I can tell I’m going to enjoy this. Raw characters, dry humour and eerie descriptions. We’re introduced in the first chapter to our main character Alice who is on a date with Felix after moving to what we learn is a small town on the coast, presumably in Ireland, after living in a Dublin and New York. Alice is a writer and seems intelligent and a bit mysterious. Classic Sally Rooney writing. I can’t give a full review until I’ve read more than the first chapter but I have a good feeling about it and I can’t wait to read it in full.

Only an extract so impossible to judge its quality or to offer a sensible review on such limited evidence.

This first chapter was so intriguing and left me wanting to read more, I can't wait for the whole book to come out and for me to read it.

(Rating it 3 stars simply because I only have one chapter to go on)

I find it really hard to rate the entire book just by the first chapter, hence only 3 stars. Certainly it was intriguing and I would most likely read the entire novel once it's published. I think it's a really interesting concept, considering the description of the plot and the promise of the new characters being introduced further down the line.

This is just the first chapter which is nice for a taster. Didn't really tell me much about the plot or the characters as they kind of seem like carbon copies of the main characters in Normal People at the moment. I am intrigued enough to want to read the rest of it for sure, but I wasn't hugely blown away.

I am such a big fan of Sally Rooney and this Chapter Extract did not disappoint. Rooney has a way of making her characters extremely like-able and Alice is just another one to add to the list. I am looking forward to the rest of the book. I highly recommend.

Even if this extract is quite short it left me wishing I could read the entire book soon
Love what I read

This definitely makes me want to read more and feels a bad case of cliffhangers and I hate cliffhangers ! But I loved what I’ve read and I need more asap

I really enjoyed the first chapter of this book and I am really looking forward to reading the whole book. I loved the writing style.

I appreciated the opportunity to read the beginning of Sally Rooney's new book Beautiful World, Where Are You. I definitely want to read the whole thing.

This is a tantalizing first chapter from Sally Rooney's upcoming (third) novel. I must admit to not having read Rooney's previous novels. I haven't watched her adaptation of "Normal People" either and so I approached this extract from her new novel as a proverbial blank slate. Admittedly, it is difficult to surmise the themes of the book from the initial scenes: A young couple have a date at a bar in an Irish coastal village. They have evidently never met before and over the evening they get to know some basic details about each other (she's a novelist; he works in a warehouse; she lived in New York, he is a "local"). They end up at their house. Nothing happens. So, a pretty normal, pretty disappointing evening, but described in a way which makes me want to read the rest of the novel;.

What struck me:

* the style - strangely both intimate and detached;
* the characters - not particularly likable (yet) but providing for interesting development
* the dialogue - feels "normal" and authentically reflecting the halting, rather uncomfortable conversation of a man and a woman who are "new" to each other
* a sense of underlying humour.

I don't really believe in star ratings: even when i've read a whole novel, let alone on the basis of one chapter. But given that the chapter intrigued me, I'll go for full 5.

After reading the first chapter, I am hooked as I am with all of Sally’s novels. I think I’m going to love Felix, he seems very mysterious and vague!

The writing style is true to Sally’s previous novels; the lack of speech marks not an issue as I am now familiar with her writing style.

After reading this I am now eager to read the rest of the book; why is Felix so taken aback in his responses? What exactly does Alice write about? Is there a past history?

I am excited to read the rest of the book!

I will read literally anything Sally Rooney puts her name to - she has such a way with character development, dialogue, and sense of place, achieved in such sparse and poetic language. Thank you NetGalley and Faber for the extract and I cannot wait to read the full book!

I loved this first chapter - reading Sally Rooney weave her magic - simple and yet cleverly draw you in.

I cannot give this chapter a ‘book’ star rating. I will have to wait and read the remainder of the book (I did not realise this was just an extract).

This extract was so intriguing I definitely want to read the book. Rooney does characters like no one else.

An engaging dialogue between Alice who’s a writer and Felix who works in a warehouse. Apparently they appear to be on a blind date. Short and sweet chapter.
Thank you to Sally Rooney, NetGalley, and Faber & Faber Limited for this extract.

Reading a few sentences into this extract, I was thinking that I would read anything written by Sally Rooney! The intro describes briefly the encounter between the novelist Alice and the warehouse keeper Felix, and their brief visit to Alice’s estate by the sea. It’s not enough to guess the plots, but seems promising enough to see what would be unraveled in September for us.

The first chapter of this book is beautifully written. It sets a slow, vaguely sad tone ... and feels almost as if a ghostly presence is narrating the interaction between the man and woman. If feels detached, stark, lonely. The lack of quotation marks make the conversations run together as the thought processes tick by from each character. I can't wait to read more of this book!

Received the first chapter of this book from NetGalley and Faber and Faber…difficult to review after just 10 minutes, but I would continue to read it if given the choice. Now that I am introduced to Alice and Felix and the dark, intriguing atmosphere of the book, I would like to know what happens next! 3 stars for now with opportunities to move up or down!

Sally Rooney has this magical way of truly capturing the characters she’s writing about. The raw, real, and often times hurting characters in her books are written so well that you can’t help but be intrigued from page to page as to what they will do next. Alice and Felix are interesting characters even after only one chapter and I want to know what’s going to happen next with the relationship between them. So much was left unsaid, and I truly want to know what’s going to happen next!