A review by kaelene
Normal People by Sally Rooney

challenging dark 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

4.25

i actually really liked this book. it’s the fastest i have read a book and i found it freakishly similar to my own life. that made it really hard to read at times but it definitely provoked a lot of reflection and realizations for me, and i thought the issues that it incited were actually really interesting to consider. i journaled a decent amount bc of and about it! i definitely want to read it again, tho i don’t think i’ll be as captivated as i was the first time. initially, you almost want to root for them, feeling sympathetic for them in different moments or struggles. everyone promotes this book as a story about situationships???? but i feel like the story is not about situationships at all. it’s a story about two people who have grown up together and have a complicated, unhealthy relationship and attachment to each other. it feels much deeper and more meaningful than a situationship. that’s so dumb. i think the book also exhibits the experience of mental illness in such a genuine and natural way while highlighting the ways that mental illness can heighten and intensify a relationship when we indulge in our own flaws and in eachothers. its also such a prime example of how miscommunication works and ruins peoples lives. by the end of the book, i was so sick of their inability to be mature and strong that i didn’t care whether or not they ended up together. i felt that the people they grew to be were pathetic. which i should probably reflect on. i felt both depressed and comforted by the story. depressed at the idea that people are hurt or flawed enough to act like this, to suffer for nothing. but comforted at the idea that there are people out there doing worse than me. marianne annoys me in a lot of ways because of how i disagree with her but also in how we are similar too. i definitely think i’m going to read this again.
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