Book Review: Conversations with Friends

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

Quote: 

"The affair might be over, I thought, but something being over is not the same as something never having happened."

 

Blurb:  Frances is twenty-one years old, cool-headed and observant. A student in Dublin and an aspiring writer, at night she performs spoken word with her best friend Bobbi, who used to be her girlfriend. When they are interviewed and then befriended by Melissa, a well-known journalist, who is married to Nick, an actor, they enter into a world of beautiful houses, raucous dinner parties and holidays in Brittany. But when Frances and Nick get unexpectedly closer, the sharply witty and emotion-averse Frances is forced to honestly confront her own vulnerabilities for the first time. 

Book Tropes: 

• Messy Relationships
• Cheating (A LOT OF CHEATING)
• Forbidden Romance
• Coming of Age
• Class Differences
• Literary Fiction
• Miscommunication
• Complex Friendship

My Personal Views:  This book was sick (and no, I don’t mean that in a good way). It made me feel mentally and physically sick to my stomach.

Conversations with Friends follows two friends - Frances and Bobby - mainly revolving around Frances. They meet a married couple, Nick and Melissa, who pull them into their world of beautiful houses and extravagant parties. However, when Frances finds herself entangled in an affair with Melissa’s husband, Nick, she is forced to confront her own vulnerabilities.

What was the point of this book? I have no idea. Not. A. Single. Clue.

Rooney is undeniably a talented writer. I might not always love her stories, but I can acknowledge her skill. However, even her writing couldn’t save this book.

To be fair, I knew what I was signing up for when I picked it up. I was aware it involved cheating and an extramarital affair, and I thought I could handle it - but I couldn’t. Watching Frances and Nick repeatedly deceive Melissa while questioning whether they were good people or had morals - and then continuing to do it - was just sickening.

And yes, I know Melissa had her own affairs.

At one point, I thought that once Melissa found out, maybe they would stop out of, I don’t know - shame??? Hello??? But no, they didn’t, and things just took a different turn altogether.

Frances, in particular, felt so frustratingly stupid. Of course, you knew what you were getting into. You’re having an affair with a married man, and you expect him to put you first? And not his wife that he apparently also loves? Who he wedded? Seriously??

I get that Rooney was writing from a young person’s perspective and trying to explore the recklessness of youth. But come on, even at 21, you know that having an affair with a married man is morally wrong. No 21-year-old is that clueless. And if you do it anyway, maybe stop once his wife finds out?

This book clashed with everything that I personally believe in. I mean, to keep letting your spouse having an affair with another person is just WILD to me.

And don’t even get me started on Frances and Bobby’s weird, messy friendship - I could not understand their dynamic at all.

Also, what kind of ending was that?? Everything still ended up the same in some way? Seriously?

If not for my sheer stubbornness to finish what I start, this book would have been DNF'ed by me ages ago. Trust me.

Ratings: ⭐/ 5

Until the next read,

Aditi