Fiction

Beautiful World, Where Are You

Beautiful World, Where Are You

  • Downloads：4667
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-07-27 10:51:12
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Sally Rooney
  • ISBN：0735281793
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Summary

Here is the extraordinary， thrilling new novel from Sally Rooney， author of the internationally bestselling Normal People and Conversations with Friends。

Beautiful World， Where Are You tells the story of Alice and Eileen， two best friends approaching their thirties， and on very different trajectories。 Alice， a novelist， meets Felix， who works in a warehouse， and asks him if he’d like to travel to Italy 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？

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Reviews

Stephanie P ，

review coming on pub date :） :）

Hannah Zimmerman ，

Review to come

Ty ，

4。5* rounded up because Rooney has， once again， offered us a great piece of literature

Tom Caskie ，

Loved right until the last ten pages I hated that ending 😭 but otherwise a pretty good book and very much enjoyable

Lucy Dacus ，

well she’s done it again， I think it’s her best

Jessica Baker ，

i LOVED this book。 i’m almost at a loss for what to say about it because i just found it so profoundly moving。 as she does in Normal People， Rooney tackles themes of friendship and love and relationships and communication so beautifully， but in Beautiful World， Where Are You， she also approaches themes of politics， faith， beauty， and truth， summoning allusions to the likes of Keats and Shakespeare。 i think one of the things i loved the most was the friendship between alice and eileen。 Rooney dep i LOVED this book。 i’m almost at a loss for what to say about it because i just found it so profoundly moving。 as she does in Normal People， Rooney tackles themes of friendship and love and relationships and communication so beautifully， but in Beautiful World， Where Are You， she also approaches themes of politics， faith， beauty， and truth， summoning allusions to the likes of Keats and Shakespeare。 i think one of the things i loved the most was the friendship between alice and eileen。 Rooney depicts， with such tenderness， how even the best of friendships go through difficult and isolated times， and how this can be heightened by the technology of the 21st century。 i’m not sure what else to say other than sometimes you read exactly the right book and exactly the right time— and this is what Beautiful World was to me。 。。。more

Mary Russo ，

Grateful to have been lent an advanced copy by a friend。 I have mixed feelings about this book， as I have had with Rooney's other two novels。 The form is messier and more expansive than in Normal People or Conversation with Friends， and I felt that the characters were slightly less restrained （perhaps because they are older than her other protagonists）。 I liked the epistolary format of roughly half of the chapters， and am glad that we get a peak into the characters thoughts at rest （versus via s Grateful to have been lent an advanced copy by a friend。 I have mixed feelings about this book， as I have had with Rooney's other two novels。 The form is messier and more expansive than in Normal People or Conversation with Friends， and I felt that the characters were slightly less restrained （perhaps because they are older than her other protagonists）。 I liked the epistolary format of roughly half of the chapters， and am glad that we get a peak into the characters thoughts at rest （versus via spoken conversations with the other characters）。 Overall an enjoyable read that I would recommend to anyone who liked her other books， or to anyone feeling like they are struggling to reconcile the end of the world to the beauties， joys， and trials of their （relatively） small lives。 。。。more

Sophie ，

another great book by miss sally rooney

Allison ，

I am continually surprised how much I enjoy Rooney's work but I really shouldn't be。 This latest novel centers around four people and examines romantic relationships along with friendships in Rooney's classic insightful way。 Her writing style is very spare and almost documentary if that makes sense。 But incredibly effective and emotional at the same time。 There is also a philosophical and political element to this novel that was unexpected but enjoyable。 If you enjoyed her previous works you wil I am continually surprised how much I enjoy Rooney's work but I really shouldn't be。 This latest novel centers around four people and examines romantic relationships along with friendships in Rooney's classic insightful way。 Her writing style is very spare and almost documentary if that makes sense。 But incredibly effective and emotional at the same time。 There is also a philosophical and political element to this novel that was unexpected but enjoyable。 If you enjoyed her previous works you will enjoy this book as well。 。。。more

Ailsa ，

Nice Golden Bowl tease。

K ，

3。5！

Jessica ，

A lot of thoughts to come。。。

Micah Stewart ，

I read an excerpt of this in the New Yorker during my lunch break without realizing it was an excerpt of this book and now that I know that it was from this book I would commit heinous crimes to get my hands on this book bc I was obsessed

Caitlin ，

Okay so this might actually be my favourite book of the year so far， and I know that is not saying a lot really because let’s be honest， every book is my favourite book， but this is one of those that went straight to my heart， and I want to hold it there for a long time。Sally Rooney has reached me exactly where I’m at， exactly where I didn’t even KNOW I was at， and put to words so many unspoken thoughts and feelings I’d never before known how to express even to myself， but have been trying to fo Okay so this might actually be my favourite book of the year so far， and I know that is not saying a lot really because let’s be honest， every book is my favourite book， but this is one of those that went straight to my heart， and I want to hold it there for a long time。Sally Rooney has reached me exactly where I’m at， exactly where I didn’t even KNOW I was at， and put to words so many unspoken thoughts and feelings I’d never before known how to express even to myself， but have been trying to for so long。 I don’t know if it’s because I am almost the exact age as the characters and certain things were hitting harder than usual， or if it was just something about her mesmerizing writing or both - definitely both - but I just loved， loved， loved this more than I know how to explain！ SO MUCH to discuss and dissect and think about， so many questions asked and answered - particularly concerning the title of the book - that I’m honestly just in awe and plan to sit in this story and marvel over it for a very very long time。 。。。more

Emily ，

Both my favourite and least fave Sally Rooney thus far。 Adore the complex characters and their relationships and I am absolutely here for wanting to focus on sex and friendship and love against the backdrop of capitalism ruining everything， environmental disaster， the existential crisis that is being alive。 So sharp so smart so easy to recommend this book wholeheartedly。

A Paperback Life ，

。。。I mean there are no words。 I have to re-read her books to be certain but this might be my favorite Sally Rooney novel。 It's SO GOOD！ A million thanks to the publisher for sending me an ARC！！！ 。。。I mean there are no words。 I have to re-read her books to be certain but this might be my favorite Sally Rooney novel。 It's SO GOOD！ A million thanks to the publisher for sending me an ARC！！！ 。。。more

Shannon Hawthorne ，

I will never be able to properly articulate how this book made me feel and how it came at such an important time in my life。Sally Rooney is brilliant。 This book was ~mostly~ a perfect telling of uncertainties， loneliness， and confusion people experience in their late 20s。 I was able to relate to every character at some point， and was also incredibly annoyed by all characters at some point。 I do have to agree with my fellow booksellers that the ending was disappointing。 The last two chapters did I will never be able to properly articulate how this book made me feel and how it came at such an important time in my life。Sally Rooney is brilliant。 This book was ~mostly~ a perfect telling of uncertainties， loneliness， and confusion people experience in their late 20s。 I was able to relate to every character at some point， and was also incredibly annoyed by all characters at some point。 I do have to agree with my fellow booksellers that the ending was disappointing。 The last two chapters did not need to be included and nor should they be。 They felt very out of place and unnecessary when you compare Sally Rooney’s other work。 I didn’t want the happy ending。 Nor did I want clunky writing about the pandemic。 Also have we all at one point in our lives dated a Felix？ Yikes。 。。。more

leah ，

first off， thank you SO much to faber books for sending me an arc copy of this， i’ll be forever grateful。 the fact that i’ve loved all 3 of sally rooney’s books （along with her short stories） has really solidified her place as one of my favourite authors， or maybe just my favourite。 this book follows 4 main characters and the relationships they have with one another， with the friendship between alice and eileen taking centre stage。 unlike her 2 other novels， we are taken out of the character’s h first off， thank you SO much to faber books for sending me an arc copy of this， i’ll be forever grateful。 the fact that i’ve loved all 3 of sally rooney’s books （along with her short stories） has really solidified her place as one of my favourite authors， or maybe just my favourite。 this book follows 4 main characters and the relationships they have with one another， with the friendship between alice and eileen taking centre stage。 unlike her 2 other novels， we are taken out of the character’s heads and held at a distance， watching everything happen externally and only really learning about the characters as they learn about each other。 at first i thought this would mean the characters would be harder to connect with as we’re not reading their internal monologue， but we’re provided a lot of insight into alice and eileen through the emails they send to one another in alternating chapters， in which they discuss many of the issues that are plaguing us in our modern world。 the way they particularly discuss knowing how awful the world is but still caring so much about love and relationships and human connection is really when the relatability factor comes in。as always， the prose was brilliant and had all the elements of rooney’s writing style that i love。 saying that sally rooney is great at crafting complex and realistic characters feels a bit redundant at this point because that’s what her work is most praised for， but i’ll say it again anyway。 like her other books， this one provides a refreshingly honest depiction of what it feels like to be a young person in the modern world， although it focuses more on the uncertainty felt in your late 20s， rather than your early 20s。 but this growth in maturity makes sense given the fact that rooney is 30 now， so it feels like a natural progression of her work。 the pandemic/lockdown is mentioned at the end which felt a bit jarring （because i don’t think i’m ready to start seeing it in media or books yet lol）， but i think it tied up the overarching theme of the book nicely， because it was during the pandemic that we realised just how important human connection is and how much we value our relationships with our loved ones。 with all the good， the bad， and the ugly in the world， at the end of the day all we have is people， all we have is each other， which to me feels like the main takeaway from the novel。 the relationships we have with each other is what makes the world beautiful。 。。。more

Katy ，

Much to think about

Jules Kelly ，

Sally Rooney really fucks me up。 I read a few chapters and then have to lay down and have an existential crisis ; BWWAY is absolutely no different。 falls right in between CONVERSATIONS and NORMAL PEOPLE for me （wasn't blown away by the ending）， but still a must-read。 "If I'm only as bad as you I don't mind that much。 Or even if we're both terrible， it's still better than being terrible on my own。" Sally Rooney really fucks me up。 I read a few chapters and then have to lay down and have an existential crisis ; BWWAY is absolutely no different。 falls right in between CONVERSATIONS and NORMAL PEOPLE for me （wasn't blown away by the ending）， but still a must-read。 "If I'm only as bad as you I don't mind that much。 Or even if we're both terrible， it's still better than being terrible on my own。" 。。。more

Jessica Woodbury ，

This one takes a little while to get going and insists on an epistolary device that really didn't do it for me， but once it hits its stride it delivers what most Rooney fans are here for: a whole lot of emotions and romantic strife。The prose and style here are notable and distinct。 First， there are the emails interspersed between most chapters between best friends Alice and Eileen。 Alice， a relatively newly famous author， has been hospitalized after a breakdown， and has moved to the country whil This one takes a little while to get going and insists on an epistolary device that really didn't do it for me， but once it hits its stride it delivers what most Rooney fans are here for: a whole lot of emotions and romantic strife。The prose and style here are notable and distinct。 First， there are the emails interspersed between most chapters between best friends Alice and Eileen。 Alice， a relatively newly famous author， has been hospitalized after a breakdown， and has moved to the country while Eileen still lives and works for hardly any money in Dublin。 I suspect readers will either love or hate this device because they are not normal emails。 They are long， meditative writings about basically everything millennials worry about。 （If Rooney wanted to lose that label as a millennial voice of a generation， she has done herself no favors here。） Politics， climate change， beauty， culture， celebrity， language， they go on at length about their larger worries and then give a paragraph or two of their own personal updates。 Eventually it becomes quite clear why they are writing this way， but there isn't always a lot of "there" there to these writings and when we'd hit one I could feel myself starting to read faster to get through it。As for the prose， I had to pick up my copy of NORMAL PEOPLE to confirm whether Rooney's prose had changed much because my experience of that novel was so entirely in my head that I honestly could not remember how it read on paper。 In many ways it's quite similar to BEAUTIFUL WORLD， but the important difference is that it is almost always entirely at a remove from our characters' internal thoughts。 Everything is described to us as seen externally， each small movement， each time someone picks up their phone， each glance and expression。 And at first I started to get frustrated because I very much wanted to know how these characters were feeling （getting so deep into the characters' heads was part of what I loved so much about NORMAL PEOPLE） but ultimately I came around。 By keeping us outside of everyone's heads we get to experience these relationships as the characters do in many ways。 We have to learn about them as they learn about each other。 We only really know for sure what they say out loud。 And in the end， as we start to get into all the things that aren't being said， the story and the characters really open up to you。 It absolutely takes time， the first half of the book is more getting oriented than anything else， but the second half was the kind of experience I particularly enjoy， diving in to everyone's fears and idiosyncracies。Once again I was struck by how acute Rooney's understanding of her characters is。 And once again I felt a little bit of wish fulfillment around her male characters， who have an inherent goodness， but who also actually say how they feel。 Maybe not immediately， but when it counts they will say it。 Particularly Felix， who is a bit the odd man out here， a kind of chaos monster among the repressed and mostly uptight group， who will happily just ask questions even if they aren't particularly his business or even polite， and who will call it like he sees it， with Alice and everyone else。 Much of the action in the second half happens because Felix calls people out on their bullshit when they are absolutely not used to doing so。 But this was fine with me because I spent the whole first half of the book wanting to yell at these characters to just say what they wanted instead of being so passive-aggressive in their relationships。 （Alice and Eileen are both 29， and yes we are all pretty bad at that still in our 20's， but now I am old and absolutely have no time for this。 Needless to say， I liked this about Felix very much。） I know that no one really really has these kinds of conversations。 Or rather， some people do， but it's rare for two of them to have them together， not to mention four of them all hashing it out under the same roof， but do I love this shit？ Oh yes， I absolutely do。 Yes I love a book where everyone works out their feelings and talks through their issues， even if I had some issues with this and would have liked it better in a more streamlined structure， I truly enjoyed getting to know these characters so well。 I also very much enjoyed that both Alice and Felix are casually bisexual。 It is just nice to have regular old queer characters in books， and their not-so-into-labels feelings is consistent with how a lot of 20-somethings approach queerness。 。。。more

Sana ，

ive never preordered a book before but i really might preorder this one

Al ，

Please ignore thenectarine stains on the ARC。Devastating， floofy。

Carley ，

:） thank you penguin random house canada for this ARC it literally made my dreams come trueive really had to sit with beautiful world， where are you because sally rooney has such a chokehold on me i wanted to make sure i was being objective with my review and thoughts。let me just say， i enjoyed this book to the highest degree。 i think about the questions about purpose and love and friendship and sex daily now。 the ethos of this book felt so incredibly relevant on a personal level: the tension be :） thank you penguin random house canada for this ARC it literally made my dreams come trueive really had to sit with beautiful world， where are you because sally rooney has such a chokehold on me i wanted to make sure i was being objective with my review and thoughts。let me just say， i enjoyed this book to the highest degree。 i think about the questions about purpose and love and friendship and sex daily now。 the ethos of this book felt so incredibly relevant on a personal level: the tension between knowing the human race is basically ruining the world and the fact although we know this， we still care so much about romance and friendship and sex。 its like sally rooney knew that when the world was ending and i was in quarantine， all i could think about was my friends and my partner and my family。 at the heart of all of the intellectualizing and philosophizing i do to make sense of the world， the only thing that matters to me is other people。i do think this book is a bold departure from her last two novels， i felt myself less connected to the individual characters like i did in normal people or conversations with friends。 instead， i felt enamoured by their relationships with each other and their experiences。 it feels more mature， both in style and subject matter。definitely would recommend and also wanna do a book club when this is released to the general public :） 。。。more

Sam ，

…

Andrea ，

this sounds so dramatic， can't wait。 this sounds so dramatic， can't wait。 。。。more

Barbara Hall ，

With her 3rd novel， Sally Rooney delivers again with the story of Alice and Eileen， 2 women in their late 20s， good friends since their university days。 Alice is a successful novelist， while Eileen works for a literary magazine。 Each one is trying to navigate through the complications of a romantic relationship。 These relationships are explored in alternating chapters and interspersed between， are fascinating and lengthy email exchanges between Alice and Eileen， where they ruminate over love， se With her 3rd novel， Sally Rooney delivers again with the story of Alice and Eileen， 2 women in their late 20s， good friends since their university days。 Alice is a successful novelist， while Eileen works for a literary magazine。 Each one is trying to navigate through the complications of a romantic relationship。 These relationships are explored in alternating chapters and interspersed between， are fascinating and lengthy email exchanges between Alice and Eileen， where they ruminate over love， sex， philosophy， politics， mental health， in addition to inquiries into the state of each other's love life。 Rooney has been called the voice of her generation -- the Millennials。 Though I am a Baby Boomer， Rooney's immense talent for writing about human emotions in an intelligent and unsentimental fashion， makes her a voice for all ages。 。。。more

Alice Pickard ，

Struggled through it and gave up 3/4 of the way through。 Disappointing :-（

Rahaf ，

I cant wait for September！ I wanna read it now 🥲

Natalie Field ，

I absolutely loved this book from start to finish。 Sally Rooney’s ability to detail the ordinary lives of her characters with such language and depth allows the reader to passionately affix with them。 So much so that the work literally resonates with you for the following days。 Beautiful World， Where Are You is another incredible story detailing our rat race in life for a semblance of financial security and personal connection。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Beautiful World, Where Are You

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Beautiful World, Where Are You&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Beautiful World, Where Are You&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0