Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Normal People by Sally Rooney

74 reviews

remusritch's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

Miscommunication is overdone as a rule but it was done well here, this book felt authentic and beautiful. It could have been more fleshed out, sure, but also it's length didn't detract from the experience of reading this book. 

However, I do feel it was a little overhyped. It deserves the hype, but it's also a little pretentious (which I enjoyed, but some won't lol)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Biphobia and Racism

ireneb2006's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Rape, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Death of parent

iamsherlocked's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense slow-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

3.0

Objectively, a much better outing than her debut, conversations with friends- and a much more engaging read overall too(not that that’s saying much, but still)

Gets a lil monotonous at times and has a horrible start but it does raise quite a few relevant points and fascinating observations abo it bullying, university life, depression etc like-

“Not for the first time Marianne thinks cruelty does not only hurt the victim, but the perpetrator also, and maybe more deeply and more permanently. You learn nothing very profound about yourself simply by being bullied; but by bullying someone else you learn something you can never forget.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Bullying, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Toxic relationship

Minor: Racism

shavaunmac's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Sexism, Grief, Racism, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Classism, and Death of parent

marisa_n's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Classism, Bullying, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Self harm, Grief, and Eating disorder

Minor: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Gore, Misogyny, and Racism

gabrielleclarke05's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad 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

5.0

“I’m not a religious person but I do sometimes think God made you for me”. Crying and throwing up

I related to Connell too much 👩🏻‍🦯👩🏻‍🦯.I don’t have one negative thing to say about this book, obviously there’s the whole quotation dialogue thing but I didn’t mind it after the first bit. I love Connell so much. The story is just a deep character study on how relationships are affected through simple communications and the drastic changes it can cause in life. The title is literally the plot like it is just about normal people doing everyday things with a lack of communication due to trauma and how things can end up

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Mental illness, Blood, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault

yeri's review against another edition

slow-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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Sexual assault

Minor: Racism

paperbagarsh's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

3.0

The book is okay, the characters are nice but i found it lacked a plot and it just seemed kind of empty, its like watching someone discuss their feelings on social media. There are many trigger warnings to this book as well.
<spoilers> 
I  like how marieanne was opinionated but it’s weird that she let so much pass in her partners. Its crazy to see her home life also have a direct impact on her love life. I also didn’t like the miscommunication trope that was slightly in there but i guess it speaks to different perspectives and how important communication is , i also wish we would know about where the characters are after the ending at some point. 

No disrespect to the author, I liked the dual perspectives, the importance of social circles, and just the writing (although no quotes made is slightly annoying, but they’re such a good writer that you didn’t necessarily need them to know what is speech). However, i just felt there a lack of a plot but in a way, its just the characters themselves, so I’m conflicted. This book is definitely a page turner, i was procrastinating simply things so i could continue reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Body shaming, Child abuse, Suicide, Sexual assault, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence

annoyedhumanoid's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Violence, Alcohol, Infidelity, Abortion, Body shaming, Death, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Vomit, Self harm, Addiction, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, War, Drug use, Racism, and Toxic friendship

akflks's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Bullying, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Racism