Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Normal People

Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Normal People by Sally Rooney

1427 reviews

katelynhartley's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Given the nature of the material to discover the complexities of maintaining an identity intrinsic to personal beliefs and/or combating those assigned by others in themes such as multidimensional areas of development, I believe that this book was significantly over recommended for the experience I had with it. The story was compelling through the various timelines that exclusively occur in significant moments with flashbacks of contextual points to reach these periods, except there were no quotation marks between dialogue and the communication among these characters was misleading.

The story established how well that Marianne and Connell are completely honest with each other in their communication yet there are constant misunderstandings, half truths, omissions, and insecurities that wreck their foundation and essentially reset their progress every time. They were an unofficial exclusive couple three times in their lives with verbal understanding that they love each other. Every time they broke up it wasn’t established by communication but just a simple negligence to communication.

Character personalities, social personas, and thoughts are fully realized to resemble real life, both the good and horrible sides to humanity. This concept salvaged the reading experience yet the self depreciation did add to the already demoralized circumstances, thoughts, and subsequent actions.

Marianne seeking trauma reenactment through sex fetishes and Connell’s deep depression stemming from Rob’s suicide were both unexpected and felt unnecessary. The narrative already established who is considered “normal” members of society through gender, relationships, and socioeconomic status and didn’t need to further identify that Marianne and Cornell were not, even though no one is

I did enjoy both perspectives and the longevity of how their lives are. The ending, being the last chapter, made me happy and then furious at the outcome because it showed little to no growth and left things unsaid. With that said though, I feel it was the best way to conclude the story for these character rather than

a happy ending filled with commitment to each other with labels or marriage

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karalyndawn's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Although the tv series was better for me personally I do have to say this book wreaked me. I hated Connell at first but by the last half I felt for him. The miscommunication in this book is REAL. It drove me insane. In a slightly good way. Marianne and Connell do have a messed up relationship but they were both lonely and helped each other out so it’s hard for me to determine if they should have ended up together. It was interesting to see their relationship through the few years the book takes place and the ending doesn’t give any closure. I do recommend watching the series, the actors do a great job at conveying more emotion than the book.

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dhatislandbookworm's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I finally decided to read Normal People because I was intrigued by the plot of Intermezzo and I wanted to get a feel for Rooney’s writing. A few friends have also been anxiously waiting for me to dive into it.

Now that I have, I can confidently say that I feel very indifferent about this book.

I didn’t particularly like the characters, but I didn’t hate them either. I didn’t like their relationship, but I didn’t absolutely hate it either. (I did hate the constant miscommunication, even though that was sort of the main point. Sorry.)

Everything about Normal People was just *fine*. The first 75% of the book for me was the definition of “yes girl, give us nothing!”

Rooney DOES write very human characters, which I usually enjoy, so maybe it’s just this particular book. But I will be reading Intermezzoto fully determine if maybe if it was just the book or Sally Rooney just isn’t for me 🤷🏾‍♀️

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terrortwilight's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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hannahp181's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I really struggled to get into this book, to the point of almost giving up. The lack of speech marks made it really difficult to read at first but once I got into the style and started to bond with the characters, I got quite into the reflective style of the narrative. It was very melancholy, probably not one to read if you're looking to be cheered up, but very reflective and quite beautifully written in its own way.

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jovanh's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Supremely dissatisfying. Character driven story in which I can't tell if the characters grow or not. They're messily realistic, so I guess there's that.

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komiification's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Completely devastating how people can love each other so much yet can continue to hurt each other. Can never really talk to each other. Alongside this theme, as well as other points relating to genocide (which is still, upsettingly, relevant to today), and the way people now engage with literature without this political edge, this is, easily a modern classic.

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mooncraftbujo's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Do not get the hype at all. I like the reflection on toxic relationships but there is not a single character in this story that I liked or felt an emotional connection to, and I fully got the ick from none if the dialogue being in quotation marks.

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sopheyy's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

lisamcc9's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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