Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Normal People

This book was so complex that the way I felt by it is also complex. I love it, I hated it, I cared deeply for the characters, but then I hated the characters. It was disturbing sometimes and beautiful the next. It was a very humanizing experience. I think this is my Roman Empire.

At first I was like… why would the author write it like that (if you know you know) and then when I got to understand the story more I realized that the lack of quotation marks that make you reread the paragraph makes you understand how miscommunication shows up in the book.

Content Warnings

ahubitsky's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

if sally rooney is a leftist, and this book is imbued with marxist themes, i’m a reactionary conservative

this was genuinely really bad on multiple fronts. the most glaring problems are the stunning lack of character development, you’d think with several years of education and life under both marianne and connell’s belts by the end of the story they would’ve changed at least in some regard, but neither of them did. further, i fail to see how the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of a woman makes a compelling plotline, because make no mistake, this plot is purely abuse porn. it’s astounding the lack of agency that marianne has (willingly!). her rich background just makes her come off as a whiny bitch who can’t experience hardship in any way other than by inflicting it on herself, so she does, and in the process convinces herself shes oh so horrible.

not to mention (going back to the alleged “marxist themes”) in this book, it’s extremely interesting how this work is supposed to be marxist, but marianne LITERALLY commodifies herself as a piece of property to be transferred among owners. im pretty sure that commodification of property is something marxists are inherently against? seems like rooney either forgot the marx she read, or just proclaims herself a marxist to the media to give her work the flavor of quirkiness.

the synopsis on the back is also pretty bold, describing the book as a journey of “love and friendship,” when it’s really just a pornographic journey through self-deprecation by a girl who can’t help but act like a craigslist item to be transferred between abusers.

strongly recommend looking up trigger warnings, but even more i recommend avoiding this book altogether.

Content Warnings

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Rooney is such a good writer, and I love her style! I just wish the ending wasn’t so ambiguous and abrupt, and I wish I had gotten to see Marianne blossom at least as much as Connell since the book was supposed to be about the both of them growing up, growing apart, finding each other again, etc. But it was pretty much all about Connell and then sometimes Rooney remembered that Marianne has thoughts and feelings, too.

Marianne and Connell’s relationship is so fascinating though. It is so incredibly toxic, yet they clearly belong together at the same time. I think that their relationship is realistically portrayed, and I could sympathize with one or the other of them at different stages in their lives and their relationship. I think that is a testament to Rooney’s writing: feeling like I want/need to evaluate the characters, to pick a side, and to sympathize and empathize with them and why.

However, I hated the ending. Ambiguous endings infuriate me, especially when the ambiguity suggests what it suggests here. We’re really ending with

Marianne staking her worth on her on-again, off-again boyfriend and putting him above her and “letting him go” so he can, what? Some bullshit about how she’s a springboard from which his life can “truly begin”

?

Before I read the last ⅓ of the book, I was expecting to give it a 4 out of 5, but seeing Marianne’s storyline and the ending get fumbled leads me to give it a 3 out of 5.

Content Warnings

hduc's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

luketheplantfather's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Blown away. So emotionally raw. So many emotions.

Content Warnings

harper11's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

One star because the only thing that pushed me through the trenches of this book was Rooney’s writing style. This book was completely and absolutely not for me, which is a shame considering the hype.

Content Warnings

itsrua's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

hjb_128's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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