Beautiful World, Where Are You - Sally Rooney

Beautiful world - the first book I've finished in 2023 and for what it's worth I did enjoy it. 

Featuring two main characters emailing back and forth to each other about various topics going on in their lives, mainly work, sex and politics (what could be more important). And let me tell you this, this novel did not make me look forward to my 30s. Maybe that why its for relatable. 

For the first Sally Rooney book I have ever read, I must admit that it does capture a lot of the writers characteristics that I so often hear about i.e. the lack of quotation marks, constant acknowledgement of different political views and yes some rather spicy smut. However I am going to ignore this, to address the book as an individual rather than just another piece from what is a somewhat controversial writer.

Now, whilst an epistolary is conclusively one of my top 3 writing formats, I must say that structure of this novel was not the easiest to get to grips with at first - one person emails then it jumps to a first person view of another character, then to an email so on and so forth. Saying this, it does help you understand the characters more, getting an insight into what is going on in their heads. In fact it problem makes the book more endearing to myself. 

Conclusively I must admit, that although it is no Shakespeare or even Marie Lu (author of the Legend series) it most certainly captured my interest and drive  - a constant page turner. It created such a realistic and relatable encapsulation of what is - for the most part - a 'normal life' that it should really be boring. Maybe that's the reason I am so drawn to it and countless other books of this genre. Because there is no dystopianism, extra-terrestrials or even unrealistic romance. It is what it is and you get what you get. This is life, its shit, move on, because it'll all alright in the end. 

Note to self: Must read more Sally Rooney books ASAP