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komiification's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Suicide
Moderate: Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Abortion, Classism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Genocide, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, and War
mooncraftbujo's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Xenophobia, Violence, War, Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
mugsandmanuscripts's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
A short summary: this is a dual POV story that follows the relationship and growth of the two main characters, Marianne and Connell. Connell struggles with anxiety and depression. Marianne comes from an abusive home and is bullied at school, but finds more popularity in college, where she begins a lot of self-destructive behaviors. Both suffer from self-esteem issues and terrible communication with each other. Those issues repeatedly push them apart, but they continue to orbit each other and fall into one another's gravity.
I think I would have liked the novel slightly better if it had focused on one of the characters rather than both, but then miscommunication was so awful between the characters that perhaps the second character wouldn't have been translatable without the second POV. But there was so much going on with both of them—Marianne's spiral features relationships with sadistic men, an eating disorder, and terrible friends. Connell struggles with intense social anxiety. They are only ever comfortable with each other, and yet they are inscrutable to one another.
Ultimately, I think this is a story that holds both despair and hope and was so believable that it hurt. The characters really did feel real. I liked it, but it's not one I'd read again.
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Bullying and Alcohol
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
hannahreadsawholelot's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Self harm
eedle_cacleberry's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Violence, and Bullying
Minor: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
mockingjayx16's review against another edition
- 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
0.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual violence, Eating disorder, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Infidelity, Dysphoria, Sexual assault, Body shaming, and Physical abuse
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, and Gaslighting
abidoodle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Honestly I took it in more as a social commentary on those things than as the story itself, and I found those inner-dialogues and how we got to see them interact with each other in ways that characters didn’t really fascinating. As a work of literature that is moving and deep and thoughtful, it’s wonderful. I personally didn’t really get into the story itself much, and found it difficult to get through at times, if I wasn’t reading a lot at a time. Also I personally just really struggle with the no-quotations style, although that is just a personal preference. Overall it’s an impactful read and I would recommend.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Suicide
readay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Suicide, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts
katelyn_stark's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Classism, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Toxic friendship, Bullying, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, Infidelity, and Death of parent
sydneythekydneybean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
People hate uncomfortability. I'll admit that I hate it. I turn my back on anything I know will make me overly sad, but I also recognize that that mindset will only keep me stagnant. Connell is uncomfortable at the idea of other people knowing about him and Marianne. Marianne is uncomfortable about Connell seeing all the bad parts she's hiding from him. But because of this, they make no progress. They stay stagnant in their uncomfortable relationship and only when they begin to leave their comfort zones do they truly grow. Honestly, the ending of Normal People is the most beautiful part of the whole book, if only for the fact that it is dripping in hope.
(before we finish up, may i present a mini rant. although i loved this book, i cannot, in good faith, give it five-stars solely based on how the dialogue is written. nothing feels more pretentious then writing dialogue in any way that's not with traditional quotation marks. you're not making it artsy, you're making it harder for me to read and decipher what is speech and what is action. anyway, i just needed to get that off my chest.)
Normal People crawled into my skin and made a home there, and I do not believe it will be leaving any time soon. I feel like there are any number of reasons I could have hated this book, but I didn’t. I actually kinda loved it. It's weird, it's awkward, it's depressing, but you might find yourself in the pages of that book and it might have you look back on every decision you've ever made for the sake of being comfortable.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Racism