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eliya'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
5.0
The chapters are written not like a story, but like a painful memory that the author is recounting for us as we try to understand what went wrong, where. This felt so real to me.
Listening to the audiobook was a treat, the vocal performance was as stunning and empathetic. I plan on obtaining a copy of this book for myself and rereading it in a few years, just long enough so that I can forget enough of it to love it a second time. I loved this book.
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Fatphobia, Suicide, and War
elizabethww's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
heresyourletter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Gaslighting
Minor: Infidelity, Suicide, Vomit, and Abortion
Characters smoke cigarettes throughout the book. The two main characters have sex frequently (but the descriptions aren’t super graphic). Throughout the book, the main characters hurt each other emotionally by making big decisions that affect their relationship, without communicating with the other person. Both main character experience bullying at different points in the book. Class conflict throughout the book, as one main character is wealthy and the other is working class. One character argues that a woman (who doesn’t actually appear in the story) should have an abortion because she doesn’t have a job and isn’t in a relationship with the father. One character drinks until they vomit.taylorswiftobsessed'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
3.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
saramassoudi'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
2.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
chapterfern's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Normal People is a novel about Marianne and Connell; who they are, what that makes of them, how they cope, their familiarity with each other, and ultimately, how they grow – alone, apart, and together.
Everyone wants to be a normal person. But a normal person is flawed, imperfect, and makes mistakes. In that sense, Marianne and Connell — even though they consider themselves faulty human beings, — are normal people.
I found the dialogue in this book realistic. In their conversations, sometimes messages to and from one another are conveyed or interpreted poorly, and others the characters leave unsaid. And yes, it is frustrated to be the third-party as a reader and know what's wrong, and you want to go through the page so bad and help them, but we are left to sit there and watch them figure it out on their own. Many a time while reading this book I physically wanted to scream from their stupidity, but I am guilty all the same.
The book not only lends us conversations between the two leads, but also has one with the reader; about class, about connection, about imposter syndrome, about abuse, about mental health, and about loss.
Even without or maybe as a result of not having quotation marks, the feeling of being inside the character's head shines throughout the book. I would read passages and get snapped back into the conversation ongoing, which really made me feel like I was with the character in that exact moment, thinking the same things and living the same experiences.
Overall, this book crushed me. I think I need to lie down.
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
sammyemma'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
4.5
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Suicide
blackaliss's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Suicide
Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
c_rh'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
3.0
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Eating disorder and Suicide
bilkins'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
4.0
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Suicide