As a fan of Normal People but not Conversations with Friends, I’d been on the fence about whether or not to give this a go.

Due to this being just an extract, I can’t fully comment. However, what I have read, I liked and could of easily have kept on reading.

As I know that Sally Rooney does not read any online reviews, I don't mind being brutally honest..... this is the perfect read for a 30 year old who is looking for more validation (when they're not on some form of social media or in front of the mirror exploring and assessing themselves) about their lifestyle, political views and generational superiority complex - that is my assessment after one chapter. Well written, but I'm definitely not a member of the target audience/readership here....

Hello, book lovers, meet my new favorite book of 2021. Like. I shit you not this book is FIRE. I know you all love to hate on Sally, but she is UTTERLY BRILLIANT! I cannot say enough good things about these complex relationships, how thoughtful and profound this writing was. I can’t tell you how good it felt to read this book. I was so invested in the relationships and the depth of love, both romantically and platonically. I really and truly loved this book completely. No one does character development like Sally Rooney. Case closed, bring in the dancing lobsters.

Loved this book. First Sally Rooney I’ve read and what a great storyteller she is.
Her gift of writing about relationships and how they can easily turn into a disaster even when you think they’re ok.
Not my usual read but I did enjoy it though I didn’t like some of the main characters..
If you like books about 20/30 yr olds, their relationship, fears, sex, the modern world and trying to survive it then this is the book for you.
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for a fair review.
4 Stars ⭐️

This was my second book by the authoress. I wanted to give another try to her hyped stories.
Complexity of human relationships and the desire to find a place or a person to belong to, seemed to be common traits in her writing style. It was difficult to understand the writings at times. It seemed like the descriptions and dialogues were intermingled. The characters were realistic and relatable.
I wish it was the whole book not just the extract. But I would like to read the book more after reading this.

This was short (only the first chapter sadly) yet sweet and definitely enough to pique my interest. I have previously listened to an audiobook of Rooney's Normal People and found it to be absolutely lovely, It was a different experience reading her writing in an e-book format and, while I enjoyed the glimpse I got into it, I must say I prefer her style in audio form and will most probably be listening to the rest of the book!

Beautiful World, Where Are You is Sally Rooney’s magnificent third novel, and a bit of a departure from her last book Normal People.

This time around Rooney explores heavier topical concepts our world is facing, like climate change, privilege, and feeling lost in your 20s & 30s. She does this in her signature writing style (still no quotation marks) as she follows Eileen and Alice, two close friends navigating a season of life together. It reads like an ongoing conversation between friends and is truly one of of the most thoughtful books I have ever read.

Whether you agree with Rooney’s world perspective or not, there is something beautiful in her conclusion that love and relationships are what ground us here on Earth and keep us going even in the face of hardships and adversity.

In the novel Alice is a successful novelist, and Rooney seems to use her as an avenue to speak freely about her own thoughts on the contemporary novelist and the role of celebrities. It is incredibly meta and you almost can’t help but laugh while reading those passages.

My sister and I read this one at the same time and discussed as we read, and we both agreed you can’t feel as close to the characters in this novel because of the the way Rooney keeps us out of their heads, but by the middle of the book you are deeply rooting for them to have happy endings.

I will definitely put Beautiful World, Where Are You in my top ten books for the year and I know I will think about this one a lot, and would even consider re-reading later on. In the world of Rooney books, I still think Normal People is my favorite, but I put this one in second place above Conversations With Friends.

Thank you so much to @fsgbooks for gifting me an ARC of this book, this is truly one of the books I was most excited to read this year and I loved every page of it!

This is only a short extract, I like Sally Rooney work and I'm excited to read the full novel based on this short extract.

Thank you Faber & Faber for the first chapter of Beautiful World Where Are You. I have been looking forward to this title for months so the chance to read the first chapter in advance was very exciting! The chapter starts with a first meeting and also a first date setting up two of the characters. We get a brief glimpse into the kind of people these characters are along with a lot of unanswered questions about where the story between the two will lead.

The chapter ends on a bit of a cliffhanger between the two characters both feeling regret and going their separate ways.

I am looking forward to reading the rest of this story and thankfully have my pre-order ready to read!

YES YES YES - A million times yes!! I can't put into words how much I loved this!! I highly highly recommend

I only read the extract but it was definitely interesting. Thanks for the opportunity to read this wee bit, I'm looking forward to reading the whole book now!

This is the first chapter of Sally Rooney's much anticipated new novel.

Alice and Felix meet in a bar. She is a writer and he works in a warehouse. They end up going back to her house but nothing happens other than conversation.

As a taster, this set the scene well. The prose was descriptive but not so much that it told you everything. I sensed an undercurrent, something that time and the remainder of the novel would tease out. Clearly, this couple are meant to meet again, but in what circumstances? Will they end up sleeping together?

Having read this extract, I would be interested to read the whole novel.

Sally Rooney has already had one of her novels dramatised and I suspect this may also end up on the small screen at some point.

I was sent an advance review copy of this extract by Faber and Faber Ltd, in return for an honest appraisal.

I loved the way Sally writes in this little 1 chapter teaser. It makes me immediately want to read the rest of the book ASAP!

A promising start for sure. Even in this snippet one manages to see the outline of the characters very clearly.

Even though this is only the first little snippet of the book, it sounds amazing. Sally Rooney is a favorite author of so many and I see why! I’ve seen this book everywhere online with rave reviews, so I can’t wait to read the rest.

I just couldn't get into this story. It's very slow moving and jumps around from character to time and place without any good flow. For whatever reason I struggled to care about these characters and had to give up half way through.

This was only a sample but I thought it was awesome and I am really looking forward to reading the whole book,

Is it slightly annoying that this is only the first chapter and not a few more to give you a real flavour of the book? Yes.
Am I still going to end up reading the full book? Yes.
This is the first Sally Rooney book that I've read, after really enjoying the TV adaptation of Normal People.
And even though you can't tell all that much from just one chapter, I'm definitely intrigued enough to read the whole thing.
It's a unique style of writing, which is actually quite a nice change from my usual reads at the moment, so that's another thing that has me eager to read more.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If I'm limiting my rating to the extract I'm giving it a 4. It's not a groundbreaking first chapter but I was hooked from the start and already intrigued by the characters. Sally Rooney has a unique writing style, it takes a while getting used to but I've grown very fond of it by now.

Since then I have bought and read the entire book, absolutely LOVED it :)

Such a good first chapter. In true Sally Rooney fashion, I am hooked from the jump and absolutely sucked into the characters.
Will absolutely be picking up a copy of the book ASAP.