Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Persone normali

"Todos esses anos eles foram como duas plantinhas, dividindo o mesmo pedaço de terra, crescendo um ao redor do outro, se contorcendo pra criar espaço, tomando certas atitudes improváveis."

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ida's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-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

I'm not sure what I expected of this book, but I certainly didn't get it. I think I had the idea, that it would be a love story at it's core, one where we would check in every few years or so, like 'One Day' by David Nicholls (which I loved).

But this is so bleak. Pretty much every relationship, be it romantic or platonic is toxic in some way or other, and there is just nothing to brighten the story, there is no joy.

I didn't really feel like I got to know the characters, despite actually knowing pretty much everything about them. Or maybe it's because there's next to no character development, I truly feel their lives (and the book) would continue with this push/pull relationship, where honestly it just makes me tired.

It's a short-ish book, 264 pages and it has taken me 11 days to read... I don't know what it is, but the other night, I only had the last 26 pages to go AND I DIDN'T FINISH IT! It was just so bleak and I don't know if that's why it's been hailed as this amazing novel, but it just didn't do it for me.

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kaireading's review against another edition

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funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

Such a lovely and thought-provoking book. Rooney’s writing style is beautiful: clear, bold and just shocking at times (as if, no one ever says that because it sounds so weird but the book somehow makes it sound quite mundane) but at the same time nonchalant. It flows so beautifully and it’s easy and satisfying to read. The characters in the book are very realistic and relatable, they are not idolized in any way, they just… exist. Sally describes them in a neutral way so that she encourages the readers to develop their own opinions. The book touches on many real-life topics and is overall a very pleasant and comforting read, because the heavier topics are presented in an easily digestible way.

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annoyedhumanoid'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? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

ugghhh. i went into this really wanting to like it, but it was just not for me. that's partly my fault. i had decided to take a hiatus from reading The Song of Achilles because i knew it had a tragic ending and i'm not in the best mental state rn and wanted something uplifting, when i discovered both the ebook and audiobook of Normal People immediately available to borrow on Libby. don't know what i was thinking to not check the moods and content warnings if i wanted something lighthearted—that's literally what storygraph is for, totally on me.
in a word, this book was upsetting. i've heard someone (specifically, booktuber emmie) describe reading The Goldfinch (haven't read it myself) as having a kind of second-hand depression effect, and i understand it now because Normal People had this very effect of me. three particularly disturbing scenes come to mind:

Connell's former economics teacher attempting to sexually assault him, Marianne's entire relationship with Lukas, and the otherwise-nondescript scene ~88% through when Connell and Marianne have sex for the first time since their first year in college

. this latter scene was the worst of the bunch for me because they both felt so hollow—not in their characterization, Sally Rooney could never, but in their mental states. it's like they're both desperately grasping at something to give them a sense of fulfillment, but their desperation is so painfully undisguised that i found it genuinely depressing. from the very beginning there's a vague sense that the two will end up together in the end, so for it to amount to (at the time) this bleak scene makes their love seem more like inevitability, futility, rather than destiny. the ending doesn't do much to dispel this pervasive hopelessness. of course, this isn't an inherent downfall of the book, Sally Rooney is allowed to write a modern tragedy, it just very much wasn't for me, unfortunately.
with that main point out of the way, it was objectively well-written with lovely prose. i really liked its pacing, jumping forward in time but catching readers up with flashbacks. its general concept reminded me of The Namesake, following a character or characters across years of their life and focusing mainly on romantic relationships, and i prefer Normal People's execution over The Namesake's. 2⅜ stars

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beauvisseau's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-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

This book blew me away, the complex characters, the underlying currents of socio-economic inequality, the exploration of all types of relationships and the personal thoughts of realistic characters that are easy to relate to. The writing is phenomenal, simplistic but so eerily thought-provoking that I feel as if I see the world differently now. It made me question my own experiences and brought me insights that made me feel seen. I've never read anything like it, and I would recommend it wholeheartedly.

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jessidaisy's review against another edition

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emotional 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

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