Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Pessoas normais

In the beginning I kept thinking: When Harry Met Sally but make it shoe-gazing. Overall, I found this book to be both captivating and frustrating. I really loved certain aspects of Sally Rooney’s writing. Her moments that were here and now regarding Connell and Marianne were fantastic, and I reread some passages in awe of how well she showed the subtleties of human interaction. But I never really knew how we got here and there, especially when it came to Marianne.

We mainly see things from Connell’s point of view. His mom, Lorraine, is a wonderful person and raised him on her own. He has a passion for reading, literature, especially. He is a poor kid who is constantly surrounded by rich kids, and the reminder of his background never goes away. It’s exasperated by Marianne, through no fault of her own, because she’s a girl who comes from an exceptionally rich family. His conventional views keep him from allowing Marianne to live at her full potential around him. He won’t reveal certain weaknesses around her, making their relationship full of potential but always unbalanced. Marianne feels that potential but blames herself for them never reaching it. Her leap to self-blame is probably familiar to a lot of women readers, and it’s furthered by her family, which is abusive.

For some reason, Marianne, as a character, is not as fully formed as Connell. At times, it was as though Marianne was losing both as a character within the story and a character on the page. Towards the end of the book, I started to dread reading more. I usually read dark books, but the constant cruelty Marianne kept having to endure just wore me out. I wish Rooney had left it out because distracted from the central character studies.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Abandonment, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Grief, and Domestic abuse

In the beginning I kept thinking: When Harry Met Sally but make it shoe-gazing. Overall, I found this book to be both captivating and frustrating. I really loved certain aspects of Sally Rooney’s writing. Her moments that were here and now regarding Connell and Marianne were fantastic, and I reread some passages in awe of how well she showed the subtleties of human interaction. But I never really knew how we got here and there, especially when it came to Marianne. We mainly see things from Connell’s point of view. His mom, Lorraine, is a wonderful person and raised him on her own. He has a passion for reading, literature, especially. He is a poor kid who is constantly surrounded by rich kids, and the reminder of his background never goes away. It’s exasperated by Marianne, through no fault of her own, because she’s a girl who comes from an exceptionally rich family. His conventional views keep him from allowing Marianne to live at her full potential around him. He won’t reveal certain weaknesses around her, making their relationship full of potential but always unbalanced. Marianne feels that potential but blames herself for them never reaching it. Her leap to self-blame is probably familiar to a lot of women readers, and it’s furthered by her family, which is abusive. For some reason, Marianne, as a character, is not as fully formed as Connell. At times, it was as though Marianne was losing both as a character within the story and a character on the page. Towards the end of the book, I started to dread reading more. I usually read dark books, but the constant cruelty Marianne kept having to endure just wore me out. I wish Rooney had left it out because distracted from the central character studies.

annahnoyes's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-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

3.5

This was an incredibly unique read, that while I wouldn't say I was overjoyed by it, demands more than 3 stars, but not quite 4.

It was terribly normal. (Hence the title I guess.) But that in itself is impressive. This book encompasses and illustrates the lives and actions of normal people. They aren't special, they have issues. I found the internal monologues of the two characters to be so authentic feeling. Almost uncomfortably so.

This is a perfect example of a character-driven novel with focus on humans exclusively. No plot, climax, or story line whatsoever. Just the lives of two characters.

The ending was a little underwhelming, but honestly I think it just solidifies the reality and normalcy of this book. After all, we don't always have a clean ending in life.

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itsmemiana's review against another edition

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dark hopeful inspiring reflective tense slow-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

5.0

I'm not gonna lie, I first picked up this book because I found out the main character's name was Marianne which is the English (and french) version of my name, Mariana, and I never ever see my name anywhere so I felt like this was mandatory reading for me.

I kept going back and forth between 4 and 5 stars but I decided to settle for 5 stars because maybe there were one or two lines that I didn't like as much but that doesn't justify taking a whole star for me because I truly loved this book.

it's so beautifully written, with absolutely stunning lines. this was my first Sally Rooney book and I definitely intend on reading more of them.

but I can definitely see this book not being for everyone because the title is very literal, this is a book about normal people with normal lives, but to me it wasn't boring at all... Sally writes so beautifully that I couldn't find it boring for even a second.

I can't wait to read more from her.

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shaymint's review against another edition

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5.0

"She believes Marianne lacks 'warmth', by which she means the ability to beg for love from people who hate her."

I haven't felt this way about a book in a really long time. I read it in one sitting and couldn't put it down.
This is not about "love", it's not about "highschool" and it's not about "friendship". It's about trauma, it's about codependency and it's about emotional abuse.

The writing was unique and captivating, I was hooked from the very first page.
If I could read this again for the first time... I wouldn't cause it destroyed me a little.

People, love, relationships and mental illness portrayed in a cruel, beautiful yet unromanticized way.
You'll either deeply connect with it or you won't, It's not a book for everbody.

Content Warnings

camillarossi's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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