An amazing book, I was almost immediately pulled into the story of Connell and Marianne with all its twists and turns. Taking them from high school through years at university, the relationship is at the center of the book but with a rich cast of secondary characters. Connell and Marianne each struggle to find out who they are, separate from each other and together. The heart of the book is really the question of "Who are Normal People and am I?" and the writing is superb. Without quotation marks, it took a bit to get the hang of the writing style. My only hang up is I wish the ending was a little less ambiguous, but thats minor. I loved this book and can't believe it took me so long to read it.

I read this book because of the very positive feedback it's been getting in mainstream media, and I was confused. I found the characters unrelatable, the story to be incredibly normative, and the ending unsatisfying.

I gave up after a few pages. The author's (and editor's) practice of never using quotation marks to designate dialogue was enough to make me abandon this book. I guess I don't care to read books that came use basic punctuation correctly. I never realized how much I rely on those queues when reading, but not having them made understanding what was going on a chore. I even downloaded the sample from Amazon thinking maybe the ARC I received from NetGalley was just missing these things, but the Kindle sample was missing them as well.

Normal People, by Sally Rooney, is one of those buzz books that everyone has been discussing. I downloaded this novel in October, it published in April, but I have just now gotten around to reading it. Why did I wait so long? Do you know those books that leave you thinking about the characters and the messages within the story long after you finish reading? Normal People is that book. 

Marianne and Connell live in Carricklea (County Sligo) in Ireland, go to school together, but don't technically know one another. Marianne is brilliant, has a wealthy family, is considered somewhat of an ugly-ducking, and spends her days at school socializing with no one, but rather, sitting at lunch with her nose in a book and off in her own world. Connell is popular, an athlete, was raised by a single mother who happens to work cleaning Marianne's house, and although he hangs out with some frequently mean and offensive people, he seems to be more philosophical and intelligent than them. One day while picking up his mother at Marianne's home, Connell and Marianne engage in more conversation than normal, going beyond their typical sparring about who is smarter and gets the best grades. Their conversations become more frequent when he arrives to pick up us his mother.

You know you were saying the other day that you like me, he said. In the kitchen you said it, when we were talking about school. Yeah. Did you mean it like as a friend or what?

No, not just as a friend, she said. Oh, okay. I was wondering. He sat there, nodding to himself. I'm kind of confused about what I feel, he added. I think it would be awkward in school if anything happened with us.

No one would have to know. 

And there is the beginning of a relationship that, over the next four years, is one part friendship, one part love story, one part sexual relationship, and a lot of miscommunication. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved and adored every moment of this novel, but oh my, what a shining example of the importance of open and honest communication. The incredible pull that Marianne and Connell have towards one another is evident throughout the novel, however, neither is ever quite able to put their hearts on the line and truly say what they mean or how they are feeling, resulting in so many missed opportunities at happiness. Initially, I was frustrated with the third person omniscient POV just because I prefer the first person POV. Then there was the flat, short, choppy dialogue as a whole in this novel, not just between Marianne and Connell. I wanted to scream at the characters at times to complete an entire thought using more than two or three words! But then I realized that it could partly be a regional thing that I am not accustomed to or could just be Rooney's writing style. The best thing I can compare to is a show that was on when I was in middle school called Degrassi Junior High.  I mean the first one that started in the late '80s (I'm showing my age here.) The show was set in Canada and I can remember watching it thinking how short and choppy their sentences were. But then I also remembered thinking that if those teenagers heard our dialogue, they would probably wonder if we ever shut-up or just talked forever. 

While Normal People is full of political and philosophical themes regarding post-crash Ireland and social class, one of the huge themes of the novel surrounds Marianne's poor self-concept and her tendency to accept and crave abuse. Not only did Marianne tolerate and seek-out abuse in romantic relationships, but she also tolerated long-term emotional and physical abuse within her family. This made me wonder several times if Connell was "too nice" for her. He certainly did several emotionally hurtful things to her over the years, but was he too tender and respectful for the majority of their relationship to hold her interest?

She lies on her front and presses her face into the mattress, and he touches the back of her thigh with his hand. Her body is just an item of property, and though it has been handed around and misused in various ways, it has somehow always belonged to him, and she feels like returning it to him now.

Connell, as well as other characters also battle depression and other mental health issues, but the bulk of major events within the novel surround Marianne and her unhealthy outlook on relationships. As far as Marianne and Connell, their relationship is based on love, sex, rescuing one another, and miscommunication. That may sound odd or even a bit depressing, but I was still completely engrossed in their story from the first word until the last. 

I've read reviews where people are infuriated about the ending and I've read reviews where people love the ending. For lack of better words, I am fine with it. My reasoning for that statement is, I'm not really sure what the future holds for Marianne and Connell at the ending. Maybe that was Rooney's intentions all along, for the reader to formulate their own opinion about them. Or, perhaps the author had a clear ending in mind for this couple and we have to read between the lines to figure out what it is? Regardless, the ending is not the meat of this novel and is not what I will be thinking about for a very long time. It's everything that happened before the ending.

Normal People is a blend of literary fiction and coming of age fiction, so keep that in mind while reading. It serves as both warnings and reminders of how damn hard it is growing up and trying to find your place in the world. There is sex, romance, laughter, and tears that is so raw it is almost uncomfortable at times. While reading, you may find yourself relating to the characters or you could celebrate the fact that things were so much easier for in young adulthood. Regardless, this is an outstanding novel that will stay with you long after you finish it.  This is easily going into my top ten favorite books ever read.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Hogarth for providing this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This book was not at all what I expected, it wasn't as entertaining as I thought it would be. With that said it was still a decent read and I am glad to have read it. I just think it was an issue of my not being the right fit for this book.

I had heard plenty of good things about it so I got my hopes up. This was just not a book I could connect with, I found myself not caring about the characters or the situations. I was reading it just to complete it.

2.5 stars. Normal People follows Marianne and Connell through high school and college. They have a strange pull towards each other that no one else seems to understand, but they cannot communicate how they feel and what they need to each other. In high school Marianne was the outsider and in college Connell is, and their relationship goes through such ups and downs along the way. Both feel like outsiders in the world, and the book explores the themes of loneliness, belonging, communication, and what love looks like.

I was really excited about this book since I heard soooo much about it on bookstagram, but I didn't end up understanding all the hype. I think the amount of hype might have done it a disservice since I had such high expectations. First of all, I really didn't like the lack of quotation marks in a book that had this much dialogue; I found it confusing and off-putting. I also felt like I didn't really understand Marianne and Connell's personalities or relationship at all. Parts of the book I also found quite disturbing and then I felt like there was no resolution or explanation of them, so I didn't understand the point of those scenes. I liked the idea of looking at how terrible we allow ourselves to be treated in the name of love, but I didn't feel like it was executed particularly well. I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Marianne and Connell are the main characters who share a lot of things in common. They share polotics view that are not very popular with other around them. They know each others for years, they go to primary school together but travel in different circle, they later go to college together.

Marianne doean't have anyfriends, and doesn't really have family even though she lives with her mom and older brother. Connell is the center of attention, he is handsome atheletic plays football and everyone loves him. They have an attraction that moves from friendship to physcial to an undefined relatioship, most would call it love. Connell is scared of what other might think of they relationship so hide it, even breaks things off by taking a mean girl to a dance and then dating her.

Marianne and Connell then go to same college, this time she is the center of attention and he is the outsider in their peer group. They dance around their friendship over the course of college from friends to lovers but never committing to anything. They continue this back in forth relationship mixed with love, hate, depression, other people and through it all they always gravitate back to each other, they have unconiditional love for each other thay no one understands and no matter where they go they know they always have each other.

This book is a rollercoaster ride of emotions, misunderstandings, that make you feel for the characters.

In high school, most people think Marianne is weird. So when she and popular guy Connell start sleeping together, Connell would rather keep it a secret. It's an uncomfortable beginning to what becomes an on-again, off-again relationship through the end of college. And through this somewhat unhealthy relationship, Rooney explores adolescence, secrets, class, and the experiences that shape us.

The style of this books is fascinating. Rooney's prose is straightforward and spartan, so I was surprised each time I found myself emotionally devastated by it. This is a heartbreaking novel that candidly discusses young love and lasting pain.

I have heard so much buzz about Sally Rooney’s novel Normal People that I am surprised that I didn't like it more. Maybe I’m so old that I can’t get too excited about the blooming of young love, especially when it’s this tortured? This isn't really a traditional love story, though, so that's not it....



That's not to say that I didn't find anything to like in this novel. It’s strength is in the psychological unpacking of the two protagonists, Marianne and Connell. Both of them are complex, and Rooney uses their relationship as a way to explore them as characters. These are fully fleshed out characters, and as a reader you understand them, even if their choices make you cringe.



However, while Rooney fully fleshes her main characters through their relationship, that tortured relationship was crazy-making for me as a reader. Why don't they just say what they mean? Why is everything so complicated between them? Is this novel about anything other than whether or not they get together? Although the plot moves through different phases of their life, the central question is always about their relationship with each other. We hear that they have other interests and skills, but they don't actually show up on the page very much.



Also, the chronology jumps ahead in seemingly random intervals. Each chapter marks a later period in time, and there will have been some major change in their circumstances or relationship status. I couldn't figure out if there was a pattern to these time jumps, but it felt a little bit like when someone else is fast forwarding a video and you have no control over when they hit pause or when they speed ahead. For this reason, the story never gains momentum because you don't get to linger on particular moments long enough or even understand how the shift happens to the next one.

Sally Rooney is now an auto-buy author for me. This book would have been a completely different read in the hands of a less amazing author. At it's heart, it's just about two people who have a complicated relationship in high school and then we follow them to university and things change. As you might expect. And it could have been boring or predictable, but it was neither of those things. There is a cloying closeness throughout the book - an intangible magnetism that the characters feel for each other, and that the reader feels for them. It was nuanced and real and felt like a master class in character development. I'm so glad this book got the hype it deserved and I can't wait for her next release.

Marianne and Connell are seniors at a small high school in Ireland. Marianne is from a wealthy family. She lives with her mother and older brother who are both emotionally abusive toward her. Connell is being raised by his single mother who had him when she was young. She is also the cleaning lady for Marianne’s mother. He is popular and she is sort of an outcast and known as strange by her peers. They soon begin having a sexual relationship which Connell wants to keep secret because he is afraid his friends will find out.. Eventually, she has enough of it and they stop talking.

They both begin their freshmen year at Dublin University. Their roles are reversed. Marianne is soon the popular one with friends while Connell becomes the introvert. They do see other people but seem to go back to each other on and off. Can they finally get over their differences and have a future?

Normal People by Sally Rooney is coming of age book from a couple in their teens to their early 20’s. The POV is told by both Marianne and Connell. Each chapter goes from either a week later, month later, or months later, and tells what happened since the last chapter. The book has been on several summer read lists and a bestseller in Britain. Hulu and BBC are making it into a TV series. The book was sort of a quick read, but I had a difficult time connecting with the characters. I wanted to like it more, but could not especially with the ending.. 2.5 stars.

A well-written meditation on young romance set in contemporary Ireland. It can get tedious at times, but all in all a fresh take on how men and women often work at cross-purposes in their own relationships.

I went into Normal People blind, knowing only that many people loved it.
Unfortunately, I didn't.
I liked it. I found the premise and character insights interesting and I certainly enjoyed a setting that was new to me but I just had a rough time with the point of view. Having not read anything else by Sally Rooney I don't know if the way this novel was written was different than other things she's written or if this is her style. Ultimately, I suppose it doesn't matter--it didn't work for me. I felt so very disconnected to these characters and it was disconcerting because I felt like the intimacy that I was witnessing between characters (and within characters) should make me feel more than like I was a casual observer of the years in their lives. Perhaps that's what Rooney was going for--for me to feel unaffected by these "normal people" and if that's the case, she was very successful; I just felt like the characters deserved more from me as a reader?

So while this novel wasn't the highlight of my summer reading, it made me think and I'm definitely curious about other things Rooney's written and will write to see how they compare.

Normal People by Sally Rooney is the story of two teenagers, Connell and Marianne, and their relationship over the years. Marianne is a rich girl who lives in a mansion, but is viewed as weird by the other kids at school. Connell is very popular, and his mom works for Marianne's parents. As they enter college, that changes where Marianne's popular, Connell is not. I did not like this book, I like books that are less serious, and more sweet. I also don't like how Ms. Rooney writes with no punctuation, I found it hard to follow. I can not recommend this book, but please don't go by my word alone. I will try another book by this author at some time.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you.

First. Two thoughts. To be human is to be flawed, and behind doors of many homes on your street there are people living desperate lives. A very different style of writing, takes a bit of getting used to with no quotes around conversation. And it feels like you’re just slammed into the story. And you want to keep reading. And I sit here, having finished reading it, wondering if I liked it, or loved it... thanks to NetGalley and publisher for ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review. This was an interesting read. I enjoyed the story. I've been seeing this book everywhere since it's release and I'm not surprised. I can't wait to see what else the author will come up with.

This was a raw, awkward, depressing novel really, but I kept reading it and I am glad I did. It is written very well and the characters are well defined. Sometimes you connect with someone for various reasons and they become a part of your life.
Many thanks to Crown Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This reminded me a little bit of Milkman by Anna Burns but not because of the complexity of reading the text, but because of the deeper meaning that was behind the story. This is not your average "coming of age" love story. Rooney actually was able to take a new spin on a genre that has been done a million times and make it different and something that makes the reader thinks. Marianne and Connell are too young people who fall in love but have a hard time being together due to their personal worlds being so different, both economically and emotionally. But Rooney explores these issues with wit, sharpness, sincerity, and acuteness that is a breath of fresh air. She doesn't hold anything back, especially with her remarks on the literary world.

Rooney also created characters that figuratively lept off the pages. I could feel both Marianne and Connell's pain when they were together and when they were apart. I particularly loved the examination of depression and mental health, which I wish a lot of books would discuss more. This is not for readers who are looking for a quick, romantic story however, I think they should give this one a try. They will not be disappointed with this one.

This was my first Sally Rooney book (though I own Conversations with Friends, thanks to a Goodreads giveaway. I just haven't read it yet). Everyone has talked so much about how much they love her writing, though, so I was excited to read this.

It was good, and I finished it in a day (it's a quick read). There were a lot of uncomfortable parts of this book, and it's a very character-driven story rather than a cohesive plot (beyond following their friendship through various events in their lives). The book jumps around a lot in the timeline, yet somehow the narrative structure works well. The characters are flawed, yet believable. That said, I wasn't overly invested in their story, but the writing was really well-done, which is what kept me reading. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more by Sally Rooney.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

Really enjoyed this one!!!! Kept my attention, although there were some parts I wasn't thrilled with. THanks for the opportunity!