Intermezzo…Intermezzo…Intermezzo! What a novel! I was a bit hesitant about starting the book after some divisive feedback online and in-person, but after seeing the hardcover half-off at my hometown Barnes & Noble, I decided to give it a shot. And oh my god….I’m glad I did. 

January almost always has a tinge of melancholy and isolation that breeds the perfect environment for existential dread and cozy hobbies. For me, Intermezzo provided great source material for a month that essentially feels like a Sunday evening. The book follows Ivan and Peter, two brothers navigating the grief of their father’s death. While one brother is an awkward (potentially neurodivergent) chess player in his early 20s, the other is a decade older and a hot-shot lawyer respectively. As the book progresses, each brother finds unexpected growth in unconventional romance while exploring the complexity of their own relationship. 

Having no expectations about the subject matter going into the book, I was delighted by the form of Rooney’s writing. As this was my first book of hers (though I’m definitely a fan of the Normal People series) Rooney seems to practice an almost stream-of-consciousness style that reminds me of some of my favorite books like After Dark and No Longer Human. From the beginning, I was sucked into the characters’ distinct narrative voices’ and worldviews, finding joy in seeing them clash and interact. Though this book is certainly about navigating loss, what I enjoyed most about it was the optimism and realistic tone about family and social roles. For the brothers, their father’s death doesn’t loom but rather pokes both of them into renegotiating their concepts of family, love, and hate. 

Admittedly, part of the fun of reading this was seeing how clearly this could be turned into a script for a mini-series or a longer feature. Rooney’s colorful prose animates the characters as if they were actors performing right next to you. However, overall (obviously lol) I highly enjoyed this book (2/12).