A review by _mariethln
Normal People by Sally Rooney

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I finished “Normal People” a week ago and I needed some time to sort my thoughts before writing a review. 
I actually didn’t enjoy reading the novel at all. It’s not the typical feel-good romance, the characters are “broken” in some way, most relationships are extremely toxic and I took me quite a while to get used to the lack of quotation marks. While reading, I felt like this was one of the worst books I’ve read in the last months. However, I just couldn’t put it down, I had to read it. I must admit that I was expecting a totally different story than the one told in the novel but after having accepted my wrong expectations, I understood that the story and the way it is told by Rooney is in fact brilliant. 
I’m also not a fan of open endings. I always want to know where characters end up (what they’re doing, who is with them etc.). I want to know what Marianne’s and Connell’s lives look like later but I feel like the ending chosen by Rooney is the one that fits the best as real life also doesn’t end when everything is perfect. Life always goes on and so does Marianne and Connell’s story. The ending shows that they’re still the same people as they are in the beginning but have still changed during the novel.

“Normal people” captures real life. It’s emotionally draining, it’s sad but it’s real. As I said, it’s not a typical feel-good romance. However, it’s definitely worth reading. 
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