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Normal People

Sally Rooney (Goodreads Author)

3.87 · Rating details · 176,964 ratings · 16,694 reviews

Connell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in rural Ireland. The similarities end there; they are from very different worlds. When they both earn places at Trinity College in Dublin, a connection that has grown between them lasts long into the following years.

This is an exquisite love story about how a person can change another person's life - a simple yet ...more

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Paperback, 269 pages

Published May 2nd 2019 by Faber & Faber (first published August 28th 2018)

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Normal People
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Sally Rooney (Goodreads Author)

Release date: Feb 18, 2020

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Jan 18, 2019 Emily May rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, 2019

No one can be independent of other people completely, so why not give up the attempt, she thought, go running in the other direction, depend on people for everything, allow them to depend on you, why not.

This is going to be a polarizing book. I mean, I think I liked it. And I say "liked it" in the sense that it made me very miserable. It is a quiet character study, almost a YA novel but not quite, and it is a profoundly lonely and depressing love story.

I didn't begin by liking it. Normal ...more

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Sep 04, 2018 Bernard O'Keeffe rated it did not like it · review of another edition

On the second page of Sally Rooney’s universally acclaimed, Booker- longlisted novel is the following paragraph:

‘He puts his hands in his pockets and suppresses an irritable sigh, but suppresses it with an audible intake of breath, so that it still sounds like a sigh.’

What?

I get the hand in the pockets bit, but how the hell does the rest of it work? A sigh is an exhalation and I have no idea how any attempt to suppress a sigh by inhaling could possibly sound like one. I’ve tried hard to imagine ...more

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Sep 07, 2018 Marchpane rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club, 19-20-19

Sally Rooney is the real deal

Normal People has been lavished with praise from critics, longlisted for the Man Booker prize and is being adapted for television by the BBC. And that's just in the first week!

All that attention will, no doubt, attract quite a few readers who would not ordinarily touch this subject with a barge pole. Because this book:

A) Is about young people
B) Is a love story (but not a 'romance')
C) Contains a fair bit of sex (which is crucial to the story, btw, and is not graphic) ...more

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Sep 24, 2018 Trudie rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: booker-18

I am not sure how to write this review because I seem to be so far beyond the pale on my antipathy to this book. In simplest terms I didn't connect with this work at all and I would be best to chalk this up to a "reader/writer" mismatch and move on but I will try and articulate some of my reading experience.

Some of my perplexity with Normal People is that I just couldn't relate to the twenty something, highly educated, politically aware and cynical young adults that populate this novel. I am not I am not sure how to write this review because I seem to be so far beyond the pale on my antipathy to this book. In simplest terms I didn't connect with this work at all and I would be best to chalk this up to a "reader/writer" mismatch and move on but I will try and articulate some of my reading experience.

Some of my perplexity with Normal People is that I just couldn't relate to the twenty something, highly educated, politically aware and cynical young adults that populate this novel. I am not sure how reflective these voices are of young Irish making their way in the world, but as presented here I found them exasperating to listen to and not particularly nuanced.
It is possible that even if I didn't enjoy the novel I might like the writing but in actual fact Rooney's style is perhaps the single biggest thing that bugged me. I found some passages of interest sandwiched between a lot of wooden dialogue and these flat descriptions ...

Marianne goes inside and comes back out again with another bottle of sparkling wine, and one bottle of red. Niall starts unwrapping the wire on the first bottle and Marianne hands Connell a corkscrew. Peggy starts clearing people's plates. Connell unpeels the foil from the top of a bottle as Jamie leans over and says something to Marianne. He sinks the screw into the cork and twists it downwards. Peggy takes his plate away and stacks it with the others

This kind of writing really gives me nothing.

Others have cited the two dimensional nature of her secondary characters and I would concur. Barely any of them made much of an impression on me. Alan - Marianne's brother, seemed particularly badly drawn. He appears to be a key part of understanding Marianne and yet he warrants only a few pen-strokes of unexplained malice and cruelty. The opening of a wine-bottle and pouring of cups of tea receives much more page space.

I tried to understand Marianne, who seems to be both ugly and beautiful, popular and friendless. Her hinted at troubled family life was suppose to underpin her need to be a submissive. I remain unconvinced that this is really how dominance and submission works and I would think experts in BDSM might strongly take issue with some of the cliches here.

The relationship between Marianne and Connell should have kept this book afloat at the very least. The intense emotional and physical connection, the will they / won't they stay together, all the drama of YA love is here but it is in an eye-wateringly navel-gazing form. I found it all exactingly po-faced. The number of inexplicable break-ups, largely based on mis-communication was about three or four break-ups too many for me. I just wanted to yell at this novel most of the time. Say what you mean and stop being so insufferably difficult !, either split up or stay together, both your friends and I really don't care !. Marianne and Connell were of most interest to me when they started emailing each other, discussing novels and politics thus preventing them breaking up over some new emotional minutiae. Perhaps this should have been a novel of their email exchanges.

Oh well, I guess I will never be a Rooney fan and I have doubtless missed the point of this book entirely but that is ok not every book is for every reader. ...more

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Nov 23, 2018 Dem rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: bookclub-reads

Man booker prize long list nominee and Costa book awards nominee This is a book that has many admirers and sadly it didn't work for me and while I would love to agree with all the judges on this one I only struggled to the end because it was a bookclub read. It is difficult to go against the grain on a book that is nominated for so many awards. So as always you need to judge for yourself because books fit people differently

Quite simply this book didn't Fit Me. I really have no interest in ...more

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Oct 29, 2018 Caitlin rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2018

I picked up my cup of coffee and took a large gulp, swishing the liquid around in my mouth a little before swallowing. Two stars, I think. I touched my hand to my face and rubbed my nose. I clicked the two star rating. I closed my eyes and nodded, breathing out slowly. Yes, two stars.

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May 30, 2019 Justin rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Whoa... guys... I just finished Normal... man, I just... I don’t know... what am I, what am I, uh, missing? This, uh, this... this wasn’t good. Not good at all. I’m so confused. This is, um, this is... this book is everywhere right now, being highly praised and all that. Websites I trust are telling me this is, this is one of the best, one of the best books of the year so far. But, guys... wow.

I’ve never felt more disconnected from a story. I couldn’t care less about either one of these Whoa... guys... I just finished Normal... man, I just... I don’t know... what am I, what am I, uh, missing? This, uh, this... this wasn’t good. Not good at all. I’m so confused. This is, um, this is... this book is everywhere right now, being highly praised and all that. Websites I trust are telling me this is, this is one of the best, one of the best books of the year so far. But, guys... wow.

I’ve never felt more disconnected from a story. I couldn’t care less about either one of these characters, and I definitely didn’t care about anyone else in the book because, man, I don’t think the author cared either. This whole thing just felt lifeless to me, like it wanted to be something huge (and it sure is being pushed like it is), but there is really nothing about this book I found redeeming. I hung around until the end thinking something would resolve or the story would progress somehow, but it just kind of fizzles out and it’s done. I wish it would have at least ended with an apology for taking up too much space in the crowded book world.

Seriously, the whole back and forth of I love you, let’s have sex, do whatever you want, we’re different, I can’t tell anyone about you, I love you, I’m seeing someone else, I’m so sad, life is hard, being 20 is tough... that is basically the book. It just kind of bounces around those themes over and over again. There’s nothing in the book to make me care if these kids are in love or not, and it really feels like this should be a YA novel, but it pushed the characters ages up just a bit to say “Nope, no no no... adults here. We have adults coming through! This is Adult Fiction folks! It reads like Twilight without the vampires, but someone give this bad boy a Man Booker prize! Adult book here, ladies and gentlemen! Don’t get it twisted!”

I don’t get it. I didn’t connect with this at all, and I would recommend steering clear of this one and moving on to something else on your list. As my old librarian used to say... “So little books, so little time”. He’s the only person who has ever said that. I think he trademarked it. He’s right. Skip this. ...more

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Sep 09, 2018 Portal in the Pages rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Goddamit Sally Rooney and now I'm crying.

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Apr 29, 2019 jessica rated it liked it · review of another edition

wow. one of the most frustrating, but humanising, books i have read in a long time. for sure. i feel so exhausted after reading this, but i think that may have been the authors intent. its shows that normal people living normal lives can be quite tiresome. for example:

- the writing lacks quotation marks, which makes the dialogue difficult to decipher. which could be seen as support for the idea that life is just as messy as the books formatting and communication sometimes takes effort to ...more

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Aug 24, 2019 Meredith rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: overdrive

Uncomfortable and Provocative

In Normal People, Sally Rooney tells the story of two deeply damaged people who develop an intense relationship that transcends the norms.

Connell and Marianne start a secret romantic relationship while in high school. Connell is the popular jock who secretly cares what everyone thinks about him. Marianne is the school pariah--the girl who people create myths about. While they both feel alone and misunderstood, together they understand not only one another, but ...more

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May 21, 2019 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I had been influenced by a friend - whom I adore & respect - by her 1 star review.... way before this book started gaining momentum and hit the stores a month ago.
This book wasn’t for my friend - but it sure was for me.

I’ve own an ‘Advance Reader’s Edition’, of Sally Rooney’s paper copy for a year and a half. It sat on my shelf, unread.

Rooney’s first novel “Conversations With Friends”, was wonderful.

I admit having a thing for the type of writer Sally Rooney is:
*Addicting* ...more

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Sep 04, 2018 Anna Luce rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: lukewarm-reads, disappointing-reads, audiobooks, inane-protagonists, 2018-reviews

2 grungy stars

If you believe that characters who dislike themselves, shrug a lot, and say "I don't know" 24/7, are very deep and realistic, well this may be the perfect read for you.
Or if you enjoy reading about "in" authors...look no further. After all, Rooney is "defining a generation".

If you are thinking about reading this novel, I suggest you listen to the following song instead, since it will take you less time and you will get the same story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjMwd...

While ★★✰✰✰ 2 grungy stars

If you believe that characters who dislike themselves, shrug a lot, and say "I don't know" 24/7, are very deep and realistic, well this may be the perfect read for you.
Or if you enjoy reading about "in" authors...look no further. After all, Rooney is "defining a generation".

If you are thinking about reading this novel, I suggest you listen to the following song instead, since it will take you less time and you will get the same story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjMwd...

While I enjoyed Rooney's style, the way in which she interweaves ordinary moments with emotionally charged ones and the uncertainty that pervades her story, I was also annoyed by how artificial her novel is. I had the impression that Rooney was trying to conjure a certain millennial "vibe" through her characters and their experiences.
However, the central figures of her novel, Connell and Marianne, lacked depth and, as stupid as it might sound, character. Their looks were emphasised in a way that made them "stand out" from others: they are skinny and beautiful, they smoke, they make languid movements, they are smart, and unlike their peers they actually care about world politics. Throughout the course of this novel we are told how DIFFERENT and SPECIAL they are.
Marianne comes from a wealthy and abusive family (we are supposed to feel bad for her), Connell was raised by his mother and suffers from bouts of anxiety and depression (we are also supposed to feel bad for him). That they have issues that they can't cope with is realistic, but what I didn't appreciate is the romanticising of their difficulties. What I didn't like is that being "alienated" is synonym of "cool" and that seeking sadomasochistic relationships is understandable/inevitable if you come from an abusive family.
Rooney handles serious issues (eg. an abusive family, depression, etc.) very badly. A book that handles trauma and self-harming incredibly well is What Red Was by Rosie Price. There we see why the characters behave in self-destructive ways, but in NP these things seem merely props.
Marianne and Connell aren't terrible people but god, they are so self-involved. Their relationship is made to appear fraught but I didn't always understand why. Drama for the sake of drama? They enter forgettable relationships with equally forgettable people but they remain fixated on each other. Why? No one knows...
Marianne is depicted by the author and the other characters as being the sort of person who does not to care about others' opinion of her but soon after a breakup with a cliched dick boyfriend she is obsessed with what people are saying about her...Connor is...intelligent? Indecisive? As interesting as a stale sandwich?!
Secondary characters and family members are barely sketched out, they have little to no purpose other than creating more "drama" for the main characters. Marianne's family was so badly written that I had a hard time taking any of them seriously. Her brother is laughably cruel and her mother is uncaring and snobbish (they are rich so...). Friends from college serve very little purpose, other than making the main characters seem "different" and "real" (they are special, not like other people).
What I disliked the most is that by the end neither Marianne or Connell show any sort of character growth. Not that I always want to read about characters who learn from their mistakes or gain some sort of insight from their experience, I can appreciate characters who keep perpetuating their 'bad' behaviour or even those who get worse or regress into 'bad' habits/behaviour. But they have to be believable. Marianne or Connell were not. They were merely an 'aesthetic', more befitting as subjects of a black and white grunge photo than anything else.
The only reason why I finished this novel is that I listened to the audiobook and the narrator managed to make this otherwise unappetising storyline sort of okay. ...more

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Sep 16, 2018 Peter Boyle rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: irish, booker-nominee

I wanted to like this book more than I did. How thrilling that the author hailed as "Salinger for the Snapchat generation" is Irish, and from my own province of Connacht at that. There are moments in this novel that would certainly back up such a bold claim. But I believe that she is a writer still honing her craft. Not quite the finished article just yet, but with all the potential to become a literary heavyweight.

In the beginning we meet Connell and Marianne, two young people growing up the I wanted to like this book more than I did. How thrilling that the author hailed as "Salinger for the Snapchat generation" is Irish, and from my own province of Connacht at that. There are moments in this novel that would certainly back up such a bold claim. But I believe that she is a writer still honing her craft. Not quite the finished article just yet, but with all the potential to become a literary heavyweight.

In the beginning we meet Connell and Marianne, two young people growing up the west of Ireland. Marianne comes from a wealthy family and Connell's mother Lorraine is a cleaner in their lavish house. At the start of the book, the pair are in their final year at school - Connell is a popular sports star while Marianne is a social outcast. They are close despite operating in completely different circles. Roles are reversed once they move to Dublin for college - Marianne falls in with a group who appreciate her wit and intelligence, and a taciturn Connell finds it difficult to make friends. The story follows their on-off relationship over the years - they go from being pals, to more than that, to who knows? They are a huge part of one another's lives, no matter what their romantic status.

Rooney is strong on the intricacies of relationships - how the influence of one person can shape another person's whole life, and how little misunderstandings can snowball into major heartbreak. At one point Connell discovers that becoming part of a couple can even validate one's existence: "To be known as her boyfriend plants him firmly in the social world, establishes him as an acceptable person, someone with a particular status, someone whose conversational silences are thoughtful rather than socially awkward." She is also extremely perceptive about the journey from adolescence into adulthood, that point in your life where you fly the nest to take on the world and finally meet people with the same interests as yours - confident, excited and apprehensive all at once: "They were coming into college every day to have heated debates about books they had not read."

However, there were a couple of things that bugged me. For one, Marianne's family despise her, yet we are given no reason for this. The actions of her brother Alan, in particular, become more ridiculous as the story goes on, and without proper context they just feel ludicrous. And I'm afraid I found the dialogue quite flat at times. For two people like Marianne and Connell, who know each other so well, I kept thinking, is this how they would really speak to each other? Their exchanges are so earnest and dry. For example, there's one part where they are about to have sex after missing one other for so long, and the atmosphere is charged. They kiss. Marianne says that she wants this so much, and Connell goes: "It's really nice to hear you say that. I'm going to switch the TV off, if that's OK." The description of the scene makes it sound passionate but the conversation dulls its effect.

Maybe I'm nitpicking. There were many aspects of the book I really admired. It's just that when I see publications like The Guardian declaring Normal People a "future classic", I expect a bit more from it. I do think that Sally Rooney is massively talented, and her gifts of observation and empathy will serve her very well in her career. She may have the literary world at her feet right now, but I reckon her best work is yet to come. ...more

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Apr 17, 2019 Chelsea (chelseadolling reads) rated it liked it · review of another edition

I genuinely have no idea how to rate this. I LOVED the first half, felt lukewarm towards the middle, and then hated the ending????? The characters had so much chemistry but they refused to communicate I just

TW: sexual assault, domestic violence, depression, suicide ...more

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May 23, 2019 Paula rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Literary fiction fans

Recommended to Paula by: Booker

Shelves: cultural, literary-fiction, contemporary, e-book, women-s-prize-nominee, booker-prize-nominee, costa-book-award, published-2018, ireland, kerry-group-nominee

Irish author, Sally Rooney’s second novel came to my attention when nominated for the Booker in 2018. Since then Normal People has won the Costa Book Award, An Post Irish Award, and nominated for many others. Quite a distinction for a wonderfully talented young author.

Normal People is about Marianne and Connell, their secret friendship, and their on and off again relationship. They are two young people drawn to each other who drift apart at times, but always end up coming back to each other ...more

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Sep 19, 2018 Sam Quixote rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: best-fiction-non-fiction-2018

Oooof. Alright - a disclaimer before I start. Normal People by Sally Rooney is superb. I’m gonna gush about this one (warning to those in the splash zone!) and I honestly feel that the less you know about it, the better the experience will be for you. So, to those of you who’re thinking of reading it, don’t bother with any reviews about the book - just read it. It’s a contemporary story about a boy and a girl who fall in love. That’s all you need to know. And when you’re done, come back and we Oooof. Alright - a disclaimer before I start. Normal People by Sally Rooney is superb. I’m gonna gush about this one (warning to those in the splash zone!) and I honestly feel that the less you know about it, the better the experience will be for you. So, to those of you who’re thinking of reading it, don’t bother with any reviews about the book - just read it. It’s a contemporary story about a boy and a girl who fall in love. That’s all you need to know. And when you’re done, come back and we can hi-five each other in joy over its excellence!

…

Why did I begin with “Oooof”? Because I genuinely feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. Repeatedly. This is such an emotionally exhausting and draining read! Sally Rooney’s created a remarkably compelling pair of characters in Marianne and Connell and I felt their love so intensely it was like I was experiencing it with them.

Which makes it sound like a romance, and it has some of those elements, but if it’s anything it’s a classic Bildungsroman (just a fancy word for “coming of age” story). Marianne is the awkward loner in high school, brainy but socially isolated. Connell is the good-looking popular boy, inexplicably drawn to Marianne - star football player falls for nerdy girl. The two begin seeing each other secretly - god, it sounds sooo fucking cheesy doesn’t it? I promise you it’s anything but. From there it’s a rollercoaster of emotions as the characters grow and develop. I loved it pure and simple.

Here are some critiques to anyone who didn’t enjoy the book: Marianne’s brother Alan is a laughably one-dimensional villain. There’s no plot (which is very typical of this type of story) - the story just starts and then ends. The occasional phrase feels hammy and clichéd (stuff like “so few people have what we have”). Connell is written as this genius but he does some super-dumb things - and if he is so brilliant, would he care so much what others thought of him? Also, given how unbelievably connected Connell and Marianne are on every conceivable level, the number of times they misunderstand one another seemingly purely for dramatic purposes could be seen as contrived as fuuuuck.

And, though I know almost nothing about Rooney, it feels like a very autobiographical novel - most young writers tend to write about themselves to start with, after all. She’s a young Irish woman who went to Trinity College, Dublin, on a scholarship, like Marianne, and the novel ends with the characters in their mid-20s, which is the same age I suspect Rooney was when she stopped writing this (she’s now 27 years old). In that regard you could say it’s somewhat unimaginative.

Listen: none of that matters. I noticed those things and I didn’t care. Because it’s so well-written, so damn compelling, so enthralling and honest and… real. If I gave this anything less than the highest possible rating, I’d be lying about how much I enjoyed this book.

It’s also impressive that she didn’t shy away from writing the sex scenes given how tricky they are to write with most writers publicly embarrassing themselves. She’s such a confident and skilful writer – already, at such a young age! - that she pulls them off admirably and, yes, sensuously.

If you’ve ever heard someone trying to convince someone else to start reading books, one of the points they’ll make is that you get to live lives you never would. Most books do this on a superficial level but Normal People actually achieves this viscerally. This is one of those books that effortlessly draws you into it and lets you experience the intensity of Marianne and Connell’s heart-achingly, tender, complex relationship in a totally believable way - it’s powerful stuff. Truly, I felt more and more anxious as the book went on until I was actually dreading the end - this novel turned me into a wreck!

The Guardian review, which drew me to this book in the first place, mentioned something like “this is a novel for and about the Millennial generation” but it’s not really. In a literal sense the characters and author are Millennials but besides that there’s nothing about this book that makes it distinct for this specific time - it could easily be set at any point in the last 50 years and still work perfectly.

I’m not really sure what the book was trying to say - if anything - but it’s left a deep impression regardless. Maybe that’s it - the whole labelling of generations is a fruitless exercise in misnomers, we’re all the same and love is a complicated, weird thing for all of us? Maybe it’s trying to define what “normal” is for this generation but isn’t that something every generation goes through? And I’m not exactly sure what conclusions Rooney comes up with could be uniquely ascribed to Millennials.

I’ll leave it with this because I’m spent: Normal People isn’t just the best novel of the year, or even the best novel of the last few years, but it’s one of the best I’ve ever read in my life. Maybe I’m just a sucker for coming of age stories? W. Somerset Maugham’s Of Human Bondage told a similar type of story that left me just as devastated - but in a good way (sort of). A beautiful powerhouse of quiet, extraordinarily potent sensations that indelibly captures an important part of the human experience, Normal People has made me an instant fan of Sally Rooney’s - and thank you for writing it. ...more

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Jan 12, 2019 Larry H rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

3.5 stars.

Sally Rooney's upcoming novel Normal People almost felt like a puzzle, in that you didn't really know what you were truly getting until all of the pieces came together. Beautifully written although a little slow in its pacing, it's a novel full of deep emotions, which made it difficult to read at times.

Connell and Marianne know each other from high school, although they pretend not to, plus his mother works as a cleaner for her family. Marianne is a bit of a laughing stock in school, ...more

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Jul 24, 2018 Britta Böhler rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, kindle-scribd, femlit, 2018, 2018bw-read, 01mb2018, 2019, 01secondshelf-read, 01womenprize2019

I have to admit I wasn't taken with Rooney's debut Conversations with Friends but I tried to read her second book with an open mind. The writing was good and some of the themes were interesting but I was rather bored by the selfabsorbed, cliché-characters: women who just want to 'get the man' and who always question their self-worth after a break-up, and men who are behaving as if they come straight out of a 'boys-will-be-boys'-movie. So 1950ies. And the ending is just plain cheesy.

2.5* (mainly ...more

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Jan 23, 2019 Nilufer Ozmekik rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Wow! Check out the trailer of Hulu’s adaptation of Normal People for Spring 2020! It looks like real soul crusher, heartbreaker! Get ready to set your ugly cries free!!!!

This really reminded me of those tear jerkers, Oh God I cannot breathe, all my happiness swept away by emotional vampires vacuum cleaners inc., come on, that’s kind of nerve bending story that one of the protagonist has to die from a deadly disease ( or both of them needed to die sometimes! Oh no another crying torrent coming Wow! Check out the trailer of Hulu’s adaptation of Normal People for Spring 2020! It looks like real soul crusher, heartbreaker! Get ready to set your ugly cries free!!!!

This really reminded me of those tear jerkers, Oh God I cannot breathe, all my happiness swept away by emotional vampires vacuum cleaners inc., come on, that’s kind of nerve bending story that one of the protagonist has to die from a deadly disease ( or both of them needed to die sometimes! Oh no another crying torrent coming up! I cannot hold it! I can’t)or one of them has to commit suicide kind of, depressive, sad, exhausting, giving you anxiety attacks kind of John Green books. (After looking for Alaska, I felt the a dark cloud always following me for one month and my husband fed me with soap and Chardonnay, as you can imagine I couldn’t eat solid food at least two months because I bit the pages of the book and chewed so hard, destroyed my dental implements!!!)

So yes this book is sad, horrifyingly bringing your dark clouds and vultures above your head and interesting fact is nobody dies! But yes there are so many heavy, harsh, heart wrenching, brain cell boiling issues make you feel like hit by a truck several times, then suffered from waterboarding and torture conducted by American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman and finally thrown away into the swamp,eaten by crocodiles. The characters deal with drug addiction, bullying, sexual assault, suicidal thoughts, severe depression and it is really heartbreaking to see them not to have a regular teenager lives.

And you know what after all those torturous feelings, my kindest part of soul( also my masochist brain cells and my vulnerable heart) loved those two characters, Connell and Marianne and witnessed their literally growing up, their adolescence and early adulthood times, forming friendship, special- sensitive bound. At first when they were in high school, Marianne is outcast, social pariah, bullied by mean girls as Connell is shiny, popular star of the school community. The part he didn’t take her to the prom was harsh, mean move and Connell lost his all his brownie points and earned slapping contest championship’s high rated asshole statue.

But when they were in college, the balances were changed now Marianne is intellectual, independent, smart social queen and Connell loses his spotlight and sentenced to be an ordinary, invisible college boy which makes him more depressed and lonely.

Their friends-lovers- again friends- again lovers kind of complex relationship and their story’s revelation should be called : “Restrained screams” or “Unsaid Words” , or “Bottled Up Emotions!” or “I think I’m really pissed off those two characters so much for breaking my heart !”
I know the realistic conclusion was necessary, logical, reasonable but it doesn’t mean it is not hurting you so much!

As a result, if you can deal with feeling blue by reading sad, sad, sad, OH GOD WHY THE HELL I CARED SO MUCH ABOUT THOSE CHARACTERS kind of book, this is just for you.

I liked the captivating, realistic, poignant story telling and I truly accepted those broken, flawed, complex characters but I think sometimes their story made me suffocated a little. This is a good book but not my first choice of reading. ...more

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May 03, 2019 Adam Dalva rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book is amazing, kinetic, insightful, and fun - I'm writing a long-form review for Guernica about it (examining, partially, the spectrum of reactions on this site), so I can't say too much yet, but wow, I could not put this down. It feels ferociously of the moment, yes, but it also has a timelessness all its own. Cut through the hype. Time management is stellar (every new chapter is a time jump ahead), both perspectives are great (every chapter alternates between our two leads, with the ...more

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Aug 13, 2019 Brandice rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I finished Normal People last night but had to think about it for a little while before writing this review, which is unusual for me. In summary: I really liked it!

Marianne and Connell meet in high school, where Marianne is perceived by many as odd although she doesn’t care about popularity or public opinion. She’s from a wealthy family and bored by the obligations of school. Connell’s mother, Lorraine, cleans Marianne’s family’s home. Connell is popular, athletic, and well-liked. Marianne and ...more

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May 01, 2019 JanB rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, buddy-read-with-marialyce, 2019-reads

How do two damaged people, who long for nothing more than to be “normal”, navigate the intricacies of a relationship? This book tore my heart out and stomped on it, and I mean that in the best possible way.

Marianne and Connell become acquainted when his mother is the housekeeper for her family. Marianne’s family is wealthy, but she is the smart, nerdy, unattractive girl who is an outcast at school while Connell, also smart, is the popular jock. They enter into a relationship that he wants to ...more

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Jun 24, 2019 Michelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: library, my-favorites, june-2019-reads, best-of-2019

I would give this 10 stars if I could. I probably just finished the best book of 2019.

My God, what a book. So many thoughts and emotions are running through my head I don't even know where to begin. I could cry with relief that I had two people really impress upon me the need to read this book. To think! I almost let this go by and fall into the cavern that is my TBR pile. I cannot believe I almost missed out on the experience of what it was like to live with this book the past two days. I was I would give this 10 stars if I could. I probably just finished the best book of 2019.

My God, what a book. So many thoughts and emotions are running through my head I don't even know where to begin. I could cry with relief that I had two people really impress upon me the need to read this book. To think! I almost let this go by and fall into the cavern that is my TBR pile. I cannot believe I almost missed out on the experience of what it was like to live with this book the past two days. I was so enthralled that I dreamt about it. My very subconscious absorbing how deeply Marianne and Connell's story touched me to the very core of my heart.

Marianne and Connell's friendship begins in her kitchen. Connell comes from a working class, single-parent family whose mother is the housekeeper for Marianne's wealthy mother. While both intellectually gifted, they live in very different worlds. Connell is popular, athletic and the boy every girl wants to be with. Marianne is quiet, socially disinterested and the only talk of her at school is that of how weird she is and how she must be mentally ill. As we pick up later in their lives after a year of college, their roles have reversed. Suddenly Marianne is always with friends and is fending off suitors, while Connell is having a hard time finding his place and fitting in. Their chance encounter at a party leads them to years of on again-off again relations, although what always remains constant is their friendship and love for the other person.

What Rooney accomplishes in 273 pages is a complete master class of the spectrum of emotions that are capable in the soul of these two, twenty-somethings. Always having been extremely emotional myself, I felt my heart ripped out of my chest several times through reading this book and then again repaired and replaced as their relationship re-balanced. It was so easy for me to slip back 15 years or so to when I was in college and going through very similar situations. The shy and tentative love that developed was so believeable it set off fireworks inside when that feeling was acknowledged and returned. Then when misunderstanding and miscommunication set off months of depression and loneliness in these characters, that felt so real to me, I thought I was back there myself. Each exquisitely written section jumped ahead just far enough to allow our feelings a reprieve, to only go back and find out what took place in the gap and only have our heart ripped out again.

One last piece I want to touch on is something that nagged at me almost peripherally as a subplot to the relationship, which rightly was front and center. That of this really highlighting this generational talent. I've found even as I get older that my experience (in all avenues) that has come with age blinds me to the memory of what it was like being in my early 20s. Normal People, written by a millennial, is a story that shows the anguish, depth of character and emotional resilience of two people who feel anything but "normal". Both Marianne and Connell constantly try to find within each other and themselves, the comfort of surpassing that insecurity. The world we are slowly inheriting is not that of our childhood and though it is a secondary focus in their lives, both characters grapple with how to navigate all that they care about against the normal concerns of feeling like they belong to their respective peer groups. I felt it was an incredibly adult representation of two people who could be any age, just trying to figure out their lives against the backdrop of the world. It served as a great reminder not to be so dismissive of youth, because after all, wasn't I there once?

There are a plethora of fantastic reviews and they are rightly deserved. If you are on the fence, do yourself a favor and give this book a chance. With Normal People, Sally Rooney has cemented herself as an author that should be on everyone's must-buy list.

Below are some of my favorite passages:

"Denise decided a long time ago that it is acceptable for men to use aggression toward Marianne as a way of expressing themselves. As a child Marianne resisted, but now she simply detaches, as if it isn't of any interest to her, which in a way it isn't. Denise considers this a symptom of her daughter's frigid and unlovable personality. She believes Marianne lacks "warmth," by which she means the ability to beg for love from people who hate her." (p. 68)

"It was true, Peggy and Jamie were not very good people; bad people even, who took joy in putting others down. Marianne fells aggrieved that she fell for it, aggrieved that she thought she had anything in common with them, that she'd participated in the commodity market they passed off as friendship. In school she had believed herself to be above such frank exchanges of social capital, but her college life indicated that if anyone in school had actually been willing to speak to her, she would would have behaved just as badly as anyone else. There is nothing superior about her at all." (p. 200-01)

"Somehow he was expressing more emotion that at any time in his life before, while simultaneously feeling less, feeling nothing." (p. 221)

"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." (p. 232)

"Marianne wanted her life to mean something then, she wanted to stop all the violence committed by the strong against the weak, and she remembered a time several years ago when she had felt so intelligent and young and powerful that she almost could have achieved such a thing, and now she knew she wasn't at all powerful, and she would lie and die in the world of extreme violence against the innocent, and at most, she could help only a few people. It was so much harder to reconcile herself to the idea of helping a few, like she would rather help no one than do something so small and feeble, but that wasn't it either. (p.234)

Review Date: 6/24/19
Publication Date: 4/16/19 ...more

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Oct 12, 2019 Susanne Strong rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: must-read, audiobooks

4 Emotional Heartrending Stars.

Connell and Marianne. Two teens who are misfits, if you will. Drawn to each other in a way neither can explain. Throughout the years their forge a friendship, then a relationship of sorts, feeling the push and pull, which always remains the same. Neither satisfied, or ever getting what they want, yet both inexplicably drawn to the other. Always. Both complete the other in a way that no one else ever will.

There were so many times while reading “Normal People” by ...more

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Jul 13, 2018 Rachel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: giveaways, own, literary-fiction, irish, own-but-currently-lent-out, 2018, booker-2018, women-s-prize-2019

Engrossing, complex, and emotionally honest, Normal People is an understated powerhouse of a novel. As this book ends up being so much more than the sum of its parts it's particularly difficult to summarize, but basically, it's a sort-of-love-story about Connell and Marianne, two young people growing up in small town Ireland together, who both move to Dublin for university in 2011.

There isn't much going on in this book aside from Connell and Marianne's 'will they/won't they' relationship, but I Engrossing, complex, and emotionally honest, Normal People is an understated powerhouse of a novel. As this book ends up being so much more than the sum of its parts it's particularly difficult to summarize, but basically, it's a sort-of-love-story about Connell and Marianne, two young people growing up in small town Ireland together, who both move to Dublin for university in 2011.

There isn't much going on in this book aside from Connell and Marianne's 'will they/won't they' relationship, but I wouldn't describe this as a romance novel as much as a novel about being human. Sally Rooney highlights with razor-sharp precision the oddities and intricacies that complicate interpersonal interactions, even between two people who love one another. This book is about miscommunication, but not miscommunication as a plot device; miscommunication as an intrinsic part of the human experience, naturally calling into question the possibility of truly knowing another person. Connell and Marianne's inability to open up to one another is so much bigger than these two individual characters; it's about gender roles and socioeconomic differences and power dynamics and social status and preconceived notions and projections and misinterpretations, and Rooney examines it all minutely through the lens of this one ill-fated sort-of-couple. She also has the uncanny ability to cut to the emotional core of a scene without sensationalizing, and I think that's what strikes me as the most accomplished element of this novel.

I think this book is inevitably going to be underestimated by some because of its premise, and because of all the hyperbolic claims that Rooney is the definitive voice of her generation. But it's a deceptively clever book; it's perceptive where it could easily be vapid, it's clear-eyed where it could be melodramatic, and it has more intellectual and emotional depth than anything else I've read recently. A bit of an unconventional choice for the Booker longlist, but it fully earned its spot in my opinion, and I'd love to see it shortlisted. ...more

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May 28, 2019 Michelle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I'm late to the Normal People party but DAMNNNN! This book gave me all the feels. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

This is the story of Connell and Marianne, and their relationship, as they navigate from high school and throughout college. The entire time I read this I was screaming in my head for these two just to be together and to stop screwing everything up....for me. Yes, you read that right, I felt like I had some personal stake in this relationship and that can only be attributed to Sally ...more

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Jul 19, 2019 Melanie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, buddy-reads, read-in-2019, subscription-box-botm

Okay, I think this book is not only going to be polarizing, but most people will dislike it. But.. the writing was so hypnotic to me, I felt so much for both of these characters, and I just loved it a lot. RTC! <3

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Buddy read with Romie from books & coffee with romie! ...more

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Aug 07, 2019 Christine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

My true rating is somewhere between 2 and 5 stars.

Geez, this one made me sad. I don't think it's supposed to make readers sad, but with me it is what it is. If these young people are normal, then God bless everybody. I mean the writing isn't even "normal." This is a very talky book, but there is not a quotation mark to be found. It shocked me at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly. But this isn't "normal" writing. Does that mean the author isn't quite sure about what "normal" means? I'd My true rating is somewhere between 2 and 5 stars.

Geez, this one made me sad. I don't think it's supposed to make readers sad, but with me it is what it is. If these young people are normal, then God bless everybody. I mean the writing isn't even "normal." This is a very talky book, but there is not a quotation mark to be found. It shocked me at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly. But this isn't "normal" writing. Does that mean the author isn't quite sure about what "normal" means? I'd like to know.

Connell and Marianne. We follow them from high school through to several years later as they dance around their relationship. They are seemingly on again and off again, but can never totally escape each other. I alternately loved them and was disgusted by them. I admired Marianne so much for the way she handles a lot of situations, but then off she goes, totally disrespecting herself, which really frustrated me. And Connell. What a sweet guy, until he reveals more of what a jerk he can be. So focused on other people's opinions. What a sad state of affairs and a quintessential example of being one's own worst enemy. And thinking about it, that goes for Marianne too. But they can't help what they think, so it's hard to not like them anyway. I think.

I finished this two days ago. I usually write my reviews right away, but I didn't with this one because I couldn't figure out how I felt about it. I still don't, but the review must go on. I didn't always look forward to picking it up as I knew I would probably run into more sad commentary that would just make me want to shake these two. But then I have to admit I had to keep fervently flipping the pages to see what would happen. I had no idea how the author could tie this up at the end. Then she did. Sort of. My reaction? "Okaaaaaay..."

So did I like it? Maybe. Will I remember it for a long time. Oh Yes! And for that it gets more stars than this review would suggest. And the flipping of the pages--that's a reason for stars too. And I read it in a very speedy (for me) three days--that definitely says something.

Do I recommend it? It depends. Would I ever read it again? Hmmmm....

So there you go. Read it or not. If you do, I will be eagerly awaiting your reaction. If you don't, oh well; but you might have missed a good one. Perhaps.

...more

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Jun 16, 2019 PorshaJo rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: challengereads, audio, challengereads-2019

To be honest, I wasn't that interested in this one initially. I added it due to all the wonderful GR reviews I read. And I'm so glad I did. I found it difficult to put it aside, I wanted to keep hearing more.

Normal People tells the story of two people, Connell and Marianne, who are anything but normal. Well, maybe they are and this is what many people go through. Each of them has problems. They meet when quite young, in high school. Connell's mom is the housekeeper for Marianne's family house. ...more

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Sep 18, 2019 Dolors rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Those interested in the intricate workings of relationships

Recommended to Dolors by: Deea

Shelves: read-in-2019

Appearances might deceive. This much I have learned from Sally Rooney’s latest novel. If you read its blurb you might fall under the false impression that this is just another story about first love with conventional characters: Connell, a popular boy in high school, and Marianne, a smart and introverted outcast with the added complication of different social backgrounds. Their secret connection occurs outside school when they meet at Marianne’s house when Connell’s mother finishes her shift as Appearances might deceive. This much I have learned from Sally Rooney’s latest novel. If you read its blurb you might fall under the false impression that this is just another story about first love with conventional characters: Connell, a popular boy in high school, and Marianne, a smart and introverted outcast with the added complication of different social backgrounds. Their secret connection occurs outside school when they meet at Marianne’s house when Connell’s mother finishes her shift as a cleaning lady there.

I guess many readers might have stopped reading after that boneless introduction, but if you have persisted, I will try to offer compensation for that unappealing start.
“Normal People” is a fascinating psychological portrait of the journey towards adulthood in this new generation where the battle between popularity and personal insecurity influences the decisions that will define the course of a life.
This is a story of mutual fascination between two lost people who understand each other beyond what is being said. Curiously enough, what happens to the protagonists is mostly marked by the silences and misunderstandings in their conversations. This is precisely, in my opinion, what makes Rooney’s novel outstanding. She has an incredible skill to capture the mental processes of the characters, the way they perceive reality and misinterpret it because of their lack of self-confidence. Through Sally Rooney’s eyes, the reader can understand, even identify with inexcusable behavior, perverse reactions and even cringing responses in dialogues where fear of being rejected dominates the pace and the exact choice of words in the exchanges between the characters.
Marianne’s absence of self-defense mechanisms, her incomprehensible need to be physically humiliated in order to feel loved will offer Connell disproportionate power to do with Marianne what he pleases, and that will be his greatest challenge: to be mature enough to deal with such an excessive surrender and to discover his own capacity for selfless love.

If I had to come up with some classics to compare this novel to, I’d dare say it combines the romance of Jane Austen with the complexity of Flaubert’s “Sentimental Education”. The education in this case takes place in the years of college at Trinity, Dublin. A pity though that there is nothing in the book that evokes a bit of the setting, of my so adored Ireland and the misty moods that permeate the pebbled alleys of its ancient villages. I would have appreciated descriptive passages to frame the evolution of Connell and Marianne’s relationship and provided a certain lyrical touch that I found missing in Rooney’s style, although I admit she is consistent with the way she presents her characters: young, unsentimental and living in a globalized world.

Nevertheless, this is a gripping novel, a bittersweet story that shows the reader the way sex and power shape us, how the desire to hurt and be hurt, to love and be loved are but the evolution of a long conversation… and the silences in between. Incredible that someone so young could be so wise. ...more

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About Sally Rooney

Sally Rooney

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Sally Rooney was born in 1991 and lives in Dublin, where she graduated from Trinity College. Her work has appeared in Granta, The Dublin Review, The White Review, The Stinging Fly, and the Winter Pages anthology.

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“It was culture as class performance, literature fetishised for its ability to take educated people on false emotional journeys, so that they might afterwards feel superior to the uneducated people whose emotional journeys they liked to read about.” — 235 likes

“No one can be independent of other people completely, so why not give up the attempt, she thought, go running in the other direction, depend on people for everything, allow them to depend on you, why not.” — 157 likes

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