Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Normal People by Sally Rooney

320 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

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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

the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

1.0

I have no idea what I was meant to take away from this book. The characters were uninteresting and shallow, I strongly dislike the writing style, and the relationship dynamic feels so overtly problematic with no self awareness that it was boring. I also know this was likely intentional but the understanding of BDSM was so rudimentary that it was virtually absent and that grated on me.

I really struggle to understand why people love this book so much. It just didn't connect at all for me, and I feel like I was missing something.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Classism

Minor: Racism

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

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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

squeakypenguin's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

Oh my god!! Absolutely adored this book, I just could not put it down I had to find out about these two characters and what happens to them. I loved seeing their povs and how they perceived each other. It was beautiful to see their transformation of becoming adults annd how they developed their personalities due to the things they were going through. It was like I was reading about 2 real life people.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Grief

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

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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

tomomia's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual violence and Suicide

yourlilkiwi's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

everythingeatsandiseaten's review against another edition

emotional reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

3.25

beautifully written at times but adds really nothing at all to the romance trope. i find that the romanticization of marianne in particular as isolated, traumatized, etc. can come off in quite an ignorant manner. however i do think  this is purposeful because we view as she herself (and connell), but if not understood correctly can possibly be interpreted as a glamorization of her suffering. 
much of contemporary romance, especially from the 2000s and onwards feels like a wet dream— on one hand you have dark romance & monster smut, in the middle the absolute disgrace of colleen hoover, and on the other you get esoteric nonsense that fosters individuality through romanticizing mental illness and trauma. 
not to say normal people is the extreme fault of the latter at all; i’d say the biggest fault i find is within its predictability, although i wasn’t quite expecting originality from a booktok recommended novel! to give credit where credit is due, i thought rooney did a wonderful job of creating a realistic romance, however idyllic. she has so much capability with dialogue and the natural cadences of body language and movement and conversation, which is beautiful for preserving culture in a time where human nature and behavior has advanced so much and become so complex! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sina4books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Minor: Drug use and Death of parent

texanriot's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse and Suicide