Sally Rooney is an Irish author and screenwriter who has written four novels since 2017, with her most recent book, Intermezzo, being the best. Intermezzo is a story of two brothers, both dealing with the grief of their father’s death, and struggling to find a place in each other’s lives. Ivan is 22 and a competitive chess player, while Peter is 32 and a lawyer, giving you the point of view of two very different people to create a story of grief, hardship, and an exploration into the everyday complexities in life. 

I read Intermezzo back in December and it honestly may have been the best book I’ve read all year. There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by where I haven’t thought about the book. I’ve told everyone I know to read this book, and I even convinced a stranger at Barnes & Noble to buy it. It’s written in a very peculiar way, sort of staccato at parts, but also in an extremely impressive manner. The author doesn’t use quotation marks in any of her books which can take a while to get used to, but the way she writes all of the characters so in-depth is incredible. After reading this book you will know the characters so well as if they’re real people that you know in real life. 

Let me be clear before you go and buy this book, it is in no way a happy book. It will make you cry, you will feel bad for the characters, and at times you will be angry with them. There are happy and funny parts, but the book itself is just a true representation of the lives of normal people, showcasing that nobody has a perfect life.

Now, if you have not read the book yet, stop reading this! And please, go read it right now, you won’t be disappointed. From here on I will give you my complete, honest opinion on Intermezzo and why I believe it’s a five-star read. Many people who have reviewed this book said that it’s hard to get into and I completely disagree. While it may have been a slower read for me, I was intrigued from page one and didn’t like it any less. 

The book starts from Peter’s perspective and at first it’s a little hard to differentiate between his dialogue and his inner monologue, but you’ll get past that. Peter is a 32 year old lawyer struggling to balance his life between work, relationships, and his distance from Ivan. He’s currently dating a college student (if the age gap bothers you, you’ll get over it, it’s not that bad), but he’s also still in love with his ex-girlfriend. He wants to be closer to Ivan but can’t understand why Ivan has no interest in that. Peter, while the book may not outright say this, is an addict and honestly he’s not that great of a person. His girlfriend is in love with him, and he’s in love with somebody else. As you get past all of this, you will come to love Peter, with his inner monologue being very captivating and relatable and you won’t want to stop reading. 

Personally, I preferred Ivan as a person, but preferred to read Peter’s point of view. Ivan is a 22 year old chess genius who meets an older woman (34), Margaret, at one of his conventions. They begin a relationship as Ivan struggles with the grief of his father and Margaret struggles to escape her past (again, you will get past the age gaps). I enjoyed reading Ivan’s sections but at parts I felt as if they were very awkward, but nonetheless, I still loved them. It was interesting to get both sides of the story and get a true understanding of why Ivan hates Peter. 

When Peter finds out that Ivan is dating an older woman, there’s a big fight because Peter is so angry that his brother is dating an older woman (hypocritical, much?), and they end up not talking to each other for much of the book. To me, this part was very sad but also such a real insight into real life and Sally Rooney wrote it very impressively. If you can’t tell, I’m obsessed with Sally Rooney. I loved the parts with Peter and Sylvia (his ex-girlfriend), because when you read them you can just feel how perfect they are for each other. I wasn’t a big fan of his girlfriend, Naomi, but I still felt as though she was necessary to the story line. I also enjoyed the parts where Ivan would talk about his love for chess because I thought it was a very accurate representation of being so passionate for something. I really enjoyed how sad this book was, which sounds strange, but the best books are usually the most depressing. It all felt very real and the book could have been 300 pages longer and I wouldn’t have minded. 

There is so much more throughout the book as Peter and Ivan struggle to get a grasp on their lives, so much that I could write an entire book about it, but too much to explain now. 

Overall, I just really loved this book. The style of writing was what drew me in and the depth of the characters was what made me stay. You’ll learn to love the characters regardless of their faults and you’ll be sad when the book ends. I truly do not have anything bad to say about Intermezzo, and I’m already counting down the days until I can read it again. I highly recommend it!