I've read all of Sally Rooney's novels and I've enjoyed all of them. Yes her characters are pretentious and can be unlikeable but I still found them to be realistic esoecially Rooney's descriptions of feelings/emotions.

There's a particular scene in Conversations with Friends where the protagonist is on stage and she senses the love interest in the crowd and describes the effort it takes not to look at him - this is me when I have a crush!

I'm also Irish and living in Dublin so being familiar with the places described also adds to my enjoyment.