Becomes better at second part

Irish author Sally Rooney (1991) is best known for ‘Normal People’, but had her debut in 2017 with ‘Conversaties with Friends’ receiving critical acclaim. Some years later both books became adapted into television miniseries.

The story is set in Dublin, partly in France later on, around two female students who perform and write poems. Frances, who is bi-sexual, and Bobbi, who is gay, had a short relationship, but stayed friends after breaking up. Both get to meet Melissa, who wants to write a profile piece about them, who is married to an actor named Nick. Frances feels attracted to Nick, as he does to her. This is the start of a complicated relationship, along with Bobbi and Melissa, and it becomes even worse for Frances.

Sally Rooney wrote a really good story as a debut, not to much details, but still enough to form a picture. Rooney however kept a bit repeatable near the end of part one, after a while you know what will happen. Then comes part two where Rooney writes a stronger, more emotional story around Frances from the start, giving a plot twist that was not foreseen. Rooney also mixes up instant messenger and mail conversations in the story, giving a better view on the relationship between characters. Also Rooney doesn't use quotes to make clear what is a dialogue and what not.

Part one felt to much like a ‘student falls for handsome married actor’ becoming mindlessly obsessed without holding back. Without explicit parts, that more felt like fillers - no pun intended - and it also being short, it would have made the relationship stronger if Frances would hold back longer or more often. Part two made it worth reading on, there is more background story of characters, and also a lot more seems to be going on. It became more of a real story that was enjoyable to read, instead of a soap.