Amazon.com.au:Customer reviews: Beautiful World, Where Are You

Top positive review

Doesn’t stray far from the author’s other two novels

Reviewed in Australia on 30 September 2021

If you are a fan of Irish millennial author, Sally Rooney, and her other two novels, Conversation with friends, and, Normal people, you are probably in for a treat. That is, unless you felt that these two works said everything you wanted hear on love, friendship and living as an intellectual, hip, 20 something in Ireland in our current times. All in all, the latest novel is an easy read. The style is economical and lean, like a contemporary Hemingway. It probably plays to Rooney’s strength in not straying to far thematically or narratively from Rooney’s other works. Worth a read.

2 people found this helpful

Top critical review

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Didn't get all the hyper about this one.

Reviewed in Australia on 15 September 2021

My first taste of Sally Rooney and sadly, probably my last. I didn't enjoy this book at all. I found it long winded and aimless (I feel like I was missing the point of it all?) Characters were obnoxious and not even likeable so I struggled to take to any of them. Those long winded emails were a drag to read! Started losing patience halfway in, and it didn't get any better. Ended up skimming the rest just to finish it. Here's a quick summary - Four people: they like each other, don't like each other, are intimate, then not intimate, and somewhat depressed. And that's it. Ending didn't offer any resolve or bring anything new.

9 people found this helpful

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Sarah Wood

A difficult read with little reward

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 December 2021

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Well-written and detailed exploration of unsympathetic characters who could do with living their lives rather than overthinking them. I struggled with the extensive email correspondence between two of the characters but the actual action between the emailing was more moving and interesting. An ultimately painful exploration of characters taking far too long to grow up.

2 people found this helpful

Janet P

A disappointing new novel from a remarkable novelist

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 November 2021

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I wanted to really love this novel as much as I did Rooney's previous 2 books. To begin with I was delighted and relieved to find her writing style as sharp and arresting as ever. Unfortunately, her main characters were so utterly self-absorbed and their largely uneventful lives so dull, that the narrative kept circled back on itself until things became oddly repetitive. The long emails between the friends read like they were written by a couple of naive, self-obsessed teenagers rather than two supposedly clever women in their early thirties. Perhaps that was the point. I persevered in the hope that the whole thing would be resolved in a way that made ploughing through it worthwhile, but found myself checking the percentage read on my Kindle hoping I was getting nearer to the end. The final chapter seemed a bit bolted on, as if an editor had persuaded Rooney that she needed to finish things on a slightly more upbeat note. By then, for me, it was too late in the day.

gerardine o connor

It just wasn't for me

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 September 2021

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Disliked the format the lengthy indepth emails. Didn't particularly like relate to any of the characters

4 people found this helpful

Jim Foley

A Disappointment

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 October 2021

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I enjoyed this book less than Normal People or Conversation with Friends. Sally Rooney still writes beautifully but the basic premise seemed unlikely. In particular, the relationship between Alice, the best selling international writer and the semi literate warehouse packer, Felix seemed implausible from the beginning. On a purely physical level the lonely rich woman being attracted to a modern day Mellors might work but to declare her love for him and to sustain the relationship strained credibility. Ultimately, the book was a disappointment because neither of the two women were likeable characters and, therefore, it was difficult for the reader to invest in them. Only Simon seemed to be a person of integrity and substance.

One person found this helpful

Olivia M

A well written but annoying book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 November 2021

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I breathed a sigh of relief in the last chapter of this book when the two main female characters, Alice and Eileen, finally stopped constructing reasons not to be content with their lives, and decided to be happy. The emails between the two women felt like Sally Rooney talking to herself, constructing complicated intellectual arguments that resolved nothing and failed to move the story forwards. In many ways the characters of Simon and Felix were explored in more depth and it was possible to feel an empathy with both in different ways. I really didn’t like either of the women and as a woman that’s hard to say. Can’t say I recommend this book as a good read.

Mrs. A. Williams

Too wordy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 January 2022

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The story was ok but oh those emails.back and forth were so so wordy, they just didn't need to be. they didn't add anything to the story and I didn't care about what they said at all. after normal people's and conversations with friends I found this disappointing

One person found this helpful

Damara MacRae

Boring read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 May 2022

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I am sure I will be classed as controversial but I did find this book completely boring and a long drawn out rambling about politics and life.

There was romance involved but even that was impersonal and cold... it was also about friendship but those friendships that hide a lot of what people actually feel, thus lacking honesty...

It was not for me.

rarely review

More of the same but less compelling

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 November 2021

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I'm no literary critic so I can only talk about this book in terms of how it made me feel. Which I'm afraid wasn't a great deal. Just like her previous books it's about relationships, acutely observed. This time two couples, last book one couple, before that an affair. You see shades of previous characters of hers in Alice and Eileen but less so in the boys Felix and Simon. Very little sex this time. I guess it was well written as her previous works but just a little boring,as there is essentially no plot or even a clear storyline.

amys

It's ok

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 September 2021

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As always Rooney builds descriptive scenes beautifully, but this book was a tad boring and didn't have the engrossing, intoxicating factor Normal People and CWF have.

2 people found this helpful

Angela Cowley

A tad pretentious?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 September 2021

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Sally Rooney is undoubtedly a fine and talented writer and I devoured her previous two books, but I felt I was wading through treacle during some parts of this novel. Unfortunately I found it unpretentious and inauthentic.

3 people found this helpful

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