I haven’t read it completely still. However only 15-16 pages are left and I don’t think they’d make me think differently about the book.

The Story and Plot: Just like any other Sally Rooney book there’s not a lot going on in this field. However I’d say the plot of this book is more bland and boring than what she has written before. I believe all her previous books had something which kept the readers to turn pages. This one doesn’t. It’s just two brothers dealing with the loss of their father while having to deal with their love lives as well. But then again what more could she have added in a theme like this?

The Characters: As usual, all of them are sick in the head and need therapy. Especially Peter, the elder brother. I cant tell more about him without spoiling the book. Just know ,he needs help. However I find Ivan, the younger brother’s character, quite interesting. This is because I believe it is written in a very realistic manner. Now I don’t have any siblings, but the way Ivan acts and how he is ,he seems like the epitome of a younger brother. Like the spoiled one who thinks the entire world is against him when that’s actually not the case. At the same time for his age ,22, he seems very immature as well. I expected him to be a little more understanding of things in general.

The Writing style : Now, the writing style is something I passionately hate. First off , I have always had an issue with Sally not using quotation marks to write the dialogues. However it hasn’t been that big of an issue up until this book. You really cannot tell the difference between the monologue and the dialogue. The setting seems to be shifting from one place to another and you do not even understand. Especially for chapters concerning Peter. Idk maybe she did this on purpose but whatever it is she didn’t do a good job. Don’t get me started on the obnoxiously long paragraphs. It gives me a headache but that’s very standard Rooney after all.

Would I recommend this book? Probably not because the writing is like this “Wakes up. Drinks coffee. Goes to work. Head spinning”. However if you can look past that and just want to read about two brothers dealing with their fucked up lives then go ahead.

No hate to the author, I have enjoyed her previous books a lot but this one was just disappointing. This is also after a long time I have picked up a YA so I was expecting more I guess?