater, but this manages to feel like something entirely different even as it follows the interiority of three characters. it seamlessly transitions between the three while still being vividly distinct: peter's staccato trains of thought, margaret's quiet self-reflection, ivan's anxious rambling. i've never read anything like it.
decisions like the little we see from within the two female characters in peter's orbit, and are immersed in the world of ivan's, feels so true to their characters and to their stories — and such an interesting facet to the characteristic sociopolitical explorations that are the true gem of rooney's writing.
rooney also challenges herself to create characters who are simultaneously unlikable and real, making decisions that threaten to get you to put the book down and sigh while being mercilessly relatable and easy to understand.
that's what we're working with here. a novel in which every choice is so thoughtful that you can spend a minute reading a page, then pause for five minutes just to consider it. which is basically what i did (read: make myself spend a month reading this because i so dreaded not having any more of it to draw out).
peter and ivan each represent a shade of misogyny, of straight-white-man-ism in modern society, that doesn't forgive itself even while it refuses to let you ignore their own humanity and histories.
peter's perspective, made up of brief ulyssean phrases and stunning descriptions, varies as much from ivan's terminally introspective one as the two brothers do from each other.
rooney's past books have focused on waxing and waning romantic (and semi-romantic) relationships; beautiful world also features a platonic one at its core. this one takes as its subject siblings, at first nearly estranged, as they struggle toward each other.
anyway. i often hate multiple perspectives because it always feels there's one the author is more comfortable with, that the choice to distinguish the two is because they have to be different because they're different characters. rooney's decision is deliberate, each perspective difference thought out, and because of that both are wildly impressive.
i loved this book.
bottom line: all the it girls love intermezzo and all the it girls are right.
(thank you from the bottom of my heart to the publisher for the arc)
(buddy read of a lifetime with my favorite girl elle)
Read
January 20, 2025This was my first novel by Sally Rooney, and I loved it.
Unwittingly, I prepared myself well for Intermezzo by first launching into James Joyce's Ulysses, which I had never read before. (Yes, I know. Shame on me, and an English teacher, too!) It was immediately striking how much Joyce's narrative techniques had affected Rooney's own writing (and of course, many other writers inside and outside Ireland). It's clear Rooney is well-versed in the literary traditions from which she draws, and to which she contributes beautifully. Without having first read Joyce, though, I might have had trouble wading into the chapters told from Peter's perspective, which are Joycean in their stream of consciousness use of voice, the density of their paragraphs, and their paucity of punctuation. Once you get used to the style, the story flows quite easily, but if you are used to breezy narratives with lots of line breaks and straightforward prose, this may take a bit of effort to adjust to. The payoff is more than worth it.
The story alternates between two brothers, Peter and Ivan, who could not be more different, and yet whose life-journeys mirror one another and conflict with one another as only siblings' lives can. Peter is a lawyer, outwardly successful, inwardly damaged by his relationship with the love of his life (SPOILER) who can no longer be physically intimate because of constant pain following a car accident. Peter finds himself in a new relationship with a much younger woman -- a relationship that may or may not be contractual -- but which seems impossible to reconcile with his feelings for his old lover. The death of Peter's father, the last thing that tied him and his brother together, threatens to send Peter over the edge of despair.
Meanwhile, younger brother Ivan, a struggling chess player, becomes inadvertently involved with an older woman. Is it love? Is it just for fun? Is it possible to have a true equal romantic partnership with someone when there is more than a decade between you? These are the questions Rooney explores as we follow Ivan and Peter through their trauma, grief, mutual resentment, and romantic entanglements. I was deeply affected by the characters' struggles. There are no easy heroes and villains here, just people struggling along as best they can, trying to make something out of imperfect lives. There is beautiful prose, steamy romance, lovely character building, and a sense of realness to the plot that made me care. In short, a stunning novel that I'm glad I read. I will be on the lookout for more from Rooney!
Unwittingly, I prepared myself well for Intermezzo by first launching into James Joyce's Ulysses, which I had never read before. (Yes, I know. Shame on me, and an English teacher, too!) It was immediately striking how much Joyce's narrative techniques had affected Rooney's own writing (and of course, many other writers inside and outside Ireland). It's clear Rooney is well-versed in the literary traditions from which she draws, and to which she contributes beautifully. Without having first read Joyce, though, I might have had trouble wading into the chapters told from Peter's perspective, which are Joycean in their stream of consciousness use of voice, the density of their paragraphs, and their paucity of punctuation. Once you get used to the style, the story flows quite easily, but if you are used to breezy narratives with lots of line breaks and straightforward prose, this may take a bit of effort to adjust to. The payoff is more than worth it.
The story alternates between two brothers, Peter and Ivan, who could not be more different, and yet whose life-journeys mirror one another and conflict with one another as only siblings' lives can. Peter is a lawyer, outwardly successful, inwardly damaged by his relationship with the love of his life (SPOILER) who can no longer be physically intimate because of constant pain following a car accident. Peter finds himself in a new relationship with a much younger woman -- a relationship that may or may not be contractual -- but which seems impossible to reconcile with his feelings for his old lover. The death of Peter's father, the last thing that tied him and his brother together, threatens to send Peter over the edge of despair.
Meanwhile, younger brother Ivan, a struggling chess player, becomes inadvertently involved with an older woman. Is it love? Is it just for fun? Is it possible to have a true equal romantic partnership with someone when there is more than a decade between you? These are the questions Rooney explores as we follow Ivan and Peter through their trauma, grief, mutual resentment, and romantic entanglements. I was deeply affected by the characters' struggles. There are no easy heroes and villains here, just people struggling along as best they can, trying to make something out of imperfect lives. There is beautiful prose, steamy romance, lovely character building, and a sense of realness to the plot that made me care. In short, a stunning novel that I'm glad I read. I will be on the lookout for more from Rooney!
October 4, 2024
Despite Rooney’s books being largely about nothing, with the plot consisting of basically sad people being sad, I never before found them slow or boring. I found the characters and situations in Normal People and Beautiful World tragic enough to keep me glued to the pages. I can’t say I enjoyed them, but I was definitely engaged.
Intermezzo, unfortunately, dragged in parts. Rooney’s books are getting longer and longer and I think in this one (448 pages, compared to NP's 273 and BW's 337) I finally reached my limit for melancholy navel-gazing.
That's not to say I didn't get something out of it. I still really enjoyed the character portraits. Rooney is good at taking fucked up relationship dynamics and exploring them up, down and inside out. Here she looks not only at complex romantic entanglements, but also the relationship between two very different brothers who are struggling to connect with each other and manage their grief after their father's death.
I like that she dramatically changes writing style when she moves between Peter and Ivan’s perspectives, reflecting their personalities in Peter’s rapidfire, often meandering, thoughts and Ivan’s more precisely-articulated inner narrative.
However, I never fully enjoyed the inclusion of Margaret’s perspective in Ivan’s chapters and still can't really understand the decision behind it. All it did was give us less page time with Ivan, making Peter, ultimately, the more developed character and the more interesting POV to read.
I also felt like Peter's ending was too easily wrapped up. He's in a very complex situation and spends the whole book moping (some of it justified; some of it less so) but then solutions just seem to start falling into his lap without any growth on his part.
Not my favourite, but let's be honest: I'm going to read whatever she writes next.
Intermezzo, unfortunately, dragged in parts. Rooney’s books are getting longer and longer and I think in this one (448 pages, compared to NP's 273 and BW's 337) I finally reached my limit for melancholy navel-gazing.
That's not to say I didn't get something out of it. I still really enjoyed the character portraits. Rooney is good at taking fucked up relationship dynamics and exploring them up, down and inside out. Here she looks not only at complex romantic entanglements, but also the relationship between two very different brothers who are struggling to connect with each other and manage their grief after their father's death.
I like that she dramatically changes writing style when she moves between Peter and Ivan’s perspectives, reflecting their personalities in Peter’s rapidfire, often meandering, thoughts and Ivan’s more precisely-articulated inner narrative.
However, I never fully enjoyed the inclusion of Margaret’s perspective in Ivan’s chapters and still can't really understand the decision behind it. All it did was give us less page time with Ivan, making Peter, ultimately, the more developed character and the more interesting POV to read.
I also felt like Peter's ending was too easily wrapped up. He's in a very complex situation and spends the whole book moping (some of it justified; some of it less so) but then solutions just seem to start falling into his lap without any growth on his part.
Not my favourite, but let's be honest: I'm going to read whatever she writes next.
October 17, 2025
sally rooney has such a talent for writing about interpersonal relationships and human connection, and it’s something i’ll never tire of reading.
intermezzo is the story of two brothers: peter, a successful lawyer in his thirties who is juggling relationships with two different women, and his younger brother ivan, a competitive chess player in his early twenties who begins a relationship with an older woman he meets at one of his tournaments.
it’s hard to talk in depth about this book for fear of spoiling it, but it definitely feels like a step forwards for sally rooney as a literary fiction author. intermezzo contains a much deeper character study into its two protagonists, exploring their family dynamics and how they grapple with navigating their brotherhood in the shadow of their father’s recent death. the scope of the novel feels wider; you really feel like you know these characters and why they are the way they are, why they act the way they do.
intermezzo also has rooney’s trademark political zest: commentary on wage labour, the housing crisis in dublin, monetary power dynamics, religion, existentialism, and discussions of chronic pain (to name a few). another thing i’ve always liked about sally rooney’s novels is how she talks about the internet / social media. it’s present in her books, as it needs to be when writing about young characters navigating the contemporary world, but it’s never too much. her awareness of social media, coupled with her lack of (public) personal accounts, conjures the image of rooney lurking on the periphery of the internet somewhere. she is also a master of dialogue, perfectly weaving in all the intricacies and subtleties of human conversation.
all this to say, it’s another hit from sally rooney & further cements her as my favourite author! (but who’s surprised). thank you SO much @faberbooks for the advanced copy, i’m forever indebted. intermezzo is out on 24 sept 2024!
4.5
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update: i got the arc!!! i will be devouring it asap so stay tuned
sally rooney hive we are so back
intermezzo is the story of two brothers: peter, a successful lawyer in his thirties who is juggling relationships with two different women, and his younger brother ivan, a competitive chess player in his early twenties who begins a relationship with an older woman he meets at one of his tournaments.
it’s hard to talk in depth about this book for fear of spoiling it, but it definitely feels like a step forwards for sally rooney as a literary fiction author. intermezzo contains a much deeper character study into its two protagonists, exploring their family dynamics and how they grapple with navigating their brotherhood in the shadow of their father’s recent death. the scope of the novel feels wider; you really feel like you know these characters and why they are the way they are, why they act the way they do.
intermezzo also has rooney’s trademark political zest: commentary on wage labour, the housing crisis in dublin, monetary power dynamics, religion, existentialism, and discussions of chronic pain (to name a few). another thing i’ve always liked about sally rooney’s novels is how she talks about the internet / social media. it’s present in her books, as it needs to be when writing about young characters navigating the contemporary world, but it’s never too much. her awareness of social media, coupled with her lack of (public) personal accounts, conjures the image of rooney lurking on the periphery of the internet somewhere. she is also a master of dialogue, perfectly weaving in all the intricacies and subtleties of human conversation.
all this to say, it’s another hit from sally rooney & further cements her as my favourite author! (but who’s surprised). thank you SO much @faberbooks for the advanced copy, i’m forever indebted. intermezzo is out on 24 sept 2024!
4.5
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update: i got the arc!!! i will be devouring it asap so stay tuned
sally rooney hive we are so back
October 1, 2024
In a deliberately quiet almost hissing voice Ivan says: I actually hate you. I’ve hated you my entire life.
Without stirring, without looking around to see whether the other diners or staff are watching them, Peter just answers: I know.
hate when i dislike a book and go to read negative reviews but none of them hate it for any reason that even remotely resembles my sentiments. “It’s just people talking for four hundred pages” the fuck do you want? explosions? go watch a marvel movie.
rooney stuns with a writing that has never been this distinctive in her works before. the change in writing style between pov chapters brilliant. peter’s short, rapid fired, sometimes incoherent thoughts the best part. (of course most will hate and criticise this stylistic choice cause in the booktok age of reading experimentation is a big no-no)
but quite frankly style is the only thing i liked with this one.
the ivan/margaret chapters (and why on earth were the ivan chapters mostly from margaret’s point of view anyway? i thought this was supposed to be about the brothers?) feel like reading about a twelve year old falling in love with an adult. ivan just does not read like a 22 year old at all. making this age gap relationship more cringe and at times simply unbearable than the actually very mundane thing that it is. i guess ivan is supposed to be on some kind of autistic spectrum but i find his portrayal highly questionable.
peter’s chapters while more emotionally complex simply don’t go anywhere. his inner turmoil doesn’t really reach its climax and instead he gets an out of nowhere saccharine ending where everything gets handed to him on a silver platter and we have to pretend that he’s conflicted about that for the last five pages like yeah, woe is him.
overall, this book might have profited from a harsher editing with the ivan chapters especially being way too long and dragging on unnecessarily. somewhere between 2 and 3 stars.
- - -
usually depressive episodes hit me by surprise but i'm glad to know that i can plan one for september
Without stirring, without looking around to see whether the other diners or staff are watching them, Peter just answers: I know.
hate when i dislike a book and go to read negative reviews but none of them hate it for any reason that even remotely resembles my sentiments. “It’s just people talking for four hundred pages” the fuck do you want? explosions? go watch a marvel movie.
rooney stuns with a writing that has never been this distinctive in her works before. the change in writing style between pov chapters brilliant. peter’s short, rapid fired, sometimes incoherent thoughts the best part. (of course most will hate and criticise this stylistic choice cause in the booktok age of reading experimentation is a big no-no)
but quite frankly style is the only thing i liked with this one.
the ivan/margaret chapters (and why on earth were the ivan chapters mostly from margaret’s point of view anyway? i thought this was supposed to be about the brothers?) feel like reading about a twelve year old falling in love with an adult. ivan just does not read like a 22 year old at all. making this age gap relationship more cringe and at times simply unbearable than the actually very mundane thing that it is. i guess ivan is supposed to be on some kind of autistic spectrum but i find his portrayal highly questionable.
peter’s chapters while more emotionally complex simply don’t go anywhere. his inner turmoil doesn’t really reach its climax and instead he gets an out of nowhere saccharine ending where everything gets handed to him on a silver platter and we have to pretend that he’s conflicted about that for the last five pages like yeah, woe is him.
overall, this book might have profited from a harsher editing with the ivan chapters especially being way too long and dragging on unnecessarily. somewhere between 2 and 3 stars.
- - -
usually depressive episodes hit me by surprise but i'm glad to know that i can plan one for september
July 8, 2025
Surprisingly crap.
Even though I'm one of those embarrassing people who found reading Normal People to be an actually life-changing experience, this was dreadful. The brothers were basically uninteresting (Peter's suicidal thoughts over his "do I choose the submissive bimbo or the dark academia asexual" dilemma had me wishing he'd just get on with it), and the various love interests were paper thin and functionally symbolic. Which is a shame, since I think Rooney is more than capable of writing nuanced and memorable characters, and has done so in the past.
Style-wise, I've never minded the customary lack of speech marks, but the excessive use of jumbled syntax in Intermezzo is pretty tortuous. Otherwise good sentences come out garbled, while nonsense like "Sore his eyes and hot he felt" gives the whole book a sort of as-told-by-Yoda vibe. Not great.
And yeah, I get that the brotherly love ending is sort of heartwarming (although for a book allegedly about their relationship, they spend most of it deciding who to shag in mostly unrelated plot lines). But it feels cynical to me, I don't know (as Sally might write: "Calculated, this heartstring pulling felt, and cold"). Plus, it turns out you can have your cake and eat it RE: being unable to decide between the submissive bimbo and the dark academia asexual. Just date both of them, I guess! Who cares if it all goes wrong in the future, because you're living life now, or something.
Diminishing returns from a normally talented author.
Even though I'm one of those embarrassing people who found reading Normal People to be an actually life-changing experience, this was dreadful. The brothers were basically uninteresting (Peter's suicidal thoughts over his "do I choose the submissive bimbo or the dark academia asexual" dilemma had me wishing he'd just get on with it), and the various love interests were paper thin and functionally symbolic. Which is a shame, since I think Rooney is more than capable of writing nuanced and memorable characters, and has done so in the past.
Style-wise, I've never minded the customary lack of speech marks, but the excessive use of jumbled syntax in Intermezzo is pretty tortuous. Otherwise good sentences come out garbled, while nonsense like "Sore his eyes and hot he felt" gives the whole book a sort of as-told-by-Yoda vibe. Not great.
And yeah, I get that the brotherly love ending is sort of heartwarming (although for a book allegedly about their relationship, they spend most of it deciding who to shag in mostly unrelated plot lines). But it feels cynical to me, I don't know (as Sally might write: "Calculated, this heartstring pulling felt, and cold"). Plus, it turns out you can have your cake and eat it RE: being unable to decide between the submissive bimbo and the dark academia asexual. Just date both of them, I guess! Who cares if it all goes wrong in the future, because you're living life now, or something.
Diminishing returns from a normally talented author.
September 25, 2024
Under the guise of ambitious prose that aims to contribute to the discussion on grief lies a book about two brothers complaining about life and banging inappropriate women.
While Ivan's (the younger brother's) storyline is somewhat readable, Peter's (the older brother's) arc is an utterly unbearable narrative mess that promotes toxic patterns. Both storylines feature criminally underdeveloped, two-dimensional female characters. In short, the entire book is over-intellectualized, offers no deeper reflections, and simultaneously provides a deceptively happy ending. The pacing is good, but that’s no advantage.
I’m sad to conclude that Sally Rooney’s novels are getting worse with each new release. One should truly draw the line and stop reading them.
While Ivan's (the younger brother's) storyline is somewhat readable, Peter's (the older brother's) arc is an utterly unbearable narrative mess that promotes toxic patterns. Both storylines feature criminally underdeveloped, two-dimensional female characters. In short, the entire book is over-intellectualized, offers no deeper reflections, and simultaneously provides a deceptively happy ending. The pacing is good, but that’s no advantage.
I’m sad to conclude that Sally Rooney’s novels are getting worse with each new release. One should truly draw the line and stop reading them.
January 2, 2026
I can’t wait for the world to move on from Sally Rooney’s whole deal of badly written ‘chic-lit’ that people desperately try to pretend is anything more than pretentious Colleen Hoover. She seems like a lovely person though
October 24, 2024
i would literally die for ivan. review to come
it's gonna be a sad girl september. thanks sally babes
it's gonna be a sad girl september. thanks sally babes
October 26, 2024
Four hundred and forty-eight pages of men taking zero accountability for their actions and using women as their emotional crutches.
So I guess you could say it's realistic?
So I guess you could say it's realistic?
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February 5, 2025
Did I love this? YES
But is it her best book?
...ALSO YES
Review to come
But is it her best book?
...ALSO YES
Review to come
August 7, 2024
men are insufferable
October 31, 2024
THERAPY!!!!! THERAPY FOR ALL OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 31, 2024
interested in 450+ pages of men complaining about their lives and being complete assholes and the women being so poorly written and one dimensional? then i've got the book for you!
do not read if you hate men or listening to what men have to say! this is an entire book of just that!
biggest let down of a highly-anticipated release in a loooong time. a pathetic excuse of a book.
do not read if you hate men or listening to what men have to say! this is an entire book of just that!
biggest let down of a highly-anticipated release in a loooong time. a pathetic excuse of a book.
October 9, 2024
Chapter 1 – What's this awkward stream of consciousness trying to imitate Joyce, just because we're in Dublin? Peter is such a caricature at this point in literature. Also this: “A purring mechanical tone tells him the call is ringing while he sits on the sofa unlacing his shoes.”
Chapter 2 – We meet Ivan and Margaret, and I’m ready to fall in love with this book—their sweet awkwardness touches me.
Chapters 3 through 17 – Repetitive droning, over-rationalizing everything that initially felt magical, with banal musings about grief and relationships. Now, I’m disliking (if not hating) every character the more I get to know them. Ivan slowly loses all the good will he earned in Chapter 2, and Peter never escapes being a walking cliché with poorly executed existential angst.
The End. Finally. Verdict: A tedious, self-indulgent, inept novel about relationships between five very poorly written characters, with one good chapter (Chapter 2).
Chapter 2 – We meet Ivan and Margaret, and I’m ready to fall in love with this book—their sweet awkwardness touches me.
Chapters 3 through 17 – Repetitive droning, over-rationalizing everything that initially felt magical, with banal musings about grief and relationships. Now, I’m disliking (if not hating) every character the more I get to know them. Ivan slowly loses all the good will he earned in Chapter 2, and Peter never escapes being a walking cliché with poorly executed existential angst.
The End. Finally. Verdict: A tedious, self-indulgent, inept novel about relationships between five very poorly written characters, with one good chapter (Chapter 2).
September 5, 2024
TLDR: This is the first time I've given Sally Rooney 5 stars. I really think this is her best, most complex and compelling book to date. It's mature in themes and writing. She explores a new, more stream of consciousness style, while balancing that with her excellent dialogue (nobody writes dialogue like Sally!) and expertly crafted characters.
The story follows brothers, Peter and Ivan, who have just lost their father to a years-long battle with cancer. Their mother, who had been divorced from their father years prior to his passing, is around but not particularly involved in their lives as she lives with her new husband and stepchildren.
Peter, in his early 30s, is a lawyer with a cool demeanor and juggling two relationships—one with Sylvia, his first love with whom he's stayed close though not physically intimate after an accident years ago left her with chronic pain; and Naomi, a college student with a more carefree attitude who makes money on the side, when not relying on Peter, from her online following.
Ivan, on the other hand, is in his early 20s and a chess 'prodigy' who has plateaued after a few years of dealing with his father's illness and struggling to find success, both personally and professionally. He's socially awkward and seemingly a complete foil of his suave older brother. His unlikely romance with an older woman, Margaret, who is dealing with a divorce and unsure how to proceed with this less-than-conventional romantic fling she finds with Ivan after he competes in a chess exhibition at the events center she manages.
The crux of the story revolves around the two brothers and their respective inner lives, especially their inability to connect with each other after the loss of their father, and the compounding grief that causes. Peter, usually unassailable, overmedicates himself and plays games with the women in his life, while Ivan seeks solace in his old friend, chess, and his newfound love, something with which he's had little experience. Both in over their heads, they misfire and hurt themselves and each other as they attempt to avoid facing the painful space their father's absence leaves in their lives.
Rooney blew me away from the very start with how real these characters felt. Though you don't necessarily get handed their entire backstories, you can feel the full scope of their lives behind them as the story unfolds in front of you. And Rooney masterfully doles out information, as well as shows you *who* these people are, through the conversations and conflicts they face on the page.
Peter's chapters are written in a much more fragmented and stream of consciousness style than I've ever seen Rooney attempt before. At first it was a bit jarring and took a second to get used to; especially when paired with her signature lack of quotation marks which is even more noticeable in his chapters that include large blocks of text weaving together inner monologue and actual character dialogue. But, it's masterfully done. Some of the best I've read in recent years and extremely effective at putting you in his headspace.
In contrast, Ivan's chapters reflect a more structured, methodical mindset. He's not just a chess player, but younger and more concerned with logic and reason, using proofs and points to cover up the insurmountable emotion he's feeling after his dad's death. As the story goes on we get to see how he grows as not just a character but a human being learning to embrace the grey areas in life, and the writing perfectly reflects that.
I loved this book, simply put. It was heart-wrenching, complicated, realistic, and beautiful. I love stories about brothers and was so impressed with Rooney's take on the subject matter, as well as weaving in themes of mortality, belief, conditioning, performance, wants/desires, and more. Absolutely her best book, in my opinion, and one I can see myself revisiting in the future. I can't wait for everyone to read this when it comes out in a few weeks!
The story follows brothers, Peter and Ivan, who have just lost their father to a years-long battle with cancer. Their mother, who had been divorced from their father years prior to his passing, is around but not particularly involved in their lives as she lives with her new husband and stepchildren.
Peter, in his early 30s, is a lawyer with a cool demeanor and juggling two relationships—one with Sylvia, his first love with whom he's stayed close though not physically intimate after an accident years ago left her with chronic pain; and Naomi, a college student with a more carefree attitude who makes money on the side, when not relying on Peter, from her online following.
Ivan, on the other hand, is in his early 20s and a chess 'prodigy' who has plateaued after a few years of dealing with his father's illness and struggling to find success, both personally and professionally. He's socially awkward and seemingly a complete foil of his suave older brother. His unlikely romance with an older woman, Margaret, who is dealing with a divorce and unsure how to proceed with this less-than-conventional romantic fling she finds with Ivan after he competes in a chess exhibition at the events center she manages.
The crux of the story revolves around the two brothers and their respective inner lives, especially their inability to connect with each other after the loss of their father, and the compounding grief that causes. Peter, usually unassailable, overmedicates himself and plays games with the women in his life, while Ivan seeks solace in his old friend, chess, and his newfound love, something with which he's had little experience. Both in over their heads, they misfire and hurt themselves and each other as they attempt to avoid facing the painful space their father's absence leaves in their lives.
Rooney blew me away from the very start with how real these characters felt. Though you don't necessarily get handed their entire backstories, you can feel the full scope of their lives behind them as the story unfolds in front of you. And Rooney masterfully doles out information, as well as shows you *who* these people are, through the conversations and conflicts they face on the page.
Peter's chapters are written in a much more fragmented and stream of consciousness style than I've ever seen Rooney attempt before. At first it was a bit jarring and took a second to get used to; especially when paired with her signature lack of quotation marks which is even more noticeable in his chapters that include large blocks of text weaving together inner monologue and actual character dialogue. But, it's masterfully done. Some of the best I've read in recent years and extremely effective at putting you in his headspace.
In contrast, Ivan's chapters reflect a more structured, methodical mindset. He's not just a chess player, but younger and more concerned with logic and reason, using proofs and points to cover up the insurmountable emotion he's feeling after his dad's death. As the story goes on we get to see how he grows as not just a character but a human being learning to embrace the grey areas in life, and the writing perfectly reflects that.
I loved this book, simply put. It was heart-wrenching, complicated, realistic, and beautiful. I love stories about brothers and was so impressed with Rooney's take on the subject matter, as well as weaving in themes of mortality, belief, conditioning, performance, wants/desires, and more. Absolutely her best book, in my opinion, and one I can see myself revisiting in the future. I can't wait for everyone to read this when it comes out in a few weeks!
June 19, 2025
that was a lot of words.
October 11, 2024
*wipes away happy and sad tears*
This story will stay in my heart and mind forever. Thank you, Sally. You understand the complexity of people so well; your characters don’t feel fictional at all. I’m sad to leave them, but happy to know I can always find them in these brilliant and beautiful pages.
This story will stay in my heart and mind forever. Thank you, Sally. You understand the complexity of people so well; your characters don’t feel fictional at all. I’m sad to leave them, but happy to know I can always find them in these brilliant and beautiful pages.
May 8, 2025
girl i fell asleep reading this
Read
January 23, 2025i've decided i don't actually want to read this <3
February 11, 2025
I still very much enjoyed this on the reread (shocker!). I listened to the audiobook this time around and Éanna Hardwicke has one of the most soothing voices I’ve ever heard; I hope to see him do more audiobooks. Part 3 has been solidified as one of my favorite parts of a book and I can confidently say this is my favorite book released this year.
link to my Intermezzo Spotify playlist!
The past few weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about love in all of its many facets and what we, as humans, owe each other. While this is about two not-so-close brothers navigating the shared grief from their father dying, it is, as all of her books really are, about the importance of human connection and choosing empathy over being right. Life, especially in this day and age, can feel especially isolating, but we tend to work better as a community, filling in the gaps and supporting each other. Intermezzo illustrates how important those connections and reaching out is and how simply viewing people through a lens of empathy instead of judgment can enhance everyone’s lives. In a world so heavily focused on individualism, leaning on each other is one of the most powerful and important things you can choose to do. Rooney’s points really resonated with me in this one, leaving a huge emotional impact. There were so many passages that made me put down the book and just think (or sometimes, just cry) about life and what it means to be alive. While there is a deep, underlying sadness to this one, there is so much beauty and hope in it too. Life isn’t a competition, it’s a collaboration.
“Life itself, he thinks, every moment of life, is as precious and beautiful as any game of chess ever played, if only you know how to live.”
There are three different points of view in this book and all of them foil each other. Peter, the 32 year old eldest brother, a successful lawyer with control issues who is torn between his ex-girlfriend and a college student in her early 20’s, whose grief has caused him to be dissociated from the world, living life in a fragmented state. Ivan, the 22 year old youngest brother, a washed up chess prodigy who begins to pursue a 36 year old woman, and whose grief has caused him to spiral inwardly because of the questions he is fixated on. And Margaret, the 36 year old going through a messy divorce and wondering if what she had was all life had to offer, her situations cause her to fixate on external pressures from societal judgment. These points of view work together to show hypocrisies and biases, internally and societally, (i.e. Peter feels no fear introducing his 23 year old girlfriend to his friends because they will congratulate him, while Margaret can’t tell the people closest to her about Ivan because of how severely they will judge her.) while continuing this central theme of chronic loneliness and the power of being there for each other. Everyone in this story—Peter, Ivan, Margaret, Naomi, Sylvia, the mother, the father—circles each other, and, even though Peter and Ivan’s fraught relationship is at the eye of the storm, it’s Naomi and Sylvia always being kind to Ivan, it’s Peter’s first meeting with Margaret, it’s the mother, who has hurt both of her sons in irreversible ways, continually reaching out and acting as a kind of bridge. There is so much love in this story, and it arrives in so many different ways, not just through unconventional romance, but through these small and kind interactions, lifting each other up along the way.
I really love the writing in this one and found that, while I’ve always loved Rooney’s writing style, it really does enhance the rawness of the story here, especially in Peter’s chapters, which are fragmented, representing just how dissociated he currently is from real life, with the trademark lack of quotation marks keeps the reader in this fragmented mind, living a passive life. While I did love reading all three points of view, Peter was the star of the show for me. On meeting him, my biases were put to the test as I immediately decided that I hated him and then as soon as I was deeper in his brain I understood immediately and also kind of realized he was a little too much like me and a little too relatable and I cannot express how much I absolutely adored his chapters and found something that wasn’t quite comfort, but more like a deep understanding of my soul and humanity in general while reading his point of view. I am a pretty easy crier when it comes to literature, but I don’t think that takes away from the fact that, after the first chapter, I had to put the book down either because I was crying so much or because of how many strong emotions I was feeling multiple times during each of Peter’s chapters. This book is already such a personal and raw look at humanity and what we owe each other that having a character that was internally so painfully relatable enhanced this book so much that I’m not sure I will ever stop thinking about it. I don’t want to get any dynamics, but I will say that, as the older, control-freak, know-it-all sibling, I found Ivan and Peter’s relationship to be extremely relatable. The nature of it brought me back to my Nana telling me that her and her late sister were never close until both of her parents died. When there was no one left from that house except them, they were compelled to come together because there was so much that they had lived through together and the grief forced them to put aside their differences. Until her death, my great-aunt, who lived alone her whole life, came from West Virginia to Georgia to celebrate every holiday with us. All because her and her sister put their differences aside and welcomed each other with open arms.
“And when he looked at her, she seemed to feel herself understood completely, as if everything that had ever happened to her, everything that she had ever done, was accepted quietly into his understanding.”
It’s odd, because I feel as though I should bring up the unconventionality of the relationships, but they just felt so natural in the book that I didn’t really think about the unconventionality of them, which I think is the point. As said in the book, “Well, I think you’re comparing a scenario you made up in your head with a situation that has real people in it.” There is no blueprint for life, and every situation is different. The assumptions we make because of age gap (or other unconventional relationships) are usually made without grace or understanding of the couple itself. I always (usually when criticizing a romance book to my friends) say that to be loved is to be known and each romantic relationship in Intermezzo emulates this. Peter and Sylvia were the pinnacle of this for me, but the companionship and understanding between Peter and Naomi and Ivan and Margaret was also incredibly comforting, highlighting that, even if things don’t work out in the long run, it is enough to, just for a moment, be understood and loved by another, and why do we deny ourselves of that?
Rooney’s beliefs are still strongly intermixed into the story. In Beautiful World, Where Are You, my main complaint was that the emails (which I loved in theory) felt too much like long narrative breaks that were used for Rooney to state her beliefs. This book forgoes emails, more smoothly integrating the political and social points that Rooney is passionate about, creating a smoother flow, which I appreciated. This mixed well with the focus on how we live in a world that tries to fit people in a one-size-fits-all kind of life when one of the most beautiful things about us is how different we all are.
This is easily my favorite book of the year, and it could honestly be my favorite book of all time. Days after finishing it I still will start randomly crying about it. I have no desire to pick up another fiction book right now because I do not have it in me to think about any other story besides this one. I am at the point where I think the only option is to immediately reread it. It is driving me insane. It has altered my brain chemistry. This is a book about grief, but most importantly it is a book about what we owe each other, as well as ourselves.
“Yes, the world makes room for goodness and decency, he thinks: and the task of life is to show goodness to others, not to complain about their failings.”
link to my Intermezzo Spotify playlist!
The past few weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about love in all of its many facets and what we, as humans, owe each other. While this is about two not-so-close brothers navigating the shared grief from their father dying, it is, as all of her books really are, about the importance of human connection and choosing empathy over being right. Life, especially in this day and age, can feel especially isolating, but we tend to work better as a community, filling in the gaps and supporting each other. Intermezzo illustrates how important those connections and reaching out is and how simply viewing people through a lens of empathy instead of judgment can enhance everyone’s lives. In a world so heavily focused on individualism, leaning on each other is one of the most powerful and important things you can choose to do. Rooney’s points really resonated with me in this one, leaving a huge emotional impact. There were so many passages that made me put down the book and just think (or sometimes, just cry) about life and what it means to be alive. While there is a deep, underlying sadness to this one, there is so much beauty and hope in it too. Life isn’t a competition, it’s a collaboration.
“Life itself, he thinks, every moment of life, is as precious and beautiful as any game of chess ever played, if only you know how to live.”
There are three different points of view in this book and all of them foil each other. Peter, the 32 year old eldest brother, a successful lawyer with control issues who is torn between his ex-girlfriend and a college student in her early 20’s, whose grief has caused him to be dissociated from the world, living life in a fragmented state. Ivan, the 22 year old youngest brother, a washed up chess prodigy who begins to pursue a 36 year old woman, and whose grief has caused him to spiral inwardly because of the questions he is fixated on. And Margaret, the 36 year old going through a messy divorce and wondering if what she had was all life had to offer, her situations cause her to fixate on external pressures from societal judgment. These points of view work together to show hypocrisies and biases, internally and societally, (i.e. Peter feels no fear introducing his 23 year old girlfriend to his friends because they will congratulate him, while Margaret can’t tell the people closest to her about Ivan because of how severely they will judge her.) while continuing this central theme of chronic loneliness and the power of being there for each other. Everyone in this story—Peter, Ivan, Margaret, Naomi, Sylvia, the mother, the father—circles each other, and, even though Peter and Ivan’s fraught relationship is at the eye of the storm, it’s Naomi and Sylvia always being kind to Ivan, it’s Peter’s first meeting with Margaret, it’s the mother, who has hurt both of her sons in irreversible ways, continually reaching out and acting as a kind of bridge. There is so much love in this story, and it arrives in so many different ways, not just through unconventional romance, but through these small and kind interactions, lifting each other up along the way.
I really love the writing in this one and found that, while I’ve always loved Rooney’s writing style, it really does enhance the rawness of the story here, especially in Peter’s chapters, which are fragmented, representing just how dissociated he currently is from real life, with the trademark lack of quotation marks keeps the reader in this fragmented mind, living a passive life. While I did love reading all three points of view, Peter was the star of the show for me. On meeting him, my biases were put to the test as I immediately decided that I hated him and then as soon as I was deeper in his brain I understood immediately and also kind of realized he was a little too much like me and a little too relatable and I cannot express how much I absolutely adored his chapters and found something that wasn’t quite comfort, but more like a deep understanding of my soul and humanity in general while reading his point of view. I am a pretty easy crier when it comes to literature, but I don’t think that takes away from the fact that, after the first chapter, I had to put the book down either because I was crying so much or because of how many strong emotions I was feeling multiple times during each of Peter’s chapters. This book is already such a personal and raw look at humanity and what we owe each other that having a character that was internally so painfully relatable enhanced this book so much that I’m not sure I will ever stop thinking about it. I don’t want to get any dynamics, but I will say that, as the older, control-freak, know-it-all sibling, I found Ivan and Peter’s relationship to be extremely relatable. The nature of it brought me back to my Nana telling me that her and her late sister were never close until both of her parents died. When there was no one left from that house except them, they were compelled to come together because there was so much that they had lived through together and the grief forced them to put aside their differences. Until her death, my great-aunt, who lived alone her whole life, came from West Virginia to Georgia to celebrate every holiday with us. All because her and her sister put their differences aside and welcomed each other with open arms.
“And when he looked at her, she seemed to feel herself understood completely, as if everything that had ever happened to her, everything that she had ever done, was accepted quietly into his understanding.”
It’s odd, because I feel as though I should bring up the unconventionality of the relationships, but they just felt so natural in the book that I didn’t really think about the unconventionality of them, which I think is the point. As said in the book, “Well, I think you’re comparing a scenario you made up in your head with a situation that has real people in it.” There is no blueprint for life, and every situation is different. The assumptions we make because of age gap (or other unconventional relationships) are usually made without grace or understanding of the couple itself. I always (usually when criticizing a romance book to my friends) say that to be loved is to be known and each romantic relationship in Intermezzo emulates this. Peter and Sylvia were the pinnacle of this for me, but the companionship and understanding between Peter and Naomi and Ivan and Margaret was also incredibly comforting, highlighting that, even if things don’t work out in the long run, it is enough to, just for a moment, be understood and loved by another, and why do we deny ourselves of that?
Rooney’s beliefs are still strongly intermixed into the story. In Beautiful World, Where Are You, my main complaint was that the emails (which I loved in theory) felt too much like long narrative breaks that were used for Rooney to state her beliefs. This book forgoes emails, more smoothly integrating the political and social points that Rooney is passionate about, creating a smoother flow, which I appreciated. This mixed well with the focus on how we live in a world that tries to fit people in a one-size-fits-all kind of life when one of the most beautiful things about us is how different we all are.
This is easily my favorite book of the year, and it could honestly be my favorite book of all time. Days after finishing it I still will start randomly crying about it. I have no desire to pick up another fiction book right now because I do not have it in me to think about any other story besides this one. I am at the point where I think the only option is to immediately reread it. It is driving me insane. It has altered my brain chemistry. This is a book about grief, but most importantly it is a book about what we owe each other, as well as ourselves.
“Yes, the world makes room for goodness and decency, he thinks: and the task of life is to show goodness to others, not to complain about their failings.”
November 23, 2024
not even sally rooney can make books about two straight men interesting to me (sorry)
October 16, 2024
Okay, wow. This book, though imperfect, blew me away. By far my favorite Sally Rooney novel, and I’m so happy I can finally give one of her books more than three stars!
Rooney’s writing is just superb. Her dialogue and the way she so fully embodies her characters’ voices – so impressive. The way she can write about an interaction between two people and capture all the subtle nuances and tiny yet significant emotional grooves of human interaction. Her ability to write scenes like these made me feel like I was right there in the novel with the characters, or right in their heads as they introspected. There were a handful of passages where I literally gasped from how beautiful her writing was (e.g., Ivan reflecting on his late father and feeling grief, Peter missing Ivan and wanting him to know he’s been on his side even though he hasn’t shown it, Margaret contemplating her life taking a different route than she expected). There’s so much brilliance in these pages about grief, the painful ways we hurt those we care about, and illness and trauma.
I think these deeper themes help explain why I liked this book so much more than her other novels. I’ve always found her writing extremely engaging, which is why I didn’t hesitate to pick up Intermezzo from my local library. But, with her past novels, I felt annoyed because the characters were messy and uncommunicative in a repetitive way that was frustrating because the miscommunications carried the whole plot. But in this book, even though the characters were still messy and still miscommunicated, I felt a maturity in Rooney’s characterization that wasn’t there before. Even though none of the characters were perfect, they were doing their best, and the plot didn’t only rely on them miscommunicating with one another. Also, a lot of the characters grew by the end of the book, thank goodness.
Also, I *loved* Sylvia and Ivan. To be honest I still think Sylvia is way better than anything Peter deserves, but whatever she’s amazing and selfishly she reminds me of myself, two college professors doing our thing and being better than any mediocre man around us (lol). I also was so engaged with Ivan’s perspective. He was such a sympathetically earnest character, and while Rooney captured all of her characters’ voices well, I was particularly endeared by his.
The one thing I felt most annoyed by about this book was how men (specifically Peter) used women as a way to heal from their mental health issues?? Let me say, I totally get that we can ask our friends, romantic partners, family, etc. to support us when we have mental health issues, like I’m not saying we should never rely on other people. But I feel like Rooney has this odd trope in her novels where men are extremely emotionally stunted and the way they get over it is by having the extremely emotionally intelligent women in their lives teach them how to be better communicators and to actually understand themselves more – which is literally what happened in this book with Peter. None of the female characters in this book were perfect, thankfully, and Peter himself did grow and even though he got on my nerves the most I did empathize with him, but still, the idea of women being men’s therapists (and in an unreciprocated way) bugs me. Like I think about Post-Traumatic by Chantal Johnson, Sea Change by Gina Chung, and Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, all some of my favorite realistic fiction novels of the past few years, and while the main characters did have female friends in their lives who helped them, they also had to seek help in other ways, either through therapy or other means. Meanwhile Peter was just educated by Sylvia and Naomi.
Anyway, I still really enjoyed this novel and was definitely riveted by it. The Peter and Ivan conflict was masterfully done in my opinion, and her writing evoked feelings from within me related to grief, family, and even friendship. I also appreciate that Rooney doesn’t try to shoehorn characters of color into her cast – like, people of color don’t need to be thrust into books with white people, we have our own stories and we can just read those. It’s nice to read a book and not have to worry if the author is going to horribly portray people of color. As you can discern this book brought up a lot for me based on the length of this review. If the synopsis interests you, I’d recommend you read it!
Rooney’s writing is just superb. Her dialogue and the way she so fully embodies her characters’ voices – so impressive. The way she can write about an interaction between two people and capture all the subtle nuances and tiny yet significant emotional grooves of human interaction. Her ability to write scenes like these made me feel like I was right there in the novel with the characters, or right in their heads as they introspected. There were a handful of passages where I literally gasped from how beautiful her writing was (e.g., Ivan reflecting on his late father and feeling grief, Peter missing Ivan and wanting him to know he’s been on his side even though he hasn’t shown it, Margaret contemplating her life taking a different route than she expected). There’s so much brilliance in these pages about grief, the painful ways we hurt those we care about, and illness and trauma.
I think these deeper themes help explain why I liked this book so much more than her other novels. I’ve always found her writing extremely engaging, which is why I didn’t hesitate to pick up Intermezzo from my local library. But, with her past novels, I felt annoyed because the characters were messy and uncommunicative in a repetitive way that was frustrating because the miscommunications carried the whole plot. But in this book, even though the characters were still messy and still miscommunicated, I felt a maturity in Rooney’s characterization that wasn’t there before. Even though none of the characters were perfect, they were doing their best, and the plot didn’t only rely on them miscommunicating with one another. Also, a lot of the characters grew by the end of the book, thank goodness.
Also, I *loved* Sylvia and Ivan. To be honest I still think Sylvia is way better than anything Peter deserves, but whatever she’s amazing and selfishly she reminds me of myself, two college professors doing our thing and being better than any mediocre man around us (lol). I also was so engaged with Ivan’s perspective. He was such a sympathetically earnest character, and while Rooney captured all of her characters’ voices well, I was particularly endeared by his.
The one thing I felt most annoyed by about this book was how men (specifically Peter) used women as a way to heal from their mental health issues?? Let me say, I totally get that we can ask our friends, romantic partners, family, etc. to support us when we have mental health issues, like I’m not saying we should never rely on other people. But I feel like Rooney has this odd trope in her novels where men are extremely emotionally stunted and the way they get over it is by having the extremely emotionally intelligent women in their lives teach them how to be better communicators and to actually understand themselves more – which is literally what happened in this book with Peter. None of the female characters in this book were perfect, thankfully, and Peter himself did grow and even though he got on my nerves the most I did empathize with him, but still, the idea of women being men’s therapists (and in an unreciprocated way) bugs me. Like I think about Post-Traumatic by Chantal Johnson, Sea Change by Gina Chung, and Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, all some of my favorite realistic fiction novels of the past few years, and while the main characters did have female friends in their lives who helped them, they also had to seek help in other ways, either through therapy or other means. Meanwhile Peter was just educated by Sylvia and Naomi.
Anyway, I still really enjoyed this novel and was definitely riveted by it. The Peter and Ivan conflict was masterfully done in my opinion, and her writing evoked feelings from within me related to grief, family, and even friendship. I also appreciate that Rooney doesn’t try to shoehorn characters of color into her cast – like, people of color don’t need to be thrust into books with white people, we have our own stories and we can just read those. It’s nice to read a book and not have to worry if the author is going to horribly portray people of color. As you can discern this book brought up a lot for me based on the length of this review. If the synopsis interests you, I’d recommend you read it!
November 6, 2025
An exquisite, fierce, deeply moving story. The last few pages, read with teary eyes, a perfect ending. I think Sally Rooney's books are best appreciated by those who love dialogue—not just any dialogue, but in-depth conversations uncovering the inner thoughts of her characters.
This is the story of two brothers navigating a world without their father, tumbling through grief, searching for meaning and understanding. At its core, it is a tender story of male vulnerability, philosophical, tragic, and endearing. Sally Rooney has, once again, captured the essence of tender dialogue and intimacy that makes the reader a vulnerable spectator.
Peter, the elder brother, a lawyer, is struggling with the death of his father. A flawed relationship,, yet full of longing--he's medicating himself to get through the days. He was in a loving relationship with Sylvia, yet tragedy has put their love in a waiting game, a purgatory. Sylvia, reeling from a tragic accident, is unable to be fully present in the relationship, yet Peter is still fondly and hopelessly in love with her. On the side, Peter is entwined with a much younger college girl, Naomi. Trapped between two people, he struggles to find a place of solitude.
Ivan, the younger brother, a chess prodigy, is awkward, the antithesis of Peter's natural social graces. He struggles with the heavy weight of his father's death and a fraught relationship with his brother. Ivan isn't sure what family is left. His remarried and distant mother doesn’t have much connection with the boys.
At one of his chess competitions, Ivan meets a much older woman, Margaret, who is in the middle of a divorce. They share a cosmic connection, but it is not meant for the world- Ivan doesn't care, but he tries to make sense of it, regardless of any consequence.
Margaret worries what her mother, soon-to-be ex-husband, and colleagues will think, yet, she feels the unexplainable pull of this young man. A passion she has never felt.
This quote actually took my breath away, reminding me how much I love Sally Rooney:
A contextual theme in Intermezzo is two brothers wanting success and happiness and the lengths they take to enjoy and have it. They both grappled with the route to happiness, whether financially, romantically, or essentially finding it in life after loss. Were they superior in their desires, or did they suffer?
Peter and Ivan navigate their separate lives, work, and relationships, and their unexplained rift grows. Ivan finds Peter arrogant and selfish, a wanna-be success story. Peter sees Ivan as a child, meek, immature, and boring, but Ivan thrives with Margret. He is the best version of himself.
It was hard to say goodbye to these characters, like so many of Rooney's books, you feel at home, wanting to be a part of their lives, wanting to reach out and hug them in their broken moments. Ivan was adorable, endearing, and kind at a young age. I loved his sense of self—his desire to do better. Confused and struggling, Peter broke me but also gave me hope—he was surrounded by people who loved him and genuinely needed to know it.
This is Rooney's most complex story to date. While the story vacillates between the two brothers, Peters's words read like a stream of consciousness. Sometimes, you aren't sure which woman he's speaking to, while Ivan's thoughts are more secure and straightforward. This was clever and done well.
The writing is beautifully jagged and poetic. Rooney understands the human condition deeply--it makes me think of my relationship with siblings, what I wished for, accepted, and disdained. I have seen complicated relationships between brothers, the ability to be vulnerable and break egos at the center of a conflict is beyond difficult, but doable.
Passionate about unconventional relationships, Rooney explores themes of cohesiveness in a conventional world. Systems can be flawed, imperfect, and lines blurred, depending on circumstances—it’s all okay.
I have loved Sally Rooney since Conversation with Friends, and this was another gorgeous read.
5/5 ✨ stars ✨
⭐️ I finished the audiobook and loved it. It is read by Éanna Hardwicke, who plays Rob in ‘Normal People.’ His Irish accent brings the brothers to life in a poetic, realistic way. Beautiful.
Check out my other reviews of books by Sally Rooney:
Normal People
Conversations with Friends
Beautiful World, Where Are You
This is the story of two brothers navigating a world without their father, tumbling through grief, searching for meaning and understanding. At its core, it is a tender story of male vulnerability, philosophical, tragic, and endearing. Sally Rooney has, once again, captured the essence of tender dialogue and intimacy that makes the reader a vulnerable spectator.
What if life is just a collection of essentially unrelated experiences? Why does one thing have to follow meaningfully from another
Peter, the elder brother, a lawyer, is struggling with the death of his father. A flawed relationship,, yet full of longing--he's medicating himself to get through the days. He was in a loving relationship with Sylvia, yet tragedy has put their love in a waiting game, a purgatory. Sylvia, reeling from a tragic accident, is unable to be fully present in the relationship, yet Peter is still fondly and hopelessly in love with her. On the side, Peter is entwined with a much younger college girl, Naomi. Trapped between two people, he struggles to find a place of solitude.
She has hated him all along for leaving her, he knows that, and he has hated her for telling him to go
Ivan, the younger brother, a chess prodigy, is awkward, the antithesis of Peter's natural social graces. He struggles with the heavy weight of his father's death and a fraught relationship with his brother. Ivan isn't sure what family is left. His remarried and distant mother doesn’t have much connection with the boys.
The human mind, for all the credit he was just giving it a minute ago, is often repetitive, often trapped in a familiar cycle of unproductive thoughts, which in Ivan’s case are usually regretful in nature
At one of his chess competitions, Ivan meets a much older woman, Margaret, who is in the middle of a divorce. They share a cosmic connection, but it is not meant for the world- Ivan doesn't care, but he tries to make sense of it, regardless of any consequence.
Is it different, to want something, and to think the wanted thing is a good idea? Yes, it could be different, he thinks, if the long-term consequences of the event were foreseeably worse than the short-term gratification involved
Margaret worries what her mother, soon-to-be ex-husband, and colleagues will think, yet, she feels the unexplainable pull of this young man. A passion she has never felt.
This quote actually took my breath away, reminding me how much I love Sally Rooney:
Margaret feels that she can perceive the miraculous beauty of life itself, lived only once and then gone forever, the bloom of a perfect impermanent flower, never to be retrieved. This is life, the experience, this is all there has ever been. To force this moment into contact with her ordinary existence only seems to reveal how constricting, how misshapen her ideas of life have been
A contextual theme in Intermezzo is two brothers wanting success and happiness and the lengths they take to enjoy and have it. They both grappled with the route to happiness, whether financially, romantically, or essentially finding it in life after loss. Were they superior in their desires, or did they suffer?
He believed once that life must lead to something, all the unresolved conflicts and questions leading on toward some great culmination...Irrational attachment to meaning
How often in life he has found himself a frustrated observer of apparently impenetrable systems, watching other people participate effortlessly in structures he can find no way to enter or even understand. So often that it’s practically baseline, just normal existence for him. And this is not only due to the irrational nature of other people, and the consequent irrationality of the rules and processes they devise; it’s due to Ivan himself, his fundamental unsuitedness to life. He knows this. He feels himself to have been formed, somehow, with something other than life in mind
Peter and Ivan navigate their separate lives, work, and relationships, and their unexplained rift grows. Ivan finds Peter arrogant and selfish, a wanna-be success story. Peter sees Ivan as a child, meek, immature, and boring, but Ivan thrives with Margret. He is the best version of himself.
Sometimes you need people to be perfect and they can't be and you hate them forever for not being even though it isn't their fault and it's not yours either. You just needed something they didn't have in them to give you
It was hard to say goodbye to these characters, like so many of Rooney's books, you feel at home, wanting to be a part of their lives, wanting to reach out and hug them in their broken moments. Ivan was adorable, endearing, and kind at a young age. I loved his sense of self—his desire to do better. Confused and struggling, Peter broke me but also gave me hope—he was surrounded by people who loved him and genuinely needed to know it.
This is Rooney's most complex story to date. While the story vacillates between the two brothers, Peters's words read like a stream of consciousness. Sometimes, you aren't sure which woman he's speaking to, while Ivan's thoughts are more secure and straightforward. This was clever and done well.
The writing is beautifully jagged and poetic. Rooney understands the human condition deeply--it makes me think of my relationship with siblings, what I wished for, accepted, and disdained. I have seen complicated relationships between brothers, the ability to be vulnerable and break egos at the center of a conflict is beyond difficult, but doable.
Passionate about unconventional relationships, Rooney explores themes of cohesiveness in a conventional world. Systems can be flawed, imperfect, and lines blurred, depending on circumstances—it’s all okay.
I have loved Sally Rooney since Conversation with Friends, and this was another gorgeous read.
5/5 ✨ stars ✨
⭐️ I finished the audiobook and loved it. It is read by Éanna Hardwicke, who plays Rob in ‘Normal People.’ His Irish accent brings the brothers to life in a poetic, realistic way. Beautiful.
Check out my other reviews of books by Sally Rooney:
Normal People
Conversations with Friends
Beautiful World, Where Are You
January 21, 2025
Rooney excels at capturing the contradictions in her characters' personalities to weave her narratives, subtly hinting at contemporary dilemmas. This style creates a multi-layered effect. Beyond the main characters, you can hear the background noise: gender, class, ongoing wars, the deteriorating environment, isolation, and pandemics. These issues remain unresolved, leaving characters stuck in their rooms, hesitant to move forward. Presenting such dilemmas, attempts to solve them, and the failures and dead ends form the backdrop of Rooney’s novels - a kind of positive defeatism.
However, this backdrop disappears in her new book, Intermezzo. This novel tells the story of 2 brothers. Peter is a successful, capable lawyer in his 30s in Dublin, with issues of substance abuse and complicated relationships with women. His younger brother Ivan is a 22-year-old chess nerd. The novel begins with the death of their father. After the funeral, Peter returns to Dublin, while Ivan goes to another city for a competition and meets Margaret, a charming divorced woman. The novel alternates between Peter and Ivan's perspectives, exploring their lives and intimate relationships.
Toxic relationships are a hallmark of Rooney’s writing and drive the story's development. In this novel, she sets up 2 lovers for Peter. 1 is Sylvia, who grew up with him since their student days - after an accident, Peter and Sylvia lost their sexual connection. The other is Naomi, a young, seductive university student.
In this storyline, Rooney seems to question the traditional relationship between sex and love, whether they can exist independently, whether they can break free from patriarchy and monogamy to reach new forms of intimacy. But this attempt is unsuccessful. Perhaps because Peter is the narrative subject, or because the stream-of-consciousness style disrupts the narrative, the 2 women's characters are far from well-rounded and instead feel inexplicably outdated. Except for a quarrel at the end of the novel, Sylvia always plays the idealized wife: gentle, tolerant, and considerate. As for Naomi, the first chapter of the novel has Peter, drunk after the funeral, going to Naomi's place. Their lovemaking scene has a redemptive feel, as if Naomi's character is Sonia from Crime and Punishment, embodying both saint and sinner.
To a large extent, Peter's storyline can be seen as a rewrite of Conversations with Friends, Naomi plays Frances's role, while Sylvia and Peter correspond to the somewhat famous writer Melissa and her actor husband Nick. But while both depict the emotional lives of the upper-middle class and affairs between young women and middle-aged men, but the characters in Conversations with Friends feel much more real than those in this novel.
Rooney’s characters often make political statements, more to resist loneliness. In a sense, her characters practice Hannah Arendt’s views on democracy and modern society - atomization of individuals leads to loneliness. ”To be uprooted means to have no place in the world, recognized and guaranteed by others; to be superfluous means not to belong to the world at all." Public political discussions are 1 way to resist this loneliness - people connect in some way, forming new communities. Another way is through sex. Rooney’s characters often seem to be suspicious and hurt each other; only during sex do they get close, revealing their vulnerable, emotional sides. The touch of fingers, warm breaths, hair, bathroom steam, and skin contact seem to be the only way to hold themselves together, to resist the violence of politics and the world. After sex, they chat briefly, talking about everything but love, yet never asking the real questions.
Aristotle said, "Man is a political animal," which is especially evident in Rooney’s protagonists. They talk about politics in conversations, chats, and emails, and their lives are subtly influenced by politics, including sex. In this novel, she still captures the loneliness of characters in (post)modern society but no longer captures their attempts to get closer. Naomi - a sexy, poor young university student with a bit of an antisocial trait, who doesn't mind getting some financial benefit from her relationships - is once evicted from her rental and has to stay at Peter's place. This should be her forte, the power imbalance in intimate relationships due to age, gender, and social status differences, and the intrusion of the outside world - the eviction - embodying this inequality. The presence of evil forces them to stop pretending, to examine their lives; but can life withstand such scrutiny, or will they ultimately choose to avoid it, retreating to where they started, retreating to their sexual relationship, giving up contact with the world? This is the story Intermezzo should tell, but it needs characters like Frances or Marianne to support it. They have their own views of the world, often conflicting with their actions. This conflict leads to self-loathing and doubt, where the story unfolds, but you don't see this in Naomi.
Intermezzo lacks substance in Naomi's character, giving her a vague impression, with only a few labels like cool, university student, Gen Z. The novel uses details like being barefoot in the room to show her carefree personality and deliberately describes her outfits to highlight the contrast with Sylvia. But all these characterizations are superficial, stopping at Naomi's unconditional acceptance and support of Peter. The character feels disjointed because her personality and behavior are contradictory. In her interactions with Peter, you don't see the decisiveness that should belong to her. She should be a witty, cool character, like Rooney’s other female protagonists, a bit arrogant yet sensitive and fragile. But in her repeated compromises with Peter, Naomi's coolness disappears.
A girl who drinks and plays music can certainly be a romantic, but the character's authenticity needs more substantial support to shape her arc.
In this novel, the character relationships lack a similar process. Naomi and Sylvia only meet at the end of the novel, and shortly after, the story reaches an epic conclusion. This reduces Naomi and Sylvia to mere plot devices. The characters lose their depth, and the story becomes a single-player game with a fixed perspective. The game offers 2 characters, Peter and Ivan, while all other characters are just NPCs in this pseudo-open world set in Dublin. Players can view their backstories, but these backstories seem meaningless, existing only for the game's completeness. NPCs don't need their own plots; they just wait for the protagonist to visit, and the story continues.
This is my overall feeling of Intermezzo. Every time Peter goes to Naomi or Sylvia's place, or Ivan hooks up with Margaret, the sex scenes in the novel become lackluster, no longer an organic part of the story or a hint at character relationships. Naomi's interactions with Peter are one-sided; she asks him, "You don't boss other girls around in bed like you do with me?" Peter responds condescendingly, "It's different for your generation. You're all going around getting strangled and spitting in each other's mouths or whatever. I'm 32 okay, we're normal." They then have sex and chat, comforting each other in the paused plot. Sex and related conversations merely confirm power dynamics. It is confined to a small space, no longer a gateway to the unknown, but an interlude in the sexual process, merely connecting to the next sexual encounter.
Intermezzo is Rooney’s first attempt at narrating solely through male characters, resulting in the overall flattening of female characters. The 3 women in the novel, Sylvia, Naomi, and Margaret, seem like different versions of the same woman, named "Mother." They are isolated from their own stories, like 3 corners of a collapsed tent, causing the potential narrative space to collapse, losing any expansiveness. Without references to the larger world, the story stagnates, and the relationships between characters become closed geometric shapes. Roone’s writing has become self-indulgent navel-gazing.
2.4 / 5 stars
However, this backdrop disappears in her new book, Intermezzo. This novel tells the story of 2 brothers. Peter is a successful, capable lawyer in his 30s in Dublin, with issues of substance abuse and complicated relationships with women. His younger brother Ivan is a 22-year-old chess nerd. The novel begins with the death of their father. After the funeral, Peter returns to Dublin, while Ivan goes to another city for a competition and meets Margaret, a charming divorced woman. The novel alternates between Peter and Ivan's perspectives, exploring their lives and intimate relationships.
Toxic relationships are a hallmark of Rooney’s writing and drive the story's development. In this novel, she sets up 2 lovers for Peter. 1 is Sylvia, who grew up with him since their student days - after an accident, Peter and Sylvia lost their sexual connection. The other is Naomi, a young, seductive university student.
In this storyline, Rooney seems to question the traditional relationship between sex and love, whether they can exist independently, whether they can break free from patriarchy and monogamy to reach new forms of intimacy. But this attempt is unsuccessful. Perhaps because Peter is the narrative subject, or because the stream-of-consciousness style disrupts the narrative, the 2 women's characters are far from well-rounded and instead feel inexplicably outdated. Except for a quarrel at the end of the novel, Sylvia always plays the idealized wife: gentle, tolerant, and considerate. As for Naomi, the first chapter of the novel has Peter, drunk after the funeral, going to Naomi's place. Their lovemaking scene has a redemptive feel, as if Naomi's character is Sonia from Crime and Punishment, embodying both saint and sinner.
To a large extent, Peter's storyline can be seen as a rewrite of Conversations with Friends, Naomi plays Frances's role, while Sylvia and Peter correspond to the somewhat famous writer Melissa and her actor husband Nick. But while both depict the emotional lives of the upper-middle class and affairs between young women and middle-aged men, but the characters in Conversations with Friends feel much more real than those in this novel.
Rooney’s characters often make political statements, more to resist loneliness. In a sense, her characters practice Hannah Arendt’s views on democracy and modern society - atomization of individuals leads to loneliness. ”To be uprooted means to have no place in the world, recognized and guaranteed by others; to be superfluous means not to belong to the world at all." Public political discussions are 1 way to resist this loneliness - people connect in some way, forming new communities. Another way is through sex. Rooney’s characters often seem to be suspicious and hurt each other; only during sex do they get close, revealing their vulnerable, emotional sides. The touch of fingers, warm breaths, hair, bathroom steam, and skin contact seem to be the only way to hold themselves together, to resist the violence of politics and the world. After sex, they chat briefly, talking about everything but love, yet never asking the real questions.
Aristotle said, "Man is a political animal," which is especially evident in Rooney’s protagonists. They talk about politics in conversations, chats, and emails, and their lives are subtly influenced by politics, including sex. In this novel, she still captures the loneliness of characters in (post)modern society but no longer captures their attempts to get closer. Naomi - a sexy, poor young university student with a bit of an antisocial trait, who doesn't mind getting some financial benefit from her relationships - is once evicted from her rental and has to stay at Peter's place. This should be her forte, the power imbalance in intimate relationships due to age, gender, and social status differences, and the intrusion of the outside world - the eviction - embodying this inequality. The presence of evil forces them to stop pretending, to examine their lives; but can life withstand such scrutiny, or will they ultimately choose to avoid it, retreating to where they started, retreating to their sexual relationship, giving up contact with the world? This is the story Intermezzo should tell, but it needs characters like Frances or Marianne to support it. They have their own views of the world, often conflicting with their actions. This conflict leads to self-loathing and doubt, where the story unfolds, but you don't see this in Naomi.
Intermezzo lacks substance in Naomi's character, giving her a vague impression, with only a few labels like cool, university student, Gen Z. The novel uses details like being barefoot in the room to show her carefree personality and deliberately describes her outfits to highlight the contrast with Sylvia. But all these characterizations are superficial, stopping at Naomi's unconditional acceptance and support of Peter. The character feels disjointed because her personality and behavior are contradictory. In her interactions with Peter, you don't see the decisiveness that should belong to her. She should be a witty, cool character, like Rooney’s other female protagonists, a bit arrogant yet sensitive and fragile. But in her repeated compromises with Peter, Naomi's coolness disappears.
A girl who drinks and plays music can certainly be a romantic, but the character's authenticity needs more substantial support to shape her arc.
In this novel, the character relationships lack a similar process. Naomi and Sylvia only meet at the end of the novel, and shortly after, the story reaches an epic conclusion. This reduces Naomi and Sylvia to mere plot devices. The characters lose their depth, and the story becomes a single-player game with a fixed perspective. The game offers 2 characters, Peter and Ivan, while all other characters are just NPCs in this pseudo-open world set in Dublin. Players can view their backstories, but these backstories seem meaningless, existing only for the game's completeness. NPCs don't need their own plots; they just wait for the protagonist to visit, and the story continues.
This is my overall feeling of Intermezzo. Every time Peter goes to Naomi or Sylvia's place, or Ivan hooks up with Margaret, the sex scenes in the novel become lackluster, no longer an organic part of the story or a hint at character relationships. Naomi's interactions with Peter are one-sided; she asks him, "You don't boss other girls around in bed like you do with me?" Peter responds condescendingly, "It's different for your generation. You're all going around getting strangled and spitting in each other's mouths or whatever. I'm 32 okay, we're normal." They then have sex and chat, comforting each other in the paused plot. Sex and related conversations merely confirm power dynamics. It is confined to a small space, no longer a gateway to the unknown, but an interlude in the sexual process, merely connecting to the next sexual encounter.
Intermezzo is Rooney’s first attempt at narrating solely through male characters, resulting in the overall flattening of female characters. The 3 women in the novel, Sylvia, Naomi, and Margaret, seem like different versions of the same woman, named "Mother." They are isolated from their own stories, like 3 corners of a collapsed tent, causing the potential narrative space to collapse, losing any expansiveness. Without references to the larger world, the story stagnates, and the relationships between characters become closed geometric shapes. Roone’s writing has become self-indulgent navel-gazing.
2.4 / 5 stars
August 6, 2025
4,25 stars
'i think people aren't always nice to the people they love'
to me this quote sums up the entire book
I've been waiting for this release for months and it didn't disappointed me. Sally always finds a way to make the ordinary feel profound
The relationship of the two brothers with each other and with their loved ones wore me out poetically and emotionally. After all the ups and downs the journey was ultimately rewarding. And I was very satisfied about the ending. It was not rushed and well written.
I found myself relating all of the characters at different times
'sometimes you need people to be perfect and they can't be and you hate them forever for not being even though it isn't their fault and it is not yours either.You just needed something they didn't have them to give you'the quote that made me cry 2 times
Overall,I think the book did a great job capturing the fleeting moments of life, love, and introspection.And I will be thinking about it for the next 2 weeks
my playlist : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2sF...
https://www.instagram.com/p/DAaKylqIm...
'i think people aren't always nice to the people they love'
to me this quote sums up the entire book
I've been waiting for this release for months and it didn't disappointed me. Sally always finds a way to make the ordinary feel profound
The relationship of the two brothers with each other and with their loved ones wore me out poetically and emotionally. After all the ups and downs the journey was ultimately rewarding. And I was very satisfied about the ending. It was not rushed and well written.
I found myself relating all of the characters at different times
'sometimes you need people to be perfect and they can't be and you hate them forever for not being even though it isn't their fault and it is not yours either.You just needed something they didn't have them to give you'
Overall,I think the book did a great job capturing the fleeting moments of life, love, and introspection.And I will be thinking about it for the next 2 weeks
my playlist : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2sF...
https://www.instagram.com/p/DAaKylqIm...
December 21, 2025
If Ramses from Love is Blind wrote a book, it’d be this.
It reads like Sally Rooney ran out of ideas and just recycled every broody thought she’s ever had. It’s two brothers, one emotionally constipated lawyer and one chess-playing loner, wandering through life like they’re in a 24/7 sad indie film. They both stare into space, talk in vague metaphors, and date women who seem equally allergic to joy, and Margaret, pops up to provide… vibes? Wisdom? Honestly, I’m not sure she even knows why she’s there.
The whole thing is beige, but like an expensive beige. Beautiful words, sure, but strung together in a way that makes you wonder if Rooney wrote this as a dare. By the halfway point, I caught myself thinking, .“Is this satire? Is she trolling us? How many ways can someone say, ‘I’m broken but interesting,’ before it stops being interesting?”.
The prose is beautiful, but in that “why are we wasting this on these people” kind of way. The sentences mean so little. So many of them. So many empty sentences.
It’s all very I’m empty but fascinating ., and somehow, despite nothing happening, it’s still exhausting.
If you love people intellectualizing their misery while doing absolutely nothing about it, this one’s for you.
It was so boring, but then the ending felt like a long boring somewhat beautiful sigh. Hence the 2 stars.
** I feel like if I had read this on a long vacation without electronics and under the sound of the rain, I might have enjoyed it more, just like how you don’t open up Headspace in the metro..
It reads like Sally Rooney ran out of ideas and just recycled every broody thought she’s ever had. It’s two brothers, one emotionally constipated lawyer and one chess-playing loner, wandering through life like they’re in a 24/7 sad indie film. They both stare into space, talk in vague metaphors, and date women who seem equally allergic to joy, and Margaret, pops up to provide… vibes? Wisdom? Honestly, I’m not sure she even knows why she’s there.
The whole thing is beige, but like an expensive beige. Beautiful words, sure, but strung together in a way that makes you wonder if Rooney wrote this as a dare. By the halfway point, I caught myself thinking, .“Is this satire? Is she trolling us? How many ways can someone say, ‘I’m broken but interesting,’ before it stops being interesting?”.
The prose is beautiful, but in that “why are we wasting this on these people” kind of way. The sentences mean so little. So many of them. So many empty sentences.
It’s all very I’m empty but fascinating ., and somehow, despite nothing happening, it’s still exhausting.
If you love people intellectualizing their misery while doing absolutely nothing about it, this one’s for you.
It was so boring, but then the ending felt like a long boring somewhat beautiful sigh. Hence the 2 stars.
** I feel like if I had read this on a long vacation without electronics and under the sound of the rain, I might have enjoyed it more, just like how you don’t open up Headspace in the metro..
September 29, 2024
such a shame only the father died i said
October 13, 2024
4.5 stars
perhaps it was bold of me to initiate my exploration of Rooney’s works with her latest release. however, my immersion into her penmanship was as spontaneous as I wanted it to be. I did not build any preconceptions about the book before devouring it, which resulted in a poignant surprise
to phrase it simply, the novel is character-driven, with the pièce de résistance cemented on the relationship between the Koubek brothers—or rather, the lack of relationship—succeeding to their father’s death. the narrative ventures into the unorthodox and complex aspects of the brothers’ love lives. the younger, chess-prodigy brother, Ivan, finds himself in a relationship with an older woman, Margaret. meanwhile, the older brother, Peter, juggles with the lingering feelings for his first love, Sylvia, while navigating his current relationship with Noami.
the tone is established in the early chapters, where Peter is caricatured as the malevolent figure of the story, while Ivan is depicted as the misunderstood protagonist. however, as I delved deeper into the book, I found that the storyline layers Peter’s character with far more nuance and substance than merely portraying him as a 'privileged, successful white man who manipulates women’s emotions.' Initially, I found his chapters disconcerting; the prose seems deliberately crafted, I assume, reflecting his struggles with borderline alcoholism. Ivan’s character’s development arc has some comforting constancy, he isn’t showcased under a new light but he certainly matured under the influence of Margaret.
i found that Rooney handled the family drama subgenere with dexterity. she distilled with a brilliant approche how a sibling relationship might be tarnished by an inability to recognize one another’s feelings, life experiences, and societal roles. it illustrates how unexpressed or suppressed emotions can undermine a bond, while confrontation emerges as a crucial remedy. this is a raw tale about grief, love, hatred, & pardon—ultimately, being human.
—————
here we gooo..
“I think, as sad as it is to say, I think people aren’t always very nice to the people they love.”
perhaps it was bold of me to initiate my exploration of Rooney’s works with her latest release. however, my immersion into her penmanship was as spontaneous as I wanted it to be. I did not build any preconceptions about the book before devouring it, which resulted in a poignant surprise
to phrase it simply, the novel is character-driven, with the pièce de résistance cemented on the relationship between the Koubek brothers—or rather, the lack of relationship—succeeding to their father’s death. the narrative ventures into the unorthodox and complex aspects of the brothers’ love lives. the younger, chess-prodigy brother, Ivan, finds himself in a relationship with an older woman, Margaret. meanwhile, the older brother, Peter, juggles with the lingering feelings for his first love, Sylvia, while navigating his current relationship with Noami.
the tone is established in the early chapters, where Peter is caricatured as the malevolent figure of the story, while Ivan is depicted as the misunderstood protagonist. however, as I delved deeper into the book, I found that the storyline layers Peter’s character with far more nuance and substance than merely portraying him as a 'privileged, successful white man who manipulates women’s emotions.' Initially, I found his chapters disconcerting; the prose seems deliberately crafted, I assume, reflecting his struggles with borderline alcoholism. Ivan’s character’s development arc has some comforting constancy, he isn’t showcased under a new light but he certainly matured under the influence of Margaret.
i found that Rooney handled the family drama subgenere with dexterity. she distilled with a brilliant approche how a sibling relationship might be tarnished by an inability to recognize one another’s feelings, life experiences, and societal roles. it illustrates how unexpressed or suppressed emotions can undermine a bond, while confrontation emerges as a crucial remedy. this is a raw tale about grief, love, hatred, & pardon—ultimately, being human.
—————
here we gooo..
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56,543 reviews