Beautiful World, Where Are You: SYNOPSIS
Alice, a novelist, meets Felix, who works in a 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. Alice, Felix, Eileen, and Simon are still young—but life is catching up with them. They desire each other, they delude each other, they get together, they break apart. They have sex, they worry about sex, they worry about their friendships and the world they live in. Are they standing in the last lighted room before the darkness, bearing witness to something? Will they find a way to believe in a beautiful world?
Beautiful World, Where Are You: FIRST SENTENCE
A woman sat in a hotel bar, watching the door.
Beautiful World, Where Are You: MY OPINION
I only read Normal People by Sally Rooney and honestly had a love/hate relationship with the story. I didn’t like all parts, but after finishing the book, I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters and the storyline for a few days.
And the same happened after I finished Rooney’s new book Beautiful World, Where Are You.
Rooney’s writing style is unique and bold, and her stories feel very real and human. Even though I was not fully loving the characters and always had the feeling I was missing out on something, her writing got under my skin, and I wanted to know what happens next and stay in the bubble of this kind of weird perspective of the world Rooney created for her characters.
Talking about the characters of Beautiful World, Where Are You, Alice, Felix, Eileen, and Simon, I found them very unappealing, sometimes even obnoxious, and it was often hard to follow their thoughts and feelings. However, there were parts where I started to understand them, related to what they were feeling and going through.
As you might have noticed by now, I find it very hard to express exactly what I was feeling while reading the book. While I resisted the characters, I was also intrigued by them. I wanted to stay in their bubble and know what would happen next to them. If the two love stories would work out or not. Either way, I wouldn’t have been surprised and would have understood it.
Especially the end of the book got me. I liked it as it left me in a nostalgic mood, thinking about the story even after I finished it. Furthermore, I liked the setting of the book and Rooney’s description of the places and the surroundings. The story was so up-to-date, even shortly addressing lockdown and the global pandemic which made the whole book even more relatable in an unwanted way.
Beautiful World, Where Are You: SUMMARY
As I mentioned before, I find it very hard to fully express my feelings towards Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney. I liked it and disliked it. Another love/hate relationship. However I would read it again and therefore recommend it if you want to dive into a world of four awkward characters in their late twenties/early thirties dealing with love, hurt, friendship and the meaning of life.
Beautiful World, Where Are You RATING: 3/5 ★
Find all the details about Beautiful World, Where Are You on Goodreads.
Picture Cover: Amazon ; Synopsis: Goodreads
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