RaveiNews (UK)Towering ... Her prose has always been sparse but in Peter’s chapters it is so plucked to the bone she forgoes words entirely ... Philosophical ... While this is undoubtedly Rooney’s darkest novel to date, there is also lightness to hold on to ... a book to be read slowly. Do so, and it is worth the effort. Mature and profound, Intermezzo feels like a culmination of everything she has done before.
Ferdia Lennon
RaveiNews (UK)\"Lennon conjures the atmosphere of ancient Syracuse, where the action takes place, with terrific imagery ... Lennon, who was raised in Dublin by an Irish mother and Libyan father, has made the ingenious choice of having the novel narrated by Lampo in a contemporary Irish vernacular.
It sounds daft – as though it would jar too much against the setting – and it could certainly annoy period fiction purists. But the way in which Lampo says \'aye\' and \'man\' and \'poor bastards\' breathes life and humor into what can sometimes otherwise be a stuffy form bogged down with accuracy ... a novel to be gulped down in the same way as Lampo giddily does his jugs of wine.\
Madeleine Gray
RaveiNews (UK)Extremely funny ... There is only one real issue with this book, I think, and that is that it is so droll, bawdy, sexy, hilarious and good fun, everything you read thereafter seems dull in comparison.
R. F. Kuang
RaveiNews (UK)A blisteringly good satire of privilege in the publishing world, and the envy and feverish competition at the heart of the industry ... While she lays bare June’s horrendous levels of blind white privilege, she also brings in plenty of nuance, treading into grey areas when we later discover that Athena isn’t beyond reproach herself ... A smart novel ... Also very entertaining ... A firecracker of a book.
