Review by augustrogue - Normal People

augustrogue 's review for:

Normal People by Sally Rooney

2.25

reflective tense 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

A fairly quick read, but I hesitate to call it a truly enjoyable one. Overall it was... okay, at best? It had its moments, among some often awkward, bloated prose (the "suppressed a sigh except he inhaled so it still sounded like a sigh" is rightfully called out in other reviews, and there's a lot of that kind of thing. I also got used to but still hated the lack of quotation marks for dialogue. Made knowing what parts of a paragraph were speech and who was speaking confusing, sometimes.)

There are a few quite pretty descriptions and things that made me think, or reminded me of people I have known. I'm giving it an extra star for the story's often oppressive atmosphere of insecurity and naïveté, with one character not quite ever fitting in or feeling lovable, clinging to whoever seems interested in them, and the other enjoying their power over them a little too much while also genuinely enjoying their company. The ending is rather open-ended, closing the story on a shaky note that lacks much closure or impact.

Content Warnings