Book Review: Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

Last night I had a video call with some friends as we’ve been reading this for our book club. There was an audible gasp when I said that based on two books alone, Sally Rooney is now one of my most favourite authors. She is just THAT impressive to me. Her grasp on human nature is phenomenal, the way she takes what can be seen as relatively “normal” relationships and picks them apart and lays them bare continues to astound me. Her characters are so real and relatable, and her stories are the equivalent of peering in through windows into other people’s lives. Basically I could write an essay on why I love Sally Rooney so much.

“Suffering wouldn’t make me special, and pretending not to suffer wouldn’t make me special.”

Conversations With Friends follows Frances and the numerous relationships she has in her life. There’s her best friend, and former girlfriend, Bobbi. And then there’s the married couple that they become close friends with, Melissa and Nick. What follows is a complex love rectangle(?) comprising all 4 characters.

Rooney’s novels are character-driven, and her characters are really where she excels. They are not always likeable, often making poor decisions, but they are 100% authentic. Frances is fascinating - she is intent on coming off as cold and emotionless, when she is anything but. All her feelings are repressed, as she is afraid to show her vulnerability and would rather travel down the path towards self-destruction.

As expected there are a lot of conversations between friends, as they share their observations and theories on many topics. Rooney’s dialogue flows freely, even if it does make me wonder why I don’t have such intellectual conversations with my own friends.

Endometriosis is also discussed in this one, which I appreciated because it hasn’t featured in any books I’ve read and it’s a chronic illness that requires more awareness. Sometimes as women we think we just gotta battle through these agonising periods, but if it gets THIS bad, please ask your doctor about it.

Overall, LOVED IT, but Normal People remains my favourite. Now the wait begins for another Rooney novel. 4.5 stars.

Johann

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