It’s difficult to review this book because some parts were so unnecessary and I have never particularly enjoyed the stream-of-consciousness writing style that Rooney employs in this book. Joyce pulls it off very well but it is one of the most difficult writing styles to pull off and for me it just didn’t work. Some of the descriptions pulled me straight out of the story and made me physically cringe.
The story itself is an exploration of loss, loneliness and grief. Some of these explorations are fresh and thought-provoking, and some are the same things you’ve heard a thousand times before. Do not expect this to be plot-heavy, it is mainly vibes and sometimes for me it just didn’t work. There’s still an over-reliance on sex, I suspect in an attempt to fill an empty book with colour. There are still great moments in this book and some parts were interesting, but I found myself always wanting this to be more than it was, this quote on its own made this book worth at least three stars:


Sometimes you need people to be perfect and they can’t be and you hate them forever for not being even though it isn’t their fault and it’s not yours either. You just needed something they didn’t have in them to give you.


And a personal favourite:


Sitting there beside him quietly she seemed to embody the inexpressible depth of his misunderstanding