Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Pessoas normais by Sally Rooney

806 reviews

larilinlin's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

jkschoen's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

lilias's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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.

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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

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Rape, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

henyouise's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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

3.5

I didn't love this book as much as I wanted to. I think it's beacuase it's so unsatisfying. But I think that's the point. But I liked Sally Rooney's writing style and am interested in reading more of her books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Toxic relationship, Grief, Domestic abuse, Classism, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Bullying

Moderate: Death and Eating disorder

camillarossi's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Eating disorder, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

stephyrm's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Alcohol, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death

Minor: Blood, Classism, Death of parent, and Drug use

margaxrete's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

maddybates's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

It was a sad book overall. I found it to be such an accurate depiction of modern day love, and I especially resonated with it. The ending was somewhat underwhelming but at the same time I didn’t expect it to be an overly satisfying/groundbreaking ending as that’s simply not the nature of this book. I liked how it switched between Connell and Marianne’s perspectives but kept it limited to only their perspectives. I found it to be a nice read and unlike anything I’ve read before in terms of a romance novel. The way this novel explored sex and fetish was interesting especially linking it to Marianne’s trauma. I really enjoy Rooney’s style of writing, including the lack of quotation marks during dialogue despite that being criticised a lot by other readers. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault

tbrumale's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Suicide, Mental illness, and Abandonment