Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Normal People by Sally Rooney

5 reviews

cdoubet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

anton13's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I was so sad to have to put it down. I have to say that I was in the beginning very skeptical about if I’d like it or not. Part of me didn’t even wanna read it. Now I’m glad I read it. It’s not my favorite cause of the heaviness of the story but it is well written and I enjoyed the relationship between the two mc’s. I do think that anyone that wants to read this should do an extensive look on trigger warnings cause this was so much more than I had expected from what I’ve heard from others. The end killed me. I can’t believe everything that happened within the last 50 pages. I’m happy for them both but also nooooo why did it have to end like that?! Connell is one of the best men out there and nothing can change my mind!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Body horror, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.75

(adjusted from 2.375 [rounded down to 2.25] to 2.75)

ugghhh. i went into this really wanting to like it, but it was just not for me. that's partly my fault. i had decided to take a hiatus from reading The Song of Achilles because i knew it had a tragic ending and i'm not in the best mental state rn and wanted something uplifting, when i discovered both the ebook and audiobook of Normal People immediately available to borrow on Libby. don't know what i was thinking to not check the moods and content warnings if i wanted something lighthearted—that's literally what storygraph is for, totally on me.

in a word, this book was upsetting. i've heard someone (specifically, booktuber emmie) describe reading The Goldfinch (haven't read it myself) as having a kind of second-hand depression effect, and i understand it now because Normal People had this very effect on me. three particularly disturbing scenes come to mind:

Connell's former economics teacher attempting to sexually assault him

,

Marianne's entire relationship with Lukas

, and

the otherwise-nondescript scene ~88% through when Connell and Marianne have sex for the first time since their first year in college

. this latter scene was the worst of the bunch for me because both characters felt so hollow—not in their characterization (Sally Rooney could never), but in their mental states. it's like they're both desperately grasping at something to give them a sense of fulfillment, but their desperation is so painfully undisguised that i found it genuinely depressing. from the very beginning there's a vague sense that the two will end up together in the end, so for it to amount to (at the time) this bleak scene makes their love seem more like inevitability, futility, rather than meant-to-be. the ending doesn't do much to dispel this pervasive hopelessness. of course, this isn't an inherent downfall of the book, Sally Rooney is allowed to write a modern tragedy, it just very much wasn't for me, unfortunately.

with that main point out of the way, it was objectively well-written with lovely prose. i really liked its pacing, jumping forward in time but catching readers up with flashbacks. its general concept reminded me of The Namesake, following a character or characters across years of their life and focusing mainly on romantic relationships, and i prefer Normal People's execution over The Namesake's. 2⅜ stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Abortion, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and War

emmawilkinson's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

cozylifewithabby's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Violence, and Death of parent