[4] The work tells the story of Alice Kelleher, an Irish novelist, and her best friend Eileen Lydon, an editor at a literary magazine.

[3][5] In The Guardian, Anthony Cummins describes the novel's structure as a "love quadrangle" between Kelleher and Brady, on the one hand; and Lydon and Costigan, on the other.

[1] In anticipation of its release, Rooney's American publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux distributed branded merchandise, including bucket hats and tote bags, to influencers.

[4] The book received mixed reviews from Columbia Journal,[44] Air Mail,[45] Brooklyn Mail, The New Republic,[46] the Los Angeles Times,[47] The Wall Street Journal,[48] Star Tribune,[49] Entertainment Weekly,[50] The Economist,[51] New Statesman,[52] The Observer, The Independent,[53] The Nation,[54] Vulture,[55] and The i.

Brandon Taylor described Beautiful World as Rooney's "best novel yet" in a review for The New York Times, while expressing some concern that the novel lacks substantive political or moral critique.