Until the last 50 pages or so i felt this was trundling towards a 2 star review but it did improve towards the end.

A novel written in alternating narratives from its main characters, Eileen and and Alice, interspersed with their email exchanges (who honestly emails their pals like that these days? I thought the content of the emails was an interesting direction but it seemed so unlikely), and some POV from the supporting male characters.

I absolutely believe Sally Rooney is one of the most talented writers around right now, the way she writes interactions between her characters for example, is tremendous. However I absolutely struggle with the toxic relationships and the characterisation. Their interactions are only believable because she writes such terrible people I think? And I guess I just am not that interested in reading about the lives of people I am not interested in or care about. I've read all three books and they all leave me feeling a bit blah at the end, altho as I say, I much preferred the ending to this compared to her previous novels.

I knew before starting this the content would obviously be incredibly difficult, however I didn't expect to feel so compelled to keep turning the pages. Lex (Girl A) was written so well, her journey inched out over the 300 pages I didn't know exactly where the story was going. At some points I felt like my whole body was tense, in the historical parts as well as the journey Lex went on with her siblings. Intense and difficult but definitely worth reading.

CW for child abuse and domestic violence goes without saying.