Book Review: Conversations with Friends

Conversations with Friends
by Sally Rooney

(Finished reading: 6/6/19)

4/5 stars

Smart, stylish, mischievous.

Award-winning new novelist Sally Rooney's debut novel Conversations with Friends follows twenty-one year old poet Frances who performs spoken word with her best friend and ex-girlfriend Bobbi. When Frances and Bobbi are befriended by Melissa, a famous journalist writing an article on them, they are whisked off to a rich world filled with dinner parties and holidays. But when Frances begins to grow closer to Melissa's husband Nick, she is forced to confront her vulnerabilities.

I wanted to read this novel partly because everyone seems to be talking about Sally Rooney right now, but mostly because of how controversial it seemed to be. A lot of people really hate this novel but some people really love it which I thought was odd for a novel that's essentially a contemporary romance novel. I decided to pick it up as my first read for the summer as I wanted something kind of easy and breezy to kick off my summer reading and I have to say, it's certainly not your classic contemporary romance. But I really didn't hate it, I actually found myself loving the ride.

Let's start with the characters. These characters are definitely not your classic fluffy romantic types, they are twisted, unlikable and their morals are questionable. None of the characters in this book are entirely lovable, they are all flawed and cold in some way or other. But I actually think this is largely what made the book so interesting because even though you dislike them, you are still rooting for them and invested in their stories. Frances initially comes across as quiet, cool-headed and observant but as the story unravels you discover she's extremely emotionally-averse but also very witty and funny at times. Her mind is messy and you are stuck inside it for the entirety of the novel. It was interesting to learn more and more about her as the deeper we get into the story. On the other hand, Bobbi is pretty much exactly who you think she is from page one: childish, self-assured, confident, outspoken and larger than life. Bobbi was actually one of my favourite characters despite all her major flaws. I loved her debates within the novel and the political themes it brought up. She is bubbly and fiery and certainly the yang to Frances' yin. In comparison to the two of them, Melissa and Nick seem fairly vanilla to begin with. But towards the end I started to really reevaluate all my previous assumptions about both of them. I found myself disagreeing with Frances' view of Melissa and Nick a lot of the time but then deciding I didn't really know how I viewed them myself. But the relationships between the four characters are fascinating. It's all so complex and feels very dense and overall very imaginative on Rooney's part.

The plot was particularly interesting mostly because nothing actually really happened.  It's one of those novels where it's less about what takes place and more about creating a cool atmosphere and unique characters and letting them loose on each other with little control. I really liked this style as it's quite different from most approaches to story-telling. I enjoyed watching the story unfold without any grand expectations and just soaking it all up like a sponge. All the major plot points were very much character driven which I really liked but I know not everyone would. It actually felt a lot more like a stage play because of these elements and is something I'd be very much intrigued to see come to life.

What I found really interesting was how profound it actually all felt. For me, the whole novel is about youth and how dangerous it can be. The novel itself feels egotistic, selfish, insecure, uncertain, fragile and, at times, slow. And this is exactly what youth seems like and highlights many of the problems that twenty-somethings face in everyday life. I liked that this was done subtly and left for readers to interpret because it really did leave me thinking which is always a good thing! And I think that we can take a lot from this message and think about how we view youth and compare it to what a healthy view of youth actually is. The book itself did actually remind me of Pheobe Waller-Bridge's infamous show Fleabag because of these themes. And I think that these feminist accounts of youth are vital in understanding the problems with it.

Overall, I can understand why this novel isn't everyone's cup of tea but I really enjoyed it. I loved its simplicity, intelligence and how it caught me off guard. I really hope to see more honest novels like this coming to life in the future because it's time to bend the rules and deliver something unforgettable.