The layout takes quite a bit of getting used to, but once you've settled in with that, the story truly shines.

As an extract I wasn’t sure how much it would pull me in, it often takes me more than a chapter to get hooked on a book. Sally Rooney however is an absolute genius and within the small number of pages I was wanting to know more. Captivating plot and interesting and likeable characters…I will definitely be looking to purchase this book and find out more.

As someone who is a self-proclaimed Sally Rooney superfan, I was incredibly excited to get my hands on this book. After the last two books, I began finding the characters here quite obnoxious. Despite this, the thing I love in Sally Rooney's writing and what I constantly come back for is the style of writing, with the awkwardness of the characters and their reactions towards topics and conversations. The characters are written in ways that make you understand them so well, and helps you understand their actions in ways you might not had they been written by someone else.

Great first chapter really interesting read that made me want to continue. I was a little disappointed not to have got more to be able to get a better feel for the story. But I did like what I read.

It was only an extract but it made me want to read the book even more. I can’t wait till they finally adapt this into a tv show. Sally Rooney is in a league of her own!

Absolutely loved this extract!!

I'm a huge fan of Sally Rooney - looks like I'm off to buy the book so I can continue the story.

I went into this book with insanely high hopes after loving normal people and conversations with friends. Unfortunately this book fell short for me. Perhaps because my expectations were so high. I just couldn’t connect to any of the characters and fell the story a bit boring. Overall it just wasnt for me.

Whilst this was only a sampler, it gave a good insight into Rooney’s writing style.
I’m interested in the story for this one and will definitely be picking up a physical copy soon.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Sally Rooney is known for her deep dives into the human experience and this book is no exception. While sometimes it felt slow, the novel itself is beautifully written and keeps readers engaged even with a slower pace.

This was only a sample chapter but the writing style is really not for me. After reading the whole book, I can say it is mediocre and really just feels like the author wanted to legitimise a lot of their own opinions by proxy of these characters.

I loved Normal People so had very high hopes for this book. Sadly, I think the author has used her success to churn out dull, boring, uninspiring content. It felt pretentious and lacking any heart. Characters don't have to be likeable to be readable or relatable, but these were shallow and totally two dimensional.

I actually gave up about half way through as life is too short, and there are far too many great stories, books and authors out there who deserve the time spent on them.

So - sorry, but no - I do not recommend this book.

Alice, a novelist, meets Felix, who works in a distribution warehouse, and asks him if he'd like to travel to Rome with her. In Dublin, her best friend Eileen is getting over a break-up, and slips back into flirting with Simon, a man she has known since childhood.

I enjoyed the different perspectives of Eileen and Alice in this contemporary piece of fiction, set in Ireland and the UK. The plot was mostly character driven and focused on the women and their relationships throughout their lives. This was a lot steamier than I expected and I didn’t find either of the characters particularly likeable. For me this did not live up to the hype, although it was very well written.

This was only a sample - however I enjoyed what I read so far and hope to read the full book at some point.

*3 Stars as I don't know how the rest will turn out.

This was a great, moving read and it captured my interest from the first page. I am not the biggest fan of the lack of grammar though.

Seems great but only had a sample. Look forward to reading the full book. Really loved Normal people and conversations with friends so feeling hopeful this will also be great.

I am not going to spend too long on this review nor share it beyond NetGalley as when requesting it I had not paid attention to the fact that it is just the first chapter of the book. I find it hard to give a fully formed opinion of what is just the beginning of a book, so I can only assume it was shared with the purpose of enticing readers to buy the whole book.

I have read the chapter and I haven't bought the whole book.

Does that mean the writing isn't good? No. I would have read on had I had more chapters as I was sufficiently intrigued. I'm just being cheap and waiting for the price to come down further. It's not like there aren't other thousands of books on my TBR shelf. Sally Rooney can wait.


Many thanks to Faber & Faber and NetGalley for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A good snipped that made me want to get the whole book, interesting characters and I enjoy that this book looks like it will examine class.

Absolutely stunning. I wasn't expecting anything less from Sally Rooney - one of my favourite reads of 2021.

It’s hard to review such a short extract, for that reason I’ll give this 3*. To me it reads as typical Rooney, I have enjoyed her previous novels so I probably would continue to read this novel out of curiosity.