This book has been receiving high reviews, but for me it just wasn't a good fit. It is a love story, but hot a happy one. I didn't really like the characters and just couldn't get invested in them.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hogarth Press or my free review copy. All opinions are my own. Why did I wait so long to read this book?⁣ Because it was so hyped and the premise seemed meh to me. Here’s the thing about Normal People – on the surface it seemed like it might be boring. The son of a housekeeper secretly befriends the daughter of the owner of the house his mother cleans. ⁣ But it’s so much more than that. It’s a coming-of-age tale. It’s a story of how love really is; how it hurts, how it disappoints, what unsaid things and miscommunications can do to a relationship.⁣
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It felt really real. And the way the story was told… it was almost clinical in it’s telling, leaving the reader to pick up on the undercurrents and tensions without having them slammed in your face. I didn’t know whether I wanted them to be together or apart, but I was enthralled the whole time.⁣ This was just shy of 5 stars for me and damn close to making our best of the year list.⁣ I truly can not wait to see this book be adapted by The BBC⁣. 4.5 stars.

I read this because it was short-listed for the 2020 Tournament of Books. Rooney drew me in with her writing and way with words immediately and the book was hard to put down, but it started fairly predictably. About halfway through, the book started taking on a life of its own and I ended up loving it! It's about friendships and relationships that can be harmful, but it shows they can also be redemptive and help us rise above our demons. Starred review from Booklist and on a lot of end of the year best books for 2019. 5.0/5.0

Rarely have I read a book where I have been so stunned by the word play of the author. Although I am a little late in providing this review, I would highly encourage any reader interested in character development and scene to read this book. Her descriptions of intimacy and relationship are absolutely amazing.

This book is getting a ton of acclaim, so naturally I had pretty high expectations going in. I didn't know a thing about the book when I started, other than it was Irish, and was so, so, so entranced. There isn't a ton of plot - this is a book about 2 people who are drawn to each other, and really dwells in their emotional lives more than anything - but I could not stop reading. If you need a book where a lot of stuff happens, this may not appeal to you, but if you like an interior focus, you can't go wrong here. I will say reading this book was really emotionally draining, but I'm so glad I read it.

I feel mixed about Normal People. This was my first Sally Rooney and I don't know that her writing is for me. For now I am DNF at 18% and will try again later.

Honestly, it was an interesting read, I'm not sure I really liked the main characters, but their story was entertaining to read.

This was a wonderful book and I hope to read all the future books by Sally Rooney. Loved it! Read it if you like books like the secret history by Donna Tartt

Normal People is a sensitive, adept, passionate tale that does a remarkable job of highlighting all the universal struggles of growing up, acquiring self-confidence, forging friendships, experiencing love and lust for the first time, and feeling entitled to be loved.

I absolutely love Sally Rooney's writing. Her writing gets into your head and I find her characters extremely relatable.

DNF. I wanted to understand the buzz that Sally Rooney has gotten and I confess, Normal People did not help me understand all the acclaim Sally Rooney has been receiving! The thing that drove me crazy is that the writing is great but, for me, the story simply just didn't have enough there to justify its length. As a novella or short story, sure, it would have worked. But as a novel, Normal People fails to impress. It is dazzling in its language and deeply flawed in its execution.

This was not for me. It felt like a YA novel, but without any of the fun that genre often brings. I didn't like the characters, nor did I find them interesting or three-dimensional. I didn't care about the plight of their on-again, off-again romance, and I didn't think the writing was very good (I"m completely baffled at the awards talk it's getting).

The tale of two young people at various and changing levels of popularity seemingly fated to be together, but pulled apart by their own quirks and indecisiveness. Rooney inhabits the book with a strong voice.

I’m not sure how I feel about this book. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t quite hated it. My feelings are more like frustration and disappointment. During my read/listen, I often wonder why I stuck it so long with this book. When I first opened, I was ticked and confused by the lack of dialogue quotes. Extremely annoying. Not sure how a trad pub book actually went to publication like that. I personally found the audiobook better to keep up, so I mostly listened to it.

The way the book is structured is weird as well. With lots of within dialogue flashbacks that take away from your awareness of the story. It’s a terrible job at that. Every chapter is a time jump, for example one chapter would say April 2012, and then the next would say Three Months Later (July 2012), and then it would open with whatever is going on in that present time, but in the middle of a paragraph, it would jump and say “back in May, this and that happened”, and since punctuation and paragraphs seem to be an issue, the story would just simply jump back to present.

As for the plot, well it’s highly frustrating and infuriating. This has major One Day and Love, Rosie vibes, where the two main characters clearly love each other but put on every excuse to be together. These two are worse, they have this vicious cycle with each other, they’re great friends and clearly love and understand each other, but they love to use each other and play games in order to self-destruct and sabotage their relationship. They both clearly have issues (especially Marianne) and need serious help. What's frustrating is that when the author was on to something, and you thought their relationship will finally get on the right track, the cycle will start again. Up all the way until the less than satisfying ending.

I did have a soft spot for Marianne. I felt she was damaged, needy and misunderstood, she was abused by so many people and just needed help, therapy and reassurance. Connell was the only constant in her life and I feel like he just used her as well, often downplayed his feelings for her and just was terrible at communicating. I know wanting to be better is personal, but I feel like he still abused the love she had for him from the very beginning. Needless to say, this back and forth between them that keeps going up until the last scene, was simply tiring. I guess you could say the way it ended, which is neither HEA or HFN, could open the door for more, but who really wants to read a book where it will be more of the same?

To summarize the plot, it goes something like this:

Marianne and Connell are in high school.
She’s rich, He’s poor
He’s popular, she’s not
He likes her but only in secret
They have sex but he ignores her at school.
He doesn’t want to be seen with her.
She breaks up with him.

They end up at the same college.
She’s popular, he’s not.
She dates other people, he’s an outcast.
They get back together.
They seem happy.
One of them gets cold feet.
They break up.
They date other people.
Marianne gravitates toward abusive no goods, cause it’s the only thing she knows.
And Connell gravitates towards the opposite of Marianne cause he feels inadequate.
They can’t stay away from each other. They’re extremely jealous of each other’s partners.
They get back together.
One of them gets cold feet.
They break up.

On and on and on...

So, this was not my cuppa and a disappointing read but it was still engaging enough for it to be a 3 star read (more like a 2.5).

I was thrilled to pick up Normal People, my first Sally Rooney novel, but found it difficult to get through. The plot felt circular and meandering, and the characters a bit vague (there wasn't much distinction or individuation to improve my investment in their story). I still intend to pick up Conversations with Friends because I believe there's a lot of promise here—I did enjoy Rooney's writing style and I understand why she's a standout author for so many readers, so suspect it's just that this particular book just wasn't for me.

I honestly had such a hard time getting into this one and ended up giving up on it. The grammar mistakes, no capitalization and proper punctuation were just the mail in the coffin for me with this book.

Two characters meet and fall in love, or do they? From having a sexual relationship to becoming best friends, through college and on. They experience loss, depression and relationships with others but always stay connected, or do they? An examination of Love where the highlight is the flowing dialogue and detailed descriptions, Rooney makes you feel you are right there.

Copy provided by the Publisher and NetGalley

Normal People was well-written (even with the lack of quotation marks), though the story itself was rather depressing. Reading about Marianne and Connell was like watching a carousel go round and round and round....and I found them both frustrating for different reasons. However depressing the story was, some relationships are like this. You just have to hope that happiness was found for all in the end.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for a copy of this book for my honest review.

This book for me had me all in my feelings, in a good way. I nodded my head a lot while reading this book. It was so well, and beautifully written. I am glad that I read this book. The characters were simply amazing.

This was my first Sally Rooney novel and I thought I’d read it as it was getting such good hype. However I could not relate to the characters, the way the story jumped around and even didn’t enjoy the ending. I’m sure her fans will find this enjoyable as they are used to her writing style.