Intermezzo
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney is one of 2026's most credible books, appearing on 2 of the year's most respected lists, including The Economist, The Guardian, for a Consensus Score of 28 out of 100.
Appears on these lists
Our take
AI-draftedRooney widens her aperture here, following two grieving brothers navigating chess, sex, and unresolved rivalry after their father's death rather than the single-couple focus of her earlier novels. The prose loosens too, moving into a more fragmented, stream-of-consciousness register for one brother's sections that some readers found mannered and others found the most formally ambitious writing she's produced.
In the press
“Intermezzo wears its heart on its sleeve”
Dwight Garner, The New York Times
How the Consensus Score is calculated
Our Consensus Score is our own transparent editorial metric — not a user rating. It weighs each list by the credibility of its source, how recent the listing is, and any award status. Here is the full breakdown.
| Source | Authority | Recency | Award | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Economist | 0.95 | 0.70 | 1.00× | 0.67 |
| The Guardian | 0.85 | 0.70 | 1.00× | 0.59 |
| Weighted sum → Score | 1.26 → 28 | |||
Similar consensus books
Because they appear on some of the same lists.
Frequently asked
What lists is Intermezzo on?
Intermezzo appears on 2 lists in our 2026 corpus, including The Economist, The Guardian.
What is its Consensus Score?
Intermezzo has a Consensus Score of 28 out of 100, our transparent editorial measure of how many credible lists agree on it.