Reviews

Normalūs žmonės by Sally Rooney

noelle7pages's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

2.0

sarah_dietrich's review against another edition

3.75

This is good, but I don't think it deserves the praise people heap upon it.

sashaj12's review against another edition

4.0

This book has left me feeling weird. Like whilst reading this, I had such an intense, strange feeling that settled in my stomach. I'm not sure what it was. But the writing in this book was phenomenal. It did take a while to get used to, but once you get over it, the books really flies. I enjoyed the unconventional, messed up characters within the novel. Most of the time I just wanted to shout at them to be honest with one another and stop skating over things. But Rooney really did capture the essence of how people really think, feel and act in modern day relationships. There is just something about the way she writes - she describes such mundane things with such powerful prose and really captures exactly what it means to just be a simple person in this extraordinary world.

I didn't enjoy how Marianne allowed Connell to have so much power of her and by the end he knew he had the power to control her, body and mind. But I guess that just adds to the part of this being a book about ordinary people with ordinary lives.

Overall, I have never read a novel quite like this which gave me such an unsettling feeling. But, not in a bad way. A good way. So I definitely would recommend to others.

Normal people - 4 ⭐️

brittneyg17's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

val_reads's review against another edition

medium-paced

meghansometimesreads's review against another edition

3.0

Sooo this rating is subject to change but I did enjoy this book. I saw a review that said this was John Green for adults and that made me giggle because it felt true.

To be honest…the ending definitely left me shocked and just stuck

reading_racc00n's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

jfaberrit's review against another edition

2.0

For all the positive buzz and controversy surrounding Sally Rooney, this book was.... bizarrely disappointing? The main characters are supposed to be brilliant, but remain largely monosyllabic throughout, unable to take any ownership at times for their choices. Meh.

illiteratebrownbear's review against another edition

4.0

I'm a little speechless, it's difficult to put into words the emotions this book conveys. Sally Rooney captures a part of our lives left ignored in plain sight so well it's left me relating to Marianne & Connell in ways I wasn't expecting.

rainbowmarta's review against another edition

5.0

At this point I have read every single Sally Rooney novel and no other has stuck with me for so long. Maybe it was because of it's simple yet beautiful writing or the way these complex characters can be so unlikable sometimes but yet so relatable or maybe it was the right book at the right time.
I don't know why Connell and Marianne have been on my mind for months, but I thank Rooney for that.