Not for me
I requested this book from NetGalley as it sounded an interesting proposition.
Never having been to University or studied music, I found the novel puzzling. The style of writing was very different and somewhat forced I found. I got almost halfway through and gave up. The characters I liked were the protagonist's family in Australia, they seemed amusing and kind.

28 Questions by Indyana Schneider Its novel about a modern gay relationship of two Australians, Amalia and Alex, who are both studying at Oxford University, Their friendship ripens into an intense love affair.
This was an interesting read. However, this book wasn't for me.

Big Thank you to Simon & Schuster Scribner UK for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘28 Questions’ by Indyana Schneider in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this coming-of-age novel. The intensity of the relationship was such a realistic portrayal of first love and how it can become all-consuming. Admittedly I'm not musical so the notes etc in the Kindle version were lost on me as I couldn't imagine how it would sound, but I hope the audiobook features them as it felt like such an intrinsic part of Amalia's character and how her mind works.

the way this is structured doesn't really appeal to me. the tone too is a bit cheesy but self-involved which doesn't really do anything for me as a reader.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. Other readers may enjoy it more, but I could not get into it and ultimately did not finish it.

Lovely coming-of-age book about the highs and lows of friendships as a young adult and exploring sexuality. Although it took me a while to get used to the conversational writing style,, once I got into a continuous reading of it I enjoyed the exploration of each character and their relationship to Amalia, the protagonist. There’s a lot of relatable emotions covered as a twenty-something female, and I really liked to approach to 28 questions setting the structure of book chapters.

Music plays a huge part in the storyline, so the involvement of sheet music throughout was a nice addition despite not understanding it - as someone who is not a musician - and it felt diary-like and personal. I understand the 28 questions theme is philosophical in itself however I did get bored quickly at some of the conversations between characters, showcasing their explorative albeit pretentious natures at college. Overall, I would recommend as I appreciated the female-viewpoint of majority female relationships.

The description of this book being an lgbt Sally Rooney is pretty spot on. I flew threw it, it's well written and I immediately felt the authenticity of the characters and their friendships and relationships.

Synopsis: They say it takes 28 Questions to fall in love. Then what?
When first-year music student Amalia stumbles into her Oxford college bar, she has no idea that everything is about to change. Seated across from her is Alex, a velvety-voiced fellow Australian with eyes the colour of her native sky. Dare they risk a romantic entanglement if it threatens this most perfect of friendships?

A queer When Harry Met Sally for the Sally Rooney generation.

Review: Firstly, let me start by saying that the chapter titles are the 28 questions, which filled my heart with so much joy.

I love the writing style of this. The way you are in Amalia's head, and in the moment - the conversations are written out in script format, but then she sometimes hits you with an aside, letting you know this is a reflective story, all of these things have already happened, and she is running through it in her head from a place in the future.

Do not read this if you're looking for a simple romance book, because this isn't that at all.
This is complex and frustrating, painful yet joy-filled.

My one critique of the novel is that on a few occasions there is sheet music written in. Amalia, like the author, is an opera singer, and she emotes with music. It didn't necessarily take me out of the story as I read it, but it did feel like I was missing out on the emotions Amalia was trying to convey as I couldn't read the music. I wouldn't say that it was alienating, but that there was another, deeper level to the relationship that I couldn't get to.

I really thought I’d love this book but I just couldn’t get on with the writing style, unfortunately. I think somebody who loves contemporary fiction would adore this and the premise has lots of potential.

I have rated 3 as a medium rating because I did not finish the book to fairly rate it.

An interesting and intriguing premise drew me to this book, but I struggled to get into it and could not relate to the heroine and her love interest. The musical references were also completely lost on me and I ended up not really caring much about the characters or what happened to them. The intensity of falling in love for the first time was conveyed well but the quirky narrative style, which leapt around a lot,, was a little off-putting. Not for me.

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy to review.

I was really excited to read this as the blurb promised so much. It is set in Oxford, where I studied and I now live - what could go wrong?

The premise is an on/off will they/won't they relationship between Amalia, an Oxford student studying music, and fellow Australian student Alex. I wanted to like this but I found the structure so odd and the setting so boring, that I switched right off and struggled to get through this title. I love reading about the city in which I live, and I could easily follow in that characters' footsteps, though Schneider spends no time describing Oxford, its beauty or quirkiness. Implicit is the expectation that you know where she is writing about - so if you haven't been to Oxford, you may get thoroughly confused at some of the places the girls visit. The book feels literary and exclusive. I didn't study music, so all of those references (and there are plenty) went completely over my head. This books feels introspective, and as other reviewers have suggested, totally autobiographical.

I found this very difficult to read. It is definitely not one for me, I 'm sorry to say.

When fellow Aussies and Oxford University students, Amalia and Alex meet at a university bar, they fast become friends. 28 questions explores their relationship and the sexual chemistry over a span of many years.

There’s a lot to be liked about this book. I liked that each chapter was based around one question. I liked that important conversations were outlined like a script and I liked the references to music which outlined the emotion of the moment. However, I didn’t really care about Amalia and Alex’s relationship. I wasn’t invested in the “will they/ won’t they with a side of philosophy” that is the core of theme of the book. I found the dialogue clunky and pretentious at points. I struggled to continue reading at points and so I can’t recommend it.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to Simon & Schuster Scribner UK for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘28 Questions’ by Indyana Schneider in exchange for an honest review.

Recently it has been described as a queer Harry Met Sally for the Sally Rooney generation. Okay, I am well aware that I am not part of the Rooney generation and have previously struggled with her novels as well as those of a similar nature. Still, I was willing to give this a go.

‘28 Questions’ follows first-year Oxford music student Amalia and her friendship with Alex, a fellow Australian, over four years. While they become very close and seem to be able to talk about everything, the subject of whether to risk that friendship by getting involved romantically remains a barrier.

‘28 Questions’ is written in an unusual style that seems memoir-like with dialogue presented in a way reminiscent of a script. Certainly there are interesting insights into music, popular culture and the like sprinkled throughout yet the constant angstation about love and identity became wearing after a while. I also struggled to find any sense of connection to its characters.

I did wonder about the degree of autobiographical material within as its author did attend Oxford as a music student and is now an opera singer, a vocation that Amalia aspires to.

Still, despite my lack of enthusiasm, I can appreciate that ‘28 Questions’ will find its readership, but it just wasn’t one for me.

So, this is an extraordinarily difficult book for me to review in a totally objective way. I saw the blurb for it and thought, “wow, a book about an Oxford Music Student. This will be an interesting read since I worked closely with Oxford Music Students for more than a decade”! And only after I started reading it did I realise that, actually, the author was a music student at Oxford while I was there and I remembered her. Weird!

This book has been likened to Normal People and I can see why. It’s super-academic in tone and is a slightly awkward, coming of age love story. I thought the layout was really interesting and worked well, based around the idea that it only takes answering 28 questions to fall in love.

There’s a lot of classical music chat in here, and even several sections of notated music, so if music isn’t your thing then a lot of this book will probably be lost in translation. The author’s passion for the arts really shines through, as well as the parallels between the character’s love of music and the love of her friends and lover.

I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that Amalia’s exploration of her sexuality and queerness is a major theme. At times it all gets quite racy, so be prepared for spice level 🔥 🔥 🔥

For me, 28 Questions reads a bit like a memoir, so I’m wondering how much of the book is actually fiction and how much is drawn from Schneider’s own experiences. Perhaps that is a feeling that’s peculiar to me though, as someone who has maybe been too close to the setting.

It’s a book that won’t be for everyone but I actually really enjoyed it. With thanks to Scribner for gifting me a digital copy to review.

Struggled quite a bit with the narrative style of this book and the way the characters are set out. I couldn't connect or find a way that hooked me in to the story enough to care sadly

IT's rare for me not to finish a book, but sadly this is one of the exceptions in my life.
I just couldn't connect with the characters and found it all a bit wooden.

Amalia and Alex have an immediate connection when they meet in Oxford at college even though they are a couple of years apart. They share an intense intimacy and friendship and the book explores their answers to the ‘28 questions’ in the title. The story explores the student experience in Oxford, friendship, sexuality, growing up and living away from home. Whilst I really like the premise and found a lot to be well-observed and we’ll written, I struggled to root for Amalia or Alex and their relationship which did ultimately impact on my overall enjoyment of the story.

28 Questions

As someone who is very aware and intrigued by ‘THE 28 Questions’, I was drawn to this book. It’s an interesting concept and as a premise I think it really works. It’s really well written and thought provoking. That being said, I struggled to connect to (or feel invested with) the characters.

The writing is good, but I find my enjoyment of the prose gets derailed by a couple of things; the first, a small thing, the pop culture references that place the author or characters as slightly younger than me (maybe about 5/6 years, give or take a year). They’re references to things I vaguely know of, but don’t immediately recall. Small, but incredibly irritating to spend so much time ‘whirring’ to think about an inconsequential reference. Perhaps a little too pedantic, but this has been described as ‘for the Sally Rooney generation’ (as so many books about people doing things are these days), but Sally Rooney is the same age as me and I get almost all of her references and it all feels familiar (despite my lack of Irishness), because of that. The constant Sally Rooney comparisons are doing a serious disservice to a lot uniquely good books.

The second thing, much bigger annoyance (although probably easier to explain) is the layout of the dialogue - it’s laid out interview style and pretty much as a conversation would happen - including small talk and interjections. I know this can be quite popular, but I find it incredibly off putting. Especially reading each character’s ‘umms and aahs’.

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did - it is good - but I know it’s not going to suffer from my picky complaints.

Literary fiction but make it queer. I don't know what it was about this book but I was addicted from start to finish - I just really wanted to see where the characters ended up! It follows Amalia, a, Australian music student at Oxford. I was so excited that she was an opera singer! The book follows her from her first year at university to the year after she graduates and it was so interesting to me to follow her experiences.

Amalia's time at university was definitely not like mine. There is an air of sophistication about Amalia and her friends that is revealed to be a little fake through Amalia's thoughts. She meets Alex near the start of her university life, a third year who she becomes best friends with. Their friendship is intense, and Amalia questions her sexuality.

I feel like Amalia's journey was realistic. She is told she won't make it in opera until her late twenties and is advised to find placeholder work. There she is judged for her academic background despite being intelligent. Honestly I just really felt everything she went through at university only to end up in a job she hates.

Her relationship with Alex is on and off as both of them figure out their sexuality and what their priorities are. Both of them are opposites in the way they handle stress and conflict and it definitely puts a strain on their relationship.

Overall 28 Questions was a strange book for me. The characters are flawed and sometimes annoying but they had real reactions and experiences. Very interested to see what Indyana Schneider writes in the future.

I am not the first one to compare this novel to Sally Rooney and I won’t be the last, but the similarities are just too obvious to ignore. The basic trope is always the same: two young people fall in love with each other but will they end up together? In this case they are two Australian girls studying at Oxford. As in Rooney’s novels they are intelligent, well-spoken and have given human relations a lot of thought, but somehow do not manage to make romantic relationships work for themselves (obviously, because otherwise we would have a very short book).

This relatively predictable plot device does not make this a boring book though and I would even say it is in no way inferior to Sally Rooney. There are interesting conversations, it reads very well, it flows naturally and there are the elements of music and queerness that add value (and I suspect build on the author’s personal experience). So, especially for a debut novel very well done and recommended for anyone who cannot want to wait for Sally Rooney’s next novel.

Many thanks for the ARC!