Twenty-two-year-old Ivan is a chess champion who gets with thirty-six-year-old Margaret, while Peter is a human rights lawyer with two love interests, Naomi and Sylvia.

This is the fourth Sally Rooney book I’ve read, and I have to admit I still don’t get the Rooney hype. I can overlook the lack of punctuation, but the internal dialogues are so long it feels excessive. The main issue with Intermezzo for me is that there is no real plot, and the characters are all just thinkers, not doers. It’s so slow-paced, I almost stopped reading it a few times — the second half is better, but I don’t think I would’ve missed out on anything if I had stopped. The reviews are amazing though; The Guardian even says, “Is there a better writer at work right now?” She’s definitely a talented writer, so perhaps I’m not smart enough to fully appreciate her style. If you liked other Sally Rooney books, definitely read it — I think Intermezzo is better than Beautiful World, Where Are You.