Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo is getting the same treatment the Normal People book review world gave her second novel, except this time the divide is louder.
It hit shelves in September 2024 and immediately split readers into two camps. Some call it her best work yet. Others aren’t so sure.
I read it cover to cover and came out somewhere in the middle, which is honestly the most interesting place to be.
By the end of this, you’ll know exactly what the book is, who it’s for, and whether it deserves a spot on your reading list.
Let’s start with the title itself, because it tells you more than you’d expect.
What Does “Intermezzo” Actually Mean?
The title isn’t just a pretty word. It’s a signal of how the whole book works.
Why a Chess Term Is the Perfect Name for This Story
In chess, an intermezzo is an in-between move.
Instead of responding to your opponent the way they expect, you make an unexpected intermediate move first, one that forces an immediate reaction. It disrupts the planned sequence entirely.
Rooney uses this as the structural logic of the novel. Both brothers make unexpected moves in the middle of their grief. Neither responds to loss the way anyone around them anticipates.
How the Title Shapes the Way You Read the Novel
Knowing this upfront changes how you read every decision the characters make.
Their choices stop looking impulsive and start looking like chess moves, calculated disruptions in the middle of something larger. It reframes the whole book.
What Is Intermezzo About?
This is a novel about two brothers and the very different ways grief breaks a person open.
The Death That Sets Everything in Motion
One loss triggers everything. The brothers don’t respond to it the same way, and that gap between them is where the entire story lives.
Peter’s Story: Grief in a Suit and Tie
Peter is a Dublin lawyer in his thirties who looks like he has it together. He doesn’t. His personal life is complicated in ways grief only makes worse.
That tension between his surface and his reality carries most of his chapters.
Ivan’s Story: Grief at a Chessboard
Ivan is twenty-two and a competitive chess player. Where Peter keeps things internal, Ivan is more open, sometimes uncomfortably so.
He ends up in a relationship nobody around him expected, including him.
Meet the Characters
Rooney gives you five people to care about and enough space to actually do it.
Peter Koubek: The Older Brother Holding It Together (Barely)
Peter is the kind of person who looks fine at dinner and falls apart at 2am. His grief is internal, almost invisible.
He functions so well that no one thinks to check on him. That gap between his surface and his interior is where most of his story lives.
Ivan Koubek: The Loner Who Surprises Everyone Including Himself
Ivan is the more openly vulnerable of the two.
He says what he thinks, sometimes too directly, and struggles in social situations in ways that have led many readers to read him as neurodivergent, though Rooney never labels him.
His relationship with Margaret is the emotional core of the book.
Sylvia, Naomi, and Margaret: The Women the Brothers Orbit
These aren’t supporting characters in the background. Each woman has her own interior life and her own grief.
Sylvia carries a physical limitation that shapes her entire relationship with Peter.
Naomi uses humor as a wall.
Margaret is quietly rebuilding after a difficult past. Rooney gives all three real weight.
The Themes Rooney Is Really Writing About
The plot is the surface. The themes are where the book actually lives.
Two Brothers, One Loss, Zero Agreement
Two brothers, one loss, completely opposite responses:
- Peter suppresses. He keeps functioning, keeps performing competence, and lets the grief sit quietly underneath everything
- Ivan expresses. He leads with it, sometimes too openly, in ways that make people around him uncomfortable
- Rooney isn’t saying one approach is right. She’s asking you to sit with both and draw your own conclusion
Age Gaps, Power, and No Easy Answers
Both relationships in this novel cross a significant age gap.
Rooney doesn’t make it simple:
- She doesn’t frame either relationship as clearly wrong or clearly fine
- She’s interested in what each person needs, what they take, and what they give up
- The power dynamic shifts depending on whose chapter you’re reading, which is the point
Brothers by Name, Strangers by Choice
Peter and Ivan grew up in the same house but arrived at adulthood as near strangers:
- Different personalities, different social worlds, different ways of moving through life
- Their father’s death forces them into proximity they never chose
- Rooney is writing about how family can feel like the closest and most distant thing at the same time
Sally Rooney’s Writing Style: What to Expect
If you haven’t read Rooney before, her style takes about thirty pages to settle into.
The pacing: Slow and deliberate. This isn’t a page-turner. It’s a sit-with-it book.
The dialogue: No quotation marks. Trips you up at first, then you stop noticing.
The narration: You’re inside their heads, not watching from a distance.
The big difference from her earlier work: Both protagonists are male. All her previous novels centred on women. It’s a real shift and it mostly lands.
How Intermezzo Compares to Rooney’s Other Novels
If you’ve read her before, this is probably the question you actually came here for.
Normal People vs Intermezzo
| Normal People | Intermezzo | |
| Pace | Fast, urgent | Slow, deliberate |
| Focus | One central relationship | Five characters, two storylines |
| Emotion | Immediate, raw | Layered, gradual |
| Perspective | Female lead | Dual male perspective |
| Best for | First-time Rooney readers | Readers ready for more complexity |
Is This Her Best Book Yet? An Honest Take
Critics say: Yes. The ambition here is bigger than anything she has attempted before.
Some readers say: No. It lacks the emotional urgency that made Normal People impossible to put down.
My read: It’s her most structurally interesting novel. Not always her most affecting one. Whether that makes it her best depends entirely on what you want from her.
Awards, Cultural Buzz and Reader Reception
The reception for Intermezzo Sally Rooney has been loud, mostly positive, and occasionally heated.
NYT Bestseller, Obama’s List, and the Critical Acclaim
Debuted: Instant New York Times bestseller
Shortlisted: An Post Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year
Longlisted: Dublin Literary Award
Named a best book of 2024 by: The Washington Post, Time, Vogue, and The Guardian
Obama’s verdict: One of his favorite books of 2024
What Readers on Goodreads and Reddit Are Saying
The public verdict is more mixed than the critical one:
- Goodreads:3.8 out of 5 from over 400,000 ratings
- Reddit readers are split, some call it her most mature work, others find Ivan’s dialogue too on the nose
- The biggest ongoing discussion is whether Ivan is written as neurodivergent, Rooney never confirms it, but readers are paying attention
The Fan-Casting Debate and What It Tells Us About the Book’s Appeal
- Reddit’s Sally Rooney community is actively fan-casting a film adaptation
- Saoirse Ronan is among the names being discussed
- When readers start thinking about casting, the characters have already done their job
Is Intermezzo Worth Reading? Our Verdict
Here’s the straight answer.
Read It If
- You liked Normal People but want something slower and more reflective
- You’re interested in how grief changes people differently
- You’re willing to sit with ambiguity and don’t need a tidy resolution
- You want literary fiction that takes its characters seriously
Skip It If
- You need plot momentum to stay engaged
- You found Rooney’s style cold or distant in earlier books, it’s more of the same here
- You’re looking for a light or fast read
Wrapping Up
Intermezzo Sally Rooney isn’t a perfect novel, but it’s an honest and ambitious one. It asks real questions about grief, love, and the distance between people who should be close.
If you go in knowing what it is, a slow, character-driven literary novel with a lot on its mind, you’ll likely get a lot out of it.
If you’ve already read it and want to keep the conversation going, drop your take in the comments. I’d genuinely like to know which side of the divide you landed on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Intermezzo a Spicy Book?
It has intimate scenes but they serve the story rather than drive it. It’s not a romance novel. The tone is literary, not spicy.
Which Is Considered Sally Rooney’s Best Book?
Most readers point to Normal People as her most emotionally immediate work. Intermezzo is considered her most ambitious, but opinions are genuinely split.
Do I Need to Read Sally Rooney’s Other Books Before Intermezzo?
No. It stands completely on its own. No prior knowledge of her other novels is needed to follow or enjoy this one.
Is There an Audiobook Version of Intermezzo?
Yes. The audiobook is available on Audible and other major platforms and was named one of Audible’s best of the year for 2024.
