Book Review: Conversations with Friends by, Sally Rooney

In today's video I'll be reviewing Conversations with Friends by, Sally Rooney.

Conversations with Friends Written Review:

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[novelideea]

Hahaha! I have used those exact words! “I get what the author is doing, I just don’t like it and don’t want to be a part of their thang.”

[IntoTheWeeds]

I am fascinated by this take. On the "personality" and "seeing myself" sections, I don't think it's about individuality at all, at least not in the way you're talking about. Frances isn't talking about looking at herself in the mirror like some angsty teenager, or worried about her personality and whether it's unique enough — it seems, at least to me, that she's struggling with being detached from a sense of self. The inability to recall your own features. The oddity of being perceived, and having to reconcile with the fact that you have an image that you don't control. The poor interoceptive awareness, and the practicing of facial expressions. As an autistic person, all that felt very real to me. I'm not sure why I feel so defensive about this, but I think there are plenty of people who resonate with Frances because when they're in a room full of people, they struggle to feel human at all. Permanent outsiders. And Frances read like that to me. Hearing that described as cringe and having "pick-me girl vibes, " well, that feels like being seventeen again, dropping the mask and not understanding why the other kids keep making faces at each other when you talk.

[danecobain]

I love everything about this review. You explained why I didn't like it way more eloquently than I ever could. I always just fall back on reading somewhere that she said that a lot of the book is based on her actual friends and it making me think that she needs some new friends.

[pthao.]

The manner in which you've established your criteria is truly beneficial and i love it

[helen.faunway]

I'm a literary fiction writer who just finished getting my MFA, and my mom recommended Rooney's stuff to me a few years back, as it falls into a similar niche to my own work. My style is character-driven and conversation-heavy, and my mom (bless her) told me I'd love how REALEAL Rooney's characters felt. Unfortunately she was correct--at least insofar as they reminded me of the IRL people I most hate being around lol. I've always struggled with books that feature primarily unlikable characters, whether it's intentional on the author's part or not: it's really difficult for me to get invested in a story without a well-meaning person to root for. And good lord, I couldn't root for anybody in this book. Everyone's just a different flavor of narcissist.

[ChristyLuisDostoevskyinSpace]

"I WOULD RATHER READ DICKENS"

[NNumber]

So glad I discovered this channel- my new favorite booktuber!! I love your taste and nuanced deep dive style commentary

[KianaMasqati]

THANK YOU! My goodness! I've only watched 7 minutes, but girl! You are expressing my thoughts! I finished the book about a month ago, and today something reminded me that I read that crip, and then I found your video! Ugh!

[CedricsMom]

34:20 Rooney couldn't have known up front that her books would be the golden children that publishing has chosen them to be. The real question is, why is publishing pushing her books so much? Why are they selling books that criticize capitalism? Who does this benefit? These are not rhetorical questions.

[janeglendinning]

So glad for this review. I 'cringed' reading this book, too, and wondered why I was bothering and if there was something I wasn't getting.

[whitleyc]

Also, this was truly so fun to watch! Love a book rant.

[Woofers]

Anyone who thinks Francis is “unlikable” doesn’t get how honest and vulnerable she is. Rooney is one of the most deeply true writers I’ve ever read.

[janethansen]

I am here for this review! I read Normal People and hated it for much the same reasons. Her writing is immature and reminds me of my writing when I was 14 years old. In her defence, Rooney is still very young and she needs to go and experience actual life as an adult. However, there are other young authors who do a much better job.

[ellisxsille]

Just finished this disaster of a book after seeing so many youngsters praise it on the internet. I am glad to see there is a person who hated this book as much as I did. Really enjoyed your review!

[jennyyeh]

Love this review !! So well presented and articulated !

Please can you show how you annotate your books?

[bookofdust]

I had no interest in reading Rooney, but my challenge last year was reading Ireland and she’s the 900 pound elephant in the room for current Irish lit and I felt I needed to read her at least once. With very, very low expectations I read Normal People and because of that I think I was able to enjoy it more than I expected. What I did really appreciate is she made two main characters who were very smart, genius level smart, and that’s not something you often see in contemporary fiction, very smart young people, especially in their teens. So, it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined, but I don’t feel the need to ever read anything else by her. I did watch the an episode of the Conversation TV show, but abandoned it after struggling through the first one.

[margot_polo]

preach! refreshing point of viewwww thank youuuu

[Wanderwilderreading]

I love Sally Rooney, and I’m aware that she’s super controversial. I will say that Conversations with Friends is my least favorite. I love how deeply flawed her characters are but I totally get where you’re coming from with her inability to be subtle. Interesting that you found her characters non unique and boring though, because I find her characters to be unique to read! As you talked extensively about, she’s also a self proclaimed communist so there’s that… all of that aside, I laughed out loud multiple times in your review. Thanks for tearing me apart! 😂😂

[SheriMaple]

I never thought about reading Sally Rooney's books; your review confirmed that. I probably, without question, DNF her book and returned it. There are talented writers like Jesmyn Ward and Percival Everett that come top of mind that receive a fraction of marketing and promotion than Rooney's books. I understand marketing her book to a new millennial readership, but it's insulting to readers' intelligence. Chile, you've saved me several hours of my life that I wouldn't get back from reading this book. Thank you!

[melinaouzouni]

Wow I just wanted to find an honest review from someone that objective! Thank you for your review!