Fiction

Beautiful World, Where Are You

Beautiful World, Where Are You

  • Downloads：4686
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-08-24 02:21:04
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Sally Rooney
  • ISBN：0374602603
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

Callie （readitlikerory） Coker ，

4。5 stars rounded down review to come

Eliza ，

Rooney is probably one of my favorite authors - I cannot wait to get this book in a week！！

Michelle ，

Just amazing。 Full rtc

Kiley Malloy ，

she did it again， folks。 I mean I have some issues with it and some reservations about dual narratives as a concept， but it’s easy to bear when rooney is as good of a writer as she is。

Steph ，

Review to come

Danny ，

Rooney’s best。 By a mile。

Morelia （Strandedinbooks） ，

Wow， it was so nice to be back in Sally’s world and be completely entranced by her writing。Normal People still holds my heart， but I found that I did enjoy this！ It poses a lot of great questions and points of view of life and at its core is about friendships and holding on to a certain kind of love or semblance of happiness in this terrible fucking world。I didn’t absolutely love it， mostly because I felt like some of the writing did go over my head a bit， even though I ask myself some of these Wow， it was so nice to be back in Sally’s world and be completely entranced by her writing。Normal People still holds my heart， but I found that I did enjoy this！ It poses a lot of great questions and points of view of life and at its core is about friendships and holding on to a certain kind of love or semblance of happiness in this terrible fucking world。I didn’t absolutely love it， mostly because I felt like some of the writing did go over my head a bit， even though I ask myself some of these questions in my head， but maybe Sally just used big words whateverI also wasn’t too keen on these relationships， but when has Sally ever given us a proper one to read HUH？？ I still loved following them around though and definitely appreciated the email breaks in between！This was solid， though I already know some people won’t love it。 And btw， for any MR SALARY fans， this book might give you an itch to scratch。 You’re welcome *CW: suicidal ideation 。。。more

Liz | thebohobookblogger ，

4。5 wow this was something。 It was my first Sally Rooney book and I am definitely a fan。

Dakota ，

Listening to Beautiful World， Where Are You， I found myself so impressed with Rooney's character dialogue。 They felt so real and that may also be because of the narrator who does an absolutely fantastic job。 Her acting and lilting accent captivated me。 As far as the story， I found myself rooting for these two couples。 Again， they seemed so real and I couldn't get enough of them。 Simon was definitely my favorite with his devotion to Eileen。 While I enjoyed this audiobook， I didn't find it to be a Listening to Beautiful World， Where Are You， I found myself so impressed with Rooney's character dialogue。 They felt so real and that may also be because of the narrator who does an absolutely fantastic job。 Her acting and lilting accent captivated me。 As far as the story， I found myself rooting for these two couples。 Again， they seemed so real and I couldn't get enough of them。 Simon was definitely my favorite with his devotion to Eileen。 While I enjoyed this audiobook， I didn't find it to be as amazing as they hype it's receiving。 I think because of the name attached and her previous works， the expectations may have gotten way too high。 I'm so curious to see what others think about this one。 Overall， a good book。 I feel I might have gotten a bit bored of it had I read it and not listened to it。 The narrator is just that good！ 。。。more

Joe Banfield ，

Disappointment It pains me to write this given how much I loved her first two novels， but Beautiful World， Where are You is a major let down。At sentence level， the book is fine， the dialogue natural， the scenes well-drawn and uncluttered。 The plot， for what it's worth， is similar to Rooney's first two novels: couples fall in and out of one another's orbit; one half of the couple has money， job security， privilege， the other does not， there are many things that should be said that aren't， etc。 Th Disappointment It pains me to write this given how much I loved her first two novels， but Beautiful World， Where are You is a major let down。At sentence level， the book is fine， the dialogue natural， the scenes well-drawn and uncluttered。 The plot， for what it's worth， is similar to Rooney's first two novels: couples fall in and out of one another's orbit; one half of the couple has money， job security， privilege， the other does not， there are many things that should be said that aren't， etc。 The characters are so conspicuously drawn from similar templates of her former novels， that the book struggled to form， in my mind， an isolated， definable identity of its own。 Everyone here is yet again outrageously and improbably gorgeous and smart。 There is even a scene in which one of our main male characters cannot even walk down the Champs-Elysees without causing a train of glamorous Parisian women to stop what they're doing， turn in their tracks， and ogle him as he goes， such is this man's raw sexual magnetism。 Here， too， once again， are distant loveless parents， and needlessly nasty older siblings。There are also structural and thematic issues here。 The novel is separated between a third person narrative in which the plot happens， and a series of back-and-forth emails - co0nversations with friends？ - between the two main female characters: Alice， a celebrated young novelist， and Eileen， an uncelebrated worker bee at a Dublin literary journal， in which the events of the preceding narrative chapter are explained and mused over。 The problem with these emails is that they become too much like theme-explainers。 At one point， Eileen tells us about the Iron Age Collapse， at another Eileen comments about the teleological function of conservatism - 'what does it conserve。' But because the story proper is so uninterested in incorporating any of these wider themes into its narrative， the emails end up just sitting there， conspicuously wedged up against a narrative that is far more concerned with getting its characters， through various instances of communicative and emotional misalignment， to fall in and out of love with one another。 The question I had over and over was: how does the narrative reflect and integrate the thoughts and ideas expressed in these emails？ What， given that Rooney has allowed herself a character who works on a zero hours contract probably for Amazon， does she have to say about that kind of work， or the effect the ubiquity of retail parks as a whole is having on our society？Felix， who is our warehouse worker， acts as a kind of middle-class knower， someone outside the novel's established socio-economic sect who， much in the mode of Revolutionary Road's John Givings， exists to hand a cold hard slice of real life to our self-absorbed other characters。 The problem with Felix， whom Alice is inexplicably and enduringly drawn to， is that his presence in the novel is wholly and unrelentingly insufferable。 He is a character so rigidly defined by all his constituent identities - bisexual and sensitive amazon employee - that at no point in the novel did he ever come across as a real person to me， but， instead， as a kind of cypher lazily intended to illustrate and personify the very issues of pressing and contemporary social concern which the narrative itself never even tries to delineate。 In the end I don't think this is a novel for us， the readers。 I think it is a novel for the author， one she has written in order to convince herself that it is okay to write novels about sex and friendship。 And it is！ Of course it is。 And I would rather read a bad book by Rooney than a middling book by almost anyone else。 But if this is the only book she can do - if these are the only characters and relationships she can write about - then her whole career will be about producing eminently readable but incredibly similar stories。 I feel like this is a step back for her。 。。。more

Sarah ，

So many books I've been looking forward to this year which have been big disappointments。 I had such high hopes for this novel， but it ended up being a long slog that went nowhere。I couldn't connect with or believe in any of the characters （the male characters were particularly undeveloped） and the epistolary device didn't work at all; it just felt like a vehicle for Rooney to muse on pseudo-deep ideas。 SO many pages of telling and describing the actions of characters and their physical movement So many books I've been looking forward to this year which have been big disappointments。 I had such high hopes for this novel， but it ended up being a long slog that went nowhere。I couldn't connect with or believe in any of the characters （the male characters were particularly undeveloped） and the epistolary device didn't work at all; it just felt like a vehicle for Rooney to muse on pseudo-deep ideas。 SO many pages of telling and describing the actions of characters and their physical movements （almost as if to help guide a future tv/film adaptation） which did nothing to forward the plot。 I am looking forward to hearing what other readers make of this。 If we're making direct comparisons to Rooney's previous novels it's definitely more like Conversations with Friends than Normal People in my view: pretentious people stewing over relationships which seem doomed/not worth pursuing from the get-go。 The book also felt very auto-fictional to me - the protagonist Alice has written two books which were very successful， one of which has been adapted for tv/film - which was unexpected but also didn't really come to anything beyond us getting a glimpse into the psyche of a reluctantly famous and private author。 。。。more

Ace ，

3。5 rounded down。Rooney fans， please don't unfriend me。 3。5 rounded down。Rooney fans， please don't unfriend me。 。。。more

Kate Hults ，

Rooney’s writing style has not changed， but I think that’s what we love her for。 Her prose is simple， yet honest and complex。 Her characters are incredibly flawed and frustrating， yet love and growth are present。 I guess what I’m saying is that I loved that this story stuck to her style， gave me characters to love and want to scream at simultaneously， and connected with where I’m at in my own life （whether I wanted to face it or not）。

Irlanda ，

It feels like a book Sally Rooney has been wanting to write for a while， with commentary about everything from class and religion， to the notion of celebrity and cancel culture。 At times， the format of the book - and the way Rooney introduces these discussions- felt slightly unnatural。 Nevertheless， for the most part， her dialogue about these issues felt appropriate in a novel about the lives of twenty-somethings living in the twenty-first century。As with most of the characters Rooney writes， th It feels like a book Sally Rooney has been wanting to write for a while， with commentary about everything from class and religion， to the notion of celebrity and cancel culture。 At times， the format of the book - and the way Rooney introduces these discussions- felt slightly unnatural。 Nevertheless， for the most part， her dialogue about these issues felt appropriate in a novel about the lives of twenty-somethings living in the twenty-first century。As with most of the characters Rooney writes， they mostly begin unlikeable。 But it is the fact they are flawed， complex， three-dimensional characters that drive the plot of the story。 As a reader， you become attached to them and invested in their stories。For me， BWWAY reaffirms Sally Rooney’s place as a must-read author。 Her honesty about life， happiness， and the future brought me to tears in a way that only she can。 。。。more

Anne Altman ，

4。5 stars。 This book is classic Sally Rooney。 If you loved her writing in the past， you will like this I think。 If you didn’t like Normal People， for example， this book will not win you over。 As with all of Sally Rooney’s works， she requires much of her readers。 We have to pay attention。 Every look， every seemingly minor action has meaning behind it。 And Rooney can write dialogue that is raw， honest and cutting like no one else。 Full stop。 That said， nothing happens in this novel。 Pretty much no 4。5 stars。 This book is classic Sally Rooney。 If you loved her writing in the past， you will like this I think。 If you didn’t like Normal People， for example， this book will not win you over。 As with all of Sally Rooney’s works， she requires much of her readers。 We have to pay attention。 Every look， every seemingly minor action has meaning behind it。 And Rooney can write dialogue that is raw， honest and cutting like no one else。 Full stop。 That said， nothing happens in this novel。 Pretty much nothing at all。 It is an exploration of the lives of two best friends who share letters back and forth throughout the entirety of the novel。 Their letters reflects on their lives， their politics， their professions and， of course， most prominently， their romantics relationships that are often painful and confusing。 They talk in different places while doing various activities but it’s all just about talking and figuring out life and knowing that there are big problems in the world that are distressing， but at the end of the day， the people who you love and who are in your life really， really matter and there is no escaping that。 Last thing to note， Rooney doesn’t use quotation marks in her writing so I find it easiest to consume her books via audio。 If that kind of thing bothers you， audio is definitely the way to go。 The narrator is superb。 Thank you to Libro。fm for the advanced listening copy— listening using the Libro app is my favorite！ 。。。more

Susan Ballard ，

I read Rooney’s Normal People and loved it， so I was excited to try another one of her books。 I know her novels tend to be a bit polarizing - either you love them or don’t。 I fear this may fall into the same category。 I feel like Sally Rooney excels at capturing the nuances of human emotions and our differences in the context of relationships so well。 And that is what ​​𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝， 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 is all about - relationships。Eileen and Alice have been friends for years， and Eileen has had th I read Rooney’s Normal People and loved it， so I was excited to try another one of her books。 I know her novels tend to be a bit polarizing - either you love them or don’t。 I fear this may fall into the same category。 I feel like Sally Rooney excels at capturing the nuances of human emotions and our differences in the context of relationships so well。 And that is what ​​𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝， 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 is all about - relationships。Eileen and Alice have been friends for years， and Eileen has had this on-again / off-again kind of romance with Simon since way back。 Alice is a novelist who suffered a breakdown and is recently out of a psychiatric hospital。 When she notices Elieen and Simon may be on again， Alice decides to head to Rome with a stranger named Felix。 Of course， as Rooney does， Alice and Felix’s relationship becomes complicated， and so do Simon and Elieen’s。 There is a lot of dialogue and discourse， and a bit of sex too。 But what makes this interesting is that the characters themselves have such different views and ideologies。 The four friends don’t always see eye-to-eye on politics， religion， social economics， and the environment， which lends for spirited conversation， even if nothing else is really happening。Thank you to @librofm and @macmillan。audio for this advanced listening copy of the audiobook。 。。。more

Clara Dahlgren ，

Tyckte bättre om än hennes andra。 Som vanligt svårt att relatera till hennes deppiga och lätt ätstörda kvinnliga karaktärer :- ） också lol att hon tog sig an sociala medier。 Ordet thumbnail användes flitigt。 Men gillade！ 3，5。

Catarina ，

𝙍𝙀𝙑𝙄𝙀𝙒BEAUTIFUL WORLD， WHERE ARE YOUAuthor: Sally Rooney#gifted by @netgalley in exchange for an honest review pub date: 07 September 2021𝙎𝙔𝙉𝙊𝙋𝙎𝙄𝙎:"Alice， a novelist， meets Felix， who works in a distribution 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 𝙍𝙀𝙑𝙄𝙀𝙒BEAUTIFUL WORLD， WHERE ARE YOUAuthor: Sally Rooney#gifted by @netgalley in exchange for an honest review pub date: 07 September 2021𝙎𝙔𝙉𝙊𝙋𝙎𝙄𝙎:"Alice， a novelist， meets Felix， who works in a distribution 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？"𝙈𝙔 𝙊𝙋𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙊𝙉:First of all I want to be clear about one thing: what I read was an extract of the book， specifically the first chapter。 That is all I was given， that is all I read。 I put in a request for this because I have seen so many people here talk about Sally Rooney and I wanted to see for myself what the hype was all about。 That being said， I didn't love what I read。 The text was lackluster， for lack of a better word， sprinkled with a bit of sophisticated vocabulary to make it look more spicy， which it wasn't， not for me anyway。 Plus what woman invites a man she barely knows to her home？ In this economy？？ That alone made me feel uncomfortable， to say the least。 Hopefully the rest of the book is more interesting， but from this excerpt alone I don't know if I'm all that interested in reading more of it。 💬 To those who read the whole thing， does it get better？ Worse？ Let me know！ 。。。more

Amy Miles ，

Thank you to the publishing house and NetGalley for this early extract I received。 I have now pre ordered it on Amazon so I can read the book in its entirety and will update my review then。 I am super excited for this to be released！

Lee ，

'And we can care once again， as we do in real life， whether people break up or stay together -- if， and only if， we have successfully forgotten about all the things more important than that， i。e。 everything。'More formally interesting and impressive yet less satisfying than the first two novels。 'And we can care once again， as we do in real life， whether people break up or stay together -- if， and only if， we have successfully forgotten about all the things more important than that， i。e。 everything。'More formally interesting and impressive yet less satisfying than the first two novels。 。。。more

Elisabeth ，

Disclaimer: I am not the audience for this book。 I am too old and have little patience for the sophomoric relationship misunderstandings。 That said， I found it insightful to the anxieties of the generations who still have many years to live in this devastated world we created。 I would not recommend this to a peer but can see the appeal for the 30 somethings。

Myra Schmitz ，

Very enthralling， very intellectual。 Yet again， Sally Rooney is still an important and relevent voice in Millenial fiction。

Jamie ，

I used to love Sally but I think I am officially done， I don't think our writing/reading styles mesh well。 Its too hard to read her books！ This one is about Alice， Felix， Eileen and Simon's problems and struggles。。。。？？？ ok！ it's an interesting story that is relatable but there is so much unnecessary filler and I hate the emails in between。This book will be a hit with some， just not for me。 Thank you Netgalley for my advanced ebook copy。 I used to love Sally but I think I am officially done， I don't think our writing/reading styles mesh well。 Its too hard to read her books！ This one is about Alice， Felix， Eileen and Simon's problems and struggles。。。。？？？ ok！ it's an interesting story that is relatable but there is so much unnecessary filler and I hate the emails in between。This book will be a hit with some， just not for me。 Thank you Netgalley for my advanced ebook copy。 。。。more

Aisha Bellamy ，

This is about normal people with normal problems just trying to make it through life。 It’s about friendships and romance， littered with heavy subject matters including depression and expectations。 I personally really liked the ending， and found the book picked up pace half way through， however I think that will be a controversial topic！ Published 7。9。21 Thank you for the arc 🥰

Anastasia Wiley ，

Beautiful World， Where Are You focuses on two friends， Eileen and Alice。 Both are in their late 20s but at different points in their lives。 Alice is a highly successful novelist living in a rural Irish village in order to relax after a health crisis。 She becomes entangled with Felix， a local warehouse worker who is just getting back on his feet。 Eileen lives in Dublin and works as an editor for a literary magazine。 She feels that career and personal life are at a standstill。 She relies heavily o Beautiful World， Where Are You focuses on two friends， Eileen and Alice。 Both are in their late 20s but at different points in their lives。 Alice is a highly successful novelist living in a rural Irish village in order to relax after a health crisis。 She becomes entangled with Felix， a local warehouse worker who is just getting back on his feet。 Eileen lives in Dublin and works as an editor for a literary magazine。 She feels that career and personal life are at a standstill。 She relies heavily on her childhood friend， Simon， who she has probably been in love with since she was a teenager。 Each individual and couple have their own issues and expectations to work through。 Eileen and Alice communicate exclusively through emails， discussing life， relationships， and the future of the world。Let me start off by saying that I am a fan of Sally Rooney， but this latest book is by far my favorite from her！ Her third novel is a culmination of her first two books。 Sally Rooney knows exactly how to write complicated characters that are not necessarily loveable but very realistic。 Her use of epistolary writing as a form of reflection was interesting and gave depth to both Eileen and Alice。 。。。more

Selene ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I love Sally Rooney’s work and how she makes me feel and what she makes me think of。 I also think the characters in this book all need therapy as they’re making themselves suffer because they have daddy issues and low self-esteem。 I also don’t understand how we got a happy ending out of these human disasters， yet we had it。

Michelle ，

Extract first impressions。If this were a sample chapter on kindle， I would （and probably will） go on to buy this book。 The extract doesn't give too much away， at all， but it's enough for these two characters and that refectory house to be on my mind now。 I want to know more about Felix and Alice， I want to know if their paths will cross again。 I've never read anything by Sally Rooney before， this sample has me intrigued though。 I like her style of writing， definitely。 Thank you to Faber and Fabe Extract first impressions。If this were a sample chapter on kindle， I would （and probably will） go on to buy this book。 The extract doesn't give too much away， at all， but it's enough for these two characters and that refectory house to be on my mind now。 I want to know more about Felix and Alice， I want to know if their paths will cross again。 I've never read anything by Sally Rooney before， this sample has me intrigued though。 I like her style of writing， definitely。 Thank you to Faber and Faber for the sample chapter。 。。。more

Alessandro ，

"I was tired， it was late， I was sitting half-asleep in the back of a taxi， remembering strangely that wherever I go， you are with me， and so is he， and that as long as you both live the world will be beautiful to me。" "I was tired， it was late， I was sitting half-asleep in the back of a taxi， remembering strangely that wherever I go， you are with me， and so is he， and that as long as you both live the world will be beautiful to me。" 。。。more

Kourtney ，

Omg！ Such a tease！！！！ I NEED TO BUY THIS BOOK！！！I knew this was only an extract， but， how good could one chapter be？ Let me tell you， amazingly intriguing！！！