Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Normal People by Sally Rooney

1327 reviews

cnannery19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tsumugiaoba's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

3.5

i think i liked it?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual harassment

rynaissanceenby's review against another edition

reflective relaxing 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

2.75

This book was just okay. It really felt like it was lacking a purpose, like I didn't really get the point of telling this story. And it kind of felt like nothing important happened. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Suicide

gdulecki's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

I’m giving this a begrudging three stars - I did not like the characters, there were no quotation marks, and the writing style felt weird, but I also couldn’t put this down and read it in just a couple of hours because it was so captivating. I am so angry at the ending, Marianne needs some damn therapy, and the self sabotage and self degradation was so potent that I feel it in my bones after finishing the book. The way BDSM was portrayed was horrendous, and I think it was supposed to be??? I don’t know man I see why people really liked this but I don’t know if it was for me

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Classism

errie's review against another edition

reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

miuku's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-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

1.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

wildflowerfieldsforever's review against another edition

This one is... frustrating.  I don't really even know how many stars to give Normal People.

On one hand, I liked that the characters were not perfect.  The relationships were not perfect.  In that way, it was very real-life.  This is *not* a rom-com, light and fluffy read.  I find those books very annoying and not enjoyable; so on that side of my opinion, I appreciated that aspect very much.  I kept listening because, despite my frustration, I was invested and I thought there was going to be an ending that at least hinted at Marianne and Connell getting better and figuring some things out.

However, there are a lot of damaged people in this book.  Again, how very real.  And, very bold of Sally Rooney to write this book... and, with no real redeeming ending to make it better.  Yet again, despite myself, I appreciated that.

Normal People is also disturbing.  Marianne's deep emotional issues coupled with how people (including Connell) treat her, is very difficult to watch unfold.  I wanted to reach through the pages and tell her to GET HELP, this is *not* okay.  Sometimes, I felt like Rooney was letting the writing indicate that Marianne's issues were okay.  But, she also leaves the ending very open and while Connell and Marianne are very, very young.  I hope that the Connell and Marianne that live within these pages both get the help they deserve.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence

eviemm's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

the emotional codependency is crazy (frustrating, intriguing, thought-provoking, etc etc) in this one

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

abassard's review against another edition

emotional hopeful relaxing sad tense fast-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

3.5

This is a hard one for me to come to a set rating for. I’d say there are moments in the book where Rooney makes her characters really shine - although I felt those were rare moments. For me, my main problem was that there is a lot of “tell, not show”. This is especially true for the elements of class differences between Connell and Marianne, where it would have been really powerful to let those power differences be subtle in their actions and mannerisms. Additionally, while set during the Financial Crisis, which was very destabilizing  in Ireland, it didn’t feel like those events really impact the characters that much, which was disappointing. I liked Connell’s arc but I was disappointingly and disparately rooting for similar development of Marianne. Overall, it’s a good character driven novel, but I felt Rooney missed some opportunities throughout where the novel could have been really strong 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Classism

saretta02's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment