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babiebackbooks 's review for:

Normal People by Sally Rooney
3.5
emotional reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was extremely difficult for me to rate as I am an absolute bundle of conflicting feelings. If I simply skim the froth off the top of the pot, this book was lovely. It was a story of a fragile, raw, and festering relationship of two people drawn to each other across time. It was a push and pull of a love that felt very real around two imperfect people.

On the other hand--when I used my brain--
the motifs fell flat, bdsm was very poorly represented, "working class" was written like a privileged person was acting it out in a game of charades, and communication was thrown wholly out the window. The writing was trite. And the choppy style of the narrative made the book feel like a collection of fables rather than a dance between these two characters.

On the other other hand. I loved it. Ate this shiznit up. And the ending was perfect. And I felt emotions. And it was so human.

On the other other other hand. This wasn't written all too well and the character development was impersonal.