Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Normal People by Sally Rooney

8 reviews

kassidyreads's review against another edition

I don't see the point of this book, there is no plot and the characters are insufferable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia

mary_johnston's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

selimhannah's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

bookboii's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racism, and Pregnancy

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

kayabennett's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

i think that this book was absolutely incredible, sally rooney truly has a way with words. people tend to be annoyed by her writing style (no quotation marks) but i enjoyed it so much and particularly liked how i was able to guess who was saying what based on the characters personalities. speaking of which, i also enjoyed the character development shown throughout the book, you go from hating one character to absolutely adoring them. 
marianne and connell’s relationship was heart wrenching to read and at times i felt frustrated by how little they communicated and how things would have gone smoother if they did but then again, that is the point of the story. 
throughout my time reading this book, i have recommended it to a number of people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, and War

paulinskiii's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Self harm

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia and Misogyny

The writing style of Sally Rooney ist particular but gripping

joshysuniverse's review against another edition

emotional slow-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

3.0

This book felt very wordy at times, and I found myself trying to grasp all the details more than actually paying attention to the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, and Sexual assault

Minor: Homophobia