Your voice is hypnotic. I could listen to it all day. Thank you so much for all the videos! ❤️

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

Haha thank you so much! I've been trying and failing to feminise my voice recently but I'm kinda glad that I can't.

I really appreciate your empathetic approach to the Sally Rooney phenomenon that you alluded to at the start of the video. I enjoyed Normal People at the time that I read it, but have since become a bit embittered with how her books have been hailed as the very best of current literature. Very few of the many many great books published nowadays are actually widely read or talked about (and I'm glad your channel does so much to rectify that in general), and it is easy to see the attention it has gotten as disproportionate, but that is just how these things go. Anyway, your considerate approach has reminded me to take her work on its own (and considerable) merits :) thanks for the review

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

I completely agree. The amount of focus paid to Rooney's books does such a disservice to so many other great books, translators, and publishers. It winds me up to no end, but it's also certainly not her fault. It's the industry. I feel sorry for her almost as much as I do for the other excellent authors whose books get all but ignored in favour of her next novel.

I just adore her writing style! Normal people is one of my favorites books, she makes her characters so relatable! Also, I could hear you talk all day!! Great video 😍

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

Aw thank you so much! And I agree; she writes with so much humanity and compassion.

I think this is my favorite Sally Rooney review on the internet rn. Thanks for your insights!

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

Wow, thank you so much! That's quite an honour.

Great review. I really loved this novel. How Sally prioritized describing the atmosphere over actual dialog was very intriguing. How this story delved into so many important issues continually kept me on my toes.

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

That's a very good point I hadn't considered before.

I follow you from Italy and you’re helping me very much with English. also, I love this review and the way you explain things. I can’t wait to read this novel (rn Normal People is my favourite from Sally Rooney). this channel deserves a lot of subscribers 💖

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

God, thank you so much for your kind words! I hope you enjoy the novel as much as I did. It's a great evolution of Rooney's style after Normal People!

i just read the book. loved it very much. came straight to your video. as expected you gave a wonderful review!

Thank you for such a well-nuanced review! I didn't really enjoy the book, but I did really enjoy your review!

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

Thank YOU for watching and enjoying my video!

Thank you for that review, I always enjoy listening to your thoughts and impressions! I wasn't interested in reading Sally Rooney, but now I might give "Beautiful world..." a go!

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

Her books often don't interest people but they can really surprise you! Give it a try :)

I just finished this book and I love it! I also loved the whole review you did in this video 💕

I just enjoy listening to you talking. Loved the video. Keep on going

Ace review, as ever. The book didn't wow me much at all, but the last hundred pages did gather force for me.

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Sorry it didn't wow you. I had my issues as well but it has managed to stay with me weeks after reading and that's a good sign!

gahhhhh i LOVE sally rooney. my gf and I have referred to her books as "the rooney-verse", which feels really accurate to me. like you get pulled into a new world, but emotionally and aesthetically the world seems to blend together between the books in the best way... i feel like i go to live there for a bit whenever i read her. Both shows gave me the same feeling too!

I LOVE your eyeshadow !

this was a brilliant review wow. i wish i could sound this polished in my english papers! haha

Excellent review, can’t wait to get my copy, though I am on the waiting list for the audio book 😉

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

The audiobook is really excellent! Worth the wait!

You never disappoint! Great review. I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice, so I would be looking forward to reading this. I currently only have Normal People on hand, so I would be delving into that one first... eventually; after finishing Wolf Hall!

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

Good luck with finishing Wolf Hall! It'll be interesting to read Normal People and Beautiful World back to back!

@adamwan0527

2 жыл бұрын

@@WillowTalksBooks Thank you! I'll look forward to reading those two. Halfway through part two of Wolf Hall, so I've got a long way to go; especially long because of how I'm a pretty slow reader. Nevertheless, I'm enjoying it so far! P.S. It was your video that convinced me to buy it so thank you!

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

@@adamwan0527 I'm also a very slow reader and Wolf Hall took me a good while as well!

once again an excellent video. your videos are so good that i wanna hear your thoughts even on books i have 0 interest in!

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

What a compliment! Thank you so much; that is honestly so lovely. You've made my day :)

I've heard a lot about Sally Rooney on YT and Instagram but haven't yet read any of her books. But I do like the idea of this book with the normal chapters and then the letters. I really like it when books (and fanfics) include letters or emails, or texts,.... Guess I will have to check Sally Rooney's books out and see if I like them. :D

Great video review . Very interesting approach😃

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

Why thank you!

The letters were my favourite element too!

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

I'm so glad! I heard some critics didn't like them and they're wrong 😊

So, BBC sounds have an adaptation of this which I've listened to 4 times now... anyone know what the song is in the background? Shazam does not know... driving me mad !

I hear ‘The Jane Austen of today’ and I am sold. I have had Normal People on my TBR for a long time and I think it’s time I graduated it to current read.

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

I really hope her books don't disappoint!

loved your review!

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

Aw thank you!

I was talking about/recommending your channel to a friend when I got stuck; I realized I didn't know the pronoun you desire to be called by and I couldn't find reference to it on your channel page. Thanks inadvance for sharing. (I loved this review, pre-ordered the audio book and will be listening to it tomorrow on day 1 of the release. Exciting.) -- Shai (he/him).

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

Wow, Shai, thank you so much for asking! I think I put it in the 'about' section but I'm not 100%, and I'm going to start putting it at the start of each video, but my pronouns are they/them :)

I read this (listened to the audio) and loved it. How would it be possible to discuss the ending without putting a spoiler in your comments? (Side note: I have never been one to privilege recently published books on my "to read" list. But I must say that I felt like the cool kid when I had already read this book in advance of the NYTimes Review of Books review [awful] and NPR's Maureen Corrigan review [excellent] having seen the light of day. While feeling like the cool kid may not be the most elevated human emotion, it's nonetheless fun to feel! So thank you.)

I am only on page 79 but like the book so far. When it came out and it was so hyped I didn’t want to read it. The waiting list in our library was also ginormous. But after various opinions within our book group and group of colleagues, from hating the book to loving it, I thought I’d give it a go. For me the letters are a bit too packed with the topics we all deal with every day. Sometimes it just feels like Sally Rooney mentions things like plastic use, ancient languages etc to prove her intelligence. Sounds a bit harsh but I had the same feeling with a book by Jodi Picoult. All these essays are, in my opinion, not necessary to create a great story. I like the chapters more especially because of the description of details. It is very inspiring.

Normal People is close to my heart, and after your deep review, am looking forward to read this novel❤️

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

It's close to mine as well. I read it at a very important moment in my life and it has always stuck with me.

I just finished this book last night and I feel somewhat conflicted. Normal People is an all time favorite for me and this one is closer to a 3.75 but still very enjoyable. Great review!

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

I can relate. Normal People was an immediate favourite as soon as I out it down. This one has kind of festered in my thoughts in a different way

loved this

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

The look in the video is giving me huge Willow from Buffy vibes. I just wanted to say that, I mean it as high praise.

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

This is the biggest compliment I've ever been given, thank you 💜

The "Sorry if you thought that" non-apology, it was pioneered by politicians as a way of sounding contrite but without actually admitting any guilt. Erggghhhh haha

Can someone please tell me what happens at the end of the novel? I don't care about spoliers

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

The book isn't out yet so I can't do that. Also, don't you want to, like, read it?

I didn't like Normal People and I won't read this one. I'm just watching for your hair which looks lush today!

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

omg thank you so much. I need hair compliments even more than content compliments lol

Bro, why did you paint your eyes red?

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

Because it makes me look even more beautiful 💁🏻‍♀️(also please don't call me bro, hun)

Sally Rooney’s Hate Is the New Normal It is not easy to convince the Snapchat generation to read books. To do so, you must be a gifted writer and know which buttons to press in young people’s hearts. Sally Rooney, a young Irish author, is that kind of writer. Her first two books have won multiple awards and she is widely regarded as one of the most prominent voices of millennials. Rooney is also very opinionated. She is a self-proclaimed Marxist and an avid supporter of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (BDS). In line with her views, she has refused to sell translation rights to Israeli publishers. Because of her notoriety, her decision caused quite a stir. The New York Times stated, “Sally Rooney Declines to Sell Translation Rights to Israeli Publisher.” CNN echoed, “Sally Rooney refuses to sell Hebrew rights for latest book to Israeli publisher, citing political objections,” and other prominent news outlets also reported her decision. In response, Israel's two largest bookstore chains announced that they would pull all of Rooney's titles from their shelves. This also caused a stir, though not as much. The BBC reported it, as did The Guardian and other British news outlets. Naturally, the Jewish press was all over the case, as well. I sympathize with the response of the bookstore chains, just as I was in favor of banning other individuals and brands that boycott Israel. At the same time, I understand why they are doing this, and I am glad that it is causing a stir in Israel. We can look the other way for only so long. At some point, we will have to ask ourselves why the world hates us, and it is better if we do it now than later. We need to use such incidents constructively. By "constructively," I mean that we should use them as an impetus to return to the roots of our nation, to our fundamental principles of mutual responsibility and brotherly love. These are the building blocks of our nation, and these are the qualities that we lost long ago and for which we were exiled from Israel. When we were cast as a nation that was to be “a light unto nations,” we were made to reflect the splendor of love of others to the entire world. Long before we gave the world Albert Einstein and Arthur Rubenstein, we gave it “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Granted, we did not quite manage to make it a reality, but the idea itself was, and still is, so novel, so unlike human nature, that to this day it seems undoable. Still, the world will not leave us in peace until we begin to implement this very legacy we had left to humanity. Indeed, it makes perfect sense to demand that the progenitors of this sublime idea be the first to implement it. The more the world becomes divided and hostile, the more it needs its opposite - love of others. The more people hate each other, the more they will demand that we love each other, and they will hate us for not doing so and setting an example for the world to follow. In the near future, numerous celebrities, pundits, and politicians will declare their disapproval of Israel. They will not justify our existence as a sovereign state unless we justify it by setting an example of unity. Nothing else will satisfy them; nothing else will appease their hatred. For more on this, see my publication The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism..

Do u narrate Audiobooks ? If not u shud.

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

I'm very flattered! And actually it's a dream job of mine. I've just never pursued it.

Self indulgent, respectable middle class porn, Sally knows how to shift books. Her capitalist publishers must be so proud. I take my hat off to her success and her sales patter interviews. This reviewer could do with a testosterone booster though.

@WillowTalksBooks

2 жыл бұрын

omg LOL best comment I've ever had. Thanks, Brian. Pinning this to my fridge.