Author: Sally Rooney
# of Pages: 274 (ebook)
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Synopsis: Connell Waldron is one of the most popular boys in his small-town high school--he is a star of the football team and an excellent student, and he is never wanting for attention from girls. The one thing he doesn't have is money. Marianne Sheridan, a classmate of Connell's, has the opposite problem. Marianne is plain-looking, odd, and stubborn, and while her family is quite well off, she has no friends to speak of. There is, however, a deep and undeniable connection between the two teenagers, one that develops into a secret relationship. Everything changes when both Connell and Marianne are accepted to Trinity College. Suddenly Marianne is well liked and elegant, holding court with her intellectual friends, while Connell hangs at the sidelines, not quite as fluent in the language of the elite. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle each other, falling in and out of romance but never straying far from where they started. And as Marianne experiments with an increasingly dangerous string of boyfriends, Connell must decide how far he is willing to go to save his oldest friend.
Review: I read this book because I heard it was recommend for fans of Heated Rivalry, but they're not actually similar at all.
I was expecting a fluffy, happy, romantic story full of yearning and characters that I cared and rooted for. Instead, I felt like an outsider looking into a slice of life story about an on and off again relationship between the two main characters: Connell and Marianne.
Although there was some underlying messaging about loneliness, living authentically vs conforming to expectations, there wasn't enough character building to get the reader invested in the characters. Their lives and relationships are complicated and messy, but instead of relating to them, I felt alienated and frustrated with the characters, especially when their problems could be chalked up to poor communication.
Overall this was a drag to read, and I wouldn't recommend reading this book if you're looking for a true romance story.