I really enjoyed this little excerpt and am excited to read the rest of the novel in the next few weeks. Sally Rooney normally doesn't engage me this much, but this might change my opinions. Thank you, NetGalley, Faber & Faber, and Macmillan, for the Egalley excerpt of this novel.

Like every other literary fiction reader, I was so incredibly excited to read Sally Rooney’s new novel, and it absolutely did not disappoint! Rooney is back with her signature raw and slightly jilted style. As usual, she takes her time to explore unique relationship dynamics, this time with a focus on brotherhood and complex romantic relationships.

As with all of the books I’ve read by Sally Rooney, I’m blown away by her ability to write realistic three-dimensional characters that really draw the reader into their lives and inner thoughts. She focuses equally on her two main characters in this book, and while I obviously had one brother I enjoyed the perspective of more, I felt that she really nailed this shifting focus.

I get the overwhelming feeling that Rooney wrote this book as a means of exploring. She adopts a languid style of writing to organically move through the story and I really enjoyed the way she incorporated copious inner monologue alongside her descriptions to allow readers to really enter the minds of her characters.

As expected, the book is heart-breaking at times, and has an overall gloomy tone that can be hard to digest for long periods. However, overall I consider this another hit by Sally Rooney and I really enjoyed my time reading despite almost being in tears at one point. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone interested in brotherly relationships or who enjoy literary or Irish fiction. Make sure to check TWs before reading. 4/5

This was my first Sally Rooney book and after all the hype, I was somewhat disappointed. I found it too slow, long, and mainly packed full of angst, melancholy, and navel-gazing. The novel tells the story of two brothers and follows them in the months after their father’s death. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into the flow of the story or feel engaged with any of the characters, and I struggled to finish it. It’s undoubtedly well written, Rooney is great at writing dialogue but I found myself emotionally detached from the characters. I’m sure her fans will love it but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC.

Sally Rooney is a genius when it comes to storytelling and I can't wait to read this book in full.

The hype for Rooney is well-deserved.

This took a few pages for me to get into it, but Ivan is exquisite and I absolutely love him already. I can’t wait to read the rest!

The sample teaser was tantalisingly short but full of promise. I'm sure Sally Rooney fans will not be disappointed. I look forward to reading the rest of the book. Thanks to NetGalley for an advance sample chapter to review

Absolutely loved this, Sally Rooney's characters are always a treat. Deeply flawed yet written in such realistic detail that you can't help but see bits of yourself in them, Intermezzo's protagonists - Peter and Ivan are compelling characters to follow and root for. While there's not much plot in this book, just getting to know these characters (and the rest of the cast) was enough to keep me engaged the whole way through, and I loved the exploration of family themes as well as grief, love and perception. By favourite Sally Rooney book so far.

Anything written by Sally Rooney is almost guaranteed to be a best seller. Having been given a taste of Intermezzo by Negalley I would expect this to be her bestseller yet. It tells the story of brothers Ivan and Peter, two opposites who appear to live very different lives with no familial closeness despite having just lost their father. Peter is a human rights lawyer and is ten years older than Ivan, a chess player whose rankings are decreasing. Ivan nervously starts a relationship with Margaret, fourteen years his senior, who he meets at a chess convention. Peter is in a discreet relationship with Naomi but appears to be attached to Sylvia, who he was involved with until she had a life changing accident. The first few chapters tell us a bit about these brothers and their lives. I am looking forward to reading the whole book to see how the story unfolds. I would say this is Rooney at her best. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this excerpt of what I expect to be an amazing book.

5⭐️

Although this was only a sampler I was straight away so into it! I love Sally Rooney’s writing and can’t wait to read this book in full!

I was lucky enough to hear Sally read the first few pages of Intermezzo at her Waterstones Piccadilly signing and was completely absorbed. Even though the sampler gives a preview of just the first two chapters, I was captivated by her writing and descriptions of the characters. It very much feels like the standard Rooney novel, with her typical writing style, dialogue and streams of consciousness but in some ways it feels more mature. I can’t wait to read the rest!

Though short, this sample of Intermezzo is gripping and I am absolutely hooked. I feel invested in the characters already, and am extremely excited to pick up the full novel!

Thanks so much for this sampler!

So far, we have two brothers who have just lost their father and follows the two navigating their lives with this new grief. There is around a ten year age gap between the two men but both are adults and we start to see the differences in their lives, we get a little bit of insight onto their respective relationships with their late father as well as their blooming relationships with their lovers/girlfriends.

The first couple of chapters were really interesting because of the way Sally Rooney writes the two brothers POVs. I really feel like I'm experiencing what the characters are feeling . This has reminded me how much I enjoy this author's writing style and I'm so excited to see what comes next

This was an enjoyable sampler. I found Sally Rooney’s pace of writing enjoyable. Her ability to draw the reader in with descriptive dialogue is an element to her writing that has drawn me to this book. The subject matter appears very interesting and has encouraged me to buy the book to see where the story leads.

As good as I would expect from Sally Rooney - can't wait to read the whole thing if the rest is anything like the sampler!

Nuanced and thought-provoking as always - this was a sampler that I defy any reader not to left asking for more. Looking forward to reading the whole novel. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher

I think Sally Rooney is a fabulously talented author, and their stories always evoke emotions within the readers from happiness, to love and sadness. Within this small snippet, Rooney has already given us a glimpse to what is an incredible tale.

This wasn’t for me. There is nothing wrong with the writing but it just wasn’t to my taste. I didn’t like the present tense writing.

Sally Rooney’s writing is truly something else. This book has everything to be a masterpiece. I can't wait to read the rest.

I don't think anyone writes quite like Sally Rooney. I was fortunate enough to be able to read a few chapters of this and I was hooked.

I hadn't been sure if I was going to purchase it before, but now I definitely am!

I loved this and it’s made me really look forward to reading the rest, it was an amazing introduction. I’m intrigued to see where Rooney takes it.