From the Bookshelf of EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club…

Normal People

Sally Rooney

Start date: July 1, 2023

Finish date: July 31, 2023

Discussion: MODERN / POPULAR READS

Why we're reading this: July 2023 - Modern Selection
[close] July 2023 - Modern Selection

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MODERN / POPULAR READS

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What Members Thought

Aug 31, 2019 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: ebook, library-book

It is with books like this that the star rating scale doesn't fully capture what one thinks of a book; it should be considered in the context of what I write here as well.

I found it extremely compelling, reading the entire thing within 24 hours, but I also found it bleak and sad with a bit too much back-and-forth.

(I think this book would be considered to have been written in third person limited with multiple points of view -- lit. people, let me know if I've got this wrong).

We see how Marian ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 14, 2020 Jen rated it liked it

This is a very hard one to review. It's really well written, and the characters are amazingly deep and twisty and complicated and real and I love that. But, the story is really pretty dark and depressing. The relationship b/w Connell and Marianne is amazing, and deep, and you can really feel it, but I wouldn't say it's an overall positive. I'm very torn on this one as you can tell. I did like Rooney's writing though, and I'll probably have to give a different book of hers a try at some point. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Nov 26, 2021 Laurel Bradshaw rated it liked it

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, love-stories, ireland, coming-of-age, color-rating-yellow

I don't have a lot to say about this book, because I am not the audience for it. If you are in your twenties you can maybe relate, but I am well past that, and have no desire to be reminded of the awkwardness of my college years. There's an awful lot of sex going on here, so I have no idea how this might translate to TV, and I doubt I will ever watch it anyway. I'll give it three stars with a "yellow" caution, because I think there IS an audience for this book, and it had a satisfying ending. I ...more

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Aug 28, 2019 Kerri Willoughby rated it it was amazing

Loved this! Very well written, compelling story of two best friends and their sometimes tragic path through young adulthood. Read it while traveling to Spokane for a work trip. Hard to put it down. Still thinking of Marianne and Connell. Really excited to read Conversations With Friends by sake author. (Read this book cause old friend Doug recommended it on Facebook).

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Oct 09, 2019 Nik rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019-books, bookclub-connell

I liked the writing in much of this book more than rating would indicate, but, for me, parts of the story were not compelling.

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Jul 05, 2020 Susannah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ltg-book-club-reads

Kids today. I just don't know. ...more

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Mar 31, 2020 Grace rated it liked it · review of another edition

I didn't know what this book was about when I started reading it. I knew it had great reviews and I thought it would be "literary" - not sure why. Maybe based on its cover and maybe its readership. I had heard of it from the "literary" crowd.
At first, the lack of quotation marks annoyed me. I remember thinking "ahh, here's the gimmick that makes it 'literary'". As I got used to it, I actually enjoyed the story and found I didn't want to put the book down. It's a love story. This is a romance no ...more

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