normal people by sally rooney is a horror story
"modern day carrie and mr big"
For my journalism class this past semester I had to pick a fiction book to read for our class book clubs. Normal People has been on my tbr for a while now so I decided to pick it up. This is my review.
What even is this.
A quick little overview for those who don’t know, this book is about two people, Marianne and Connell and it follows them over a handful of years where they go through a mind boggling situtationship.
I went into this book blind and I didn't know what to expect. Let me just say it was a lot. First, it was difficult for me to get into the book because of the author, Sally Rooney’s writing style specifically her dialogue. She doesn't write with quotations so it was hard to understand if what was being said was dialogue or an internal thought until after the sentence which made me have to reread a few times at the start. I did end up getting used to it and grew to be okay with it. I didn’t like it but I don’t hate it. About fifty or so pages into the book I really started to enjoy all that was going on. The relationship between the two was interesting but unbearable at the same time. They start hooking up in junior or senior year of high school and Connell is embarrassed of her which is accurate but it is also like just grow up. All of his friends treat Marianne like shit and he just watches! It made me want to rip my hair out. Because deep down they both knew that they had REAL feelings for each other and weren’t just using each other. Still he did what he did and I wasn’t a fan. Moving on, they end up going to the same college and find each other there afters months of not seeing or talking and all of the sudden she’s the hot and popular one, which I don’t believe in popularity in college but whatever. Anyway she has a boyfriend now but after a while they break up and Connell and her start hooking up again. That is basically the whole book, Marianne and Connell breaking up and getting together on repeat.
“Most people go through their whole lives, without ever really feeling that close with anyone.”
― Sally Rooney , Normal People
With about 100 pages left in the book I started to feel like it was dragging on. The plot became a bit repetitive which made it so boring. I never understood why they keep on breaking up. THEY WANTED TO BE TOGETHER???? Like they have this bond that is so incredibly deep, and no one else understands them like they do and they keep throwing it away. Then they stay friends while they get in other relationships! To top it all off they tell each other about the relationship, not just surface level stuff they get deep with the details. What do you mean Marianne is telling Connell how rough her new boyfriend is in bed? I would actually crash out if I was Connell. Anyway, there was so much going on in the book that was never really touched on. They were both going through so much. TW: Suicide, ED, depression. Something that really stuck out to me was when later in the book when Connell started getting depressed there was people there for him and made sure he got the help he needed. But when Mariannes ED developed we as readers only knew about it because of her internal thoughts. No one noticed and got her help not even Connell. Someone even mentioned how thin she was to him and he didn’t even think twice. Which the bases of the book is how he doesn't really care about her that much and has her wrapped around his finger. Reading this book made me feel like I was watching Sex and The City all of again just with accents.
After reading this book I do understand the Sally Rooney hype because that was some of the best I have ever read. It was moving but also lighthearted. Some of the quotes just made me sit and stare. There was a lot of time jumps which I wasn’t a fan of but it was tolerable. I ended up watching the show on Hulu and I forced my roommates to watch it. Let me just say they crashed out more than I did. I think the show was almost as equally as good as the book which is rare and if you're not interested in reading the book I would recommend the show. My final thoughts are: wtf was that ending. I don’t want to spoiler so I won’t say more than that but it made me very very angry.
“I don't know what's wrong with me, says Marianne. I don't know why I can't be like normal people.”
― Sally Rooney, Normal People
Ratings:
4/5 stars
3/5 spice
5/5 writing
book as a song: nervous by the neighborhood
Thank so much for reading and follow my socials
TikTok: Niahsreadingnook
Ohh! I read this during December as well! I think I would rate it a 3.75/5! I get the hype, I was engaged just a little drab! Lmk if you ever wanna chat abt it, cause I have a whole page of notes! Hehe :))