Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Normalūs žmonės

Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Normalūs žmonės by Sally Rooney

175 reviews

smkelly1997's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

I was anticipating good things from this book but was often left confused and wanting more.

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panikos's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

This is the sort of book that should have irritated me, because I'm not the biggest fan of melancholy romances, especially those that are riddled with miscommunication. There's a touch of pretentiousness to this story, but despite that I still found myself engrossed and quite touched by it. The writing is very simple and readable, but there's a great deal going on under the surface with regards to how the characters are portrayed. And the characters are what make this book so good. Marianne and Connell are both painstakingly drawn and believable, both damaged and quite strange, but strange in the way that all human beings are strange. I like the duality that the book manages to capture. The book is called Normal People, and it is about odd people who wish they were less odd. But that craving to seem 'normal' is very classically human - to want to be normal is probably the most ordinary experience there is.

I don't really have much else to say about it. I can see why some people would think the book was overrated, but I can also see why so many readers rave about it. It fell somewhere in the middle for me. I liked it a lot, but I don't think it's special enough that it will stay with me. But I'm glad I read it to see what all the fuss was about.

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shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition

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challenging emotional medium-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? Yes

2.75

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alicesloan's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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jja_b's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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

Ok, while I don’t deny that Rooney is a very talented writer, I think this might have been a mismatch between me and her. I didn’t really know what to expect when going into it, but I probably should have guessed by the title that this would be a “normal” story. I don’t mean that in a critical way, and I’m not implying that it’s uninspired. “Normal” was obviously what Rooney was going for. I could look at a group of people I know and find a similar tale, This just wasn’t for me.

Don’t get me wrong. I did enjoy the book at times. I found Connell quite a compelling character and I think the book can be described as a page-turner, but most of the characters were unlikeable and the miscommunication between Connell and Marianne just became too frustrating.

The ending infuriated me. I get the point, but it was still infuriating.

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mxbluet18's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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

I don't know where to start with this book quite honestly. The characters are interesting, not necessarily good or bad, just somewhat unusual. And I found the timings hard to follow, but maybe that's just me. I liked the whole idea of the small town where everyone kinda knows everyone else and their business. But I didn't like how people could treat Marianne so much like an outcast just for being a little different than the social norm.
~
The book did a pretty good job of showing the problematic side of the relationship between Connell and Marianne, and how she would forgive him for anything and still go back even when she shouldn't. And it's good for books and media to show those relationships, and how harmful they are as opposed to just showing the happy and positive, healthy relationships because the other type sadly also exists and in seeing it portrayed. It may help some people to recognise it themselves because of that.
~
I don't quite know what to say about this one. I liked the way the characters were written, but not all of their actions. I like the way Marianne was described at the beginning of the book, but not her later actions and the way her relationship with Connell progressed. I know this isn't one of my more well written reviews, but I honestly don't know how to put my feelings and thoughts on this book into a comprehensive review.

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