Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Normale mensen by Sally Rooney

57 reviews

heresyourletter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• 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

I liked the pacing of the book and had a hard time putting it down. That being said, the writing style wasn’t my favourite. There were also a lot of political views that were thrown in for no reason (not related to plot or character development), in a holier-than-thou, preaching sort of way (which even as a progressive, can be annoying).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual content, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Addiction, and Bullying

Minor: Vomit, Abortion, Infidelity, and Suicide

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.

When the two main characters first get together, one is embarrassed to be seen in public with the other, so they keep their relationship a secret. One main character is verbally (and occasionally physically) abused by their family, then gaslighted by their family members whenever the abuse happens. This culminates in the main character’s nose being broken after trying to escape from a family member. The scene is intense and the injury is rather graphic. One main character experiences rural discrimination upon moving from a small town in Sligo to Dublin for university. The female main character is a masochist, getting into relationships with men who physically and emotionally abuse her. One main character is diagnosed with depression and put on medication. One main character is mugged. There is a brief description of the injury. Two characters share a bed and almost have sex, despite being in relationships with other people. One minor character dies by suicide.

eriin_reed's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.5

I suppose it was an easy read, I read it at the airport and during my flight and finished it right as my flight was wrapping up. However, I was under the impression that this was a widely loved book and... I am not exactly sure how that is true. I suppose if reading books

about women who keep ending up in abusive relationships

is your cup of tea, then sure, this might be a good book for you. I, however, don't appreciate the this kind of story trope, so I probably would not read this book again, and I probably actually would not recommend it to anyone.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Death

anenome's review against another edition

informative tense slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Classism, Mental illness, and Emotional abuse

phantomeyer's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.0

The public’s opinion on this book is divided, and so too is mine. 

Perhaps easiest to first discuss is the writing style. While you could argue that the lack of punctuated dialogue contributed to the impression that each scene wasn’t so much a distinct event as a one of many moments in time, it seemed a lazy method to achieve this goal. Punctuate the sentences properly, and it would have been more obvious just how mundane some of the descriptions were. Not that mundane is necessarily bad, but it doesn’t sit well with me that this stylistic choice could be sufficient to turn mediocre writing into “good” writing. I will admit, however, Rooney does make good word choices, which at times lead to rather evocative passages. 

Next, the characters. I’ve seen complaints that the secondary characters aren’t fleshed out, but honestly I couldn’t care less. This book is about two people, and it makes sense to me that others seem unimportant in comparison. But let’s talk about these two characters. I don’t think they are unrealistic, but their arc felt rushed or disjointed at various points. Marianne all of a sudden fits in at college despite an incredibly isolating youth? Connell is intensely discomforted at the idea of dominating through violence, but gives away his former misgivings about psychological dominance without any reflection shared with the reader? It felt like Rooney was missing opportunities to explore interesting themes that would have added more depth to the book. Furthermore, skips such as these meant I was unable to maintain empathy consistently throughout the novel, and Marianne and Connell are not easy people to read about to begin with. You can’t afford to lose a reader’s empathy when your main characters’ struggles (to communicate, to make good decisions for themselves) become irritating without it. 

This leads me to my thoughts about the plot. As a general rule, I enjoy character-driven plot, but I was tired of the constant back and forth by the end. A correction: I was tired of it a quarter of the way in. Their relationship felt largely repetitive, and the change in dynamic in the final act was not explored enough. If I had cared more about the characters, the ending might have been poignant, but as it was, I was just happy to be free of joyless characters and a book that had not quite reached its potential.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Suicide, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, and Misogyny

Minor: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Self harm

earofthedog's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism

Moderate: Sexual content and Infidelity

vanesst's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Classism

Minor: Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Death of parent

haleybspiegel's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, and Infidelity

Minor: Death of parent

luxxltyd's review against another edition

emotional reflective relaxing fast-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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent and Infidelity

weirdf1shy's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This book will stay with me. As soon as I started it I was wrapped into the story. The synopsis sounded to me like the average story of two young people and their drama but it is so much more than that. This story is beautiful and Sally Rooney told it in such a descriptive and raw way. I look forward to reading more from her.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicide, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Grief, Pedophilia, Bullying, Cursing, and Mental illness

Minor: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Infidelity

lindseylosers's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Blood, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Abandonment, Sexual content, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Death, Bullying, Drug use, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Eating disorder, Death of parent, and Abortion