Melanie Joosten

Normal People by Sally Rooney

Juliana

neya

kels

Chloe Heisserer

Julie

Madison

percy

nahomi

Sadie Hoffman

Darshini ✨

Mackenzie Shah

Pia 

maddie

Kylie Robinson

Maisha Prather

yearner.

Alina

beth

Somehow he was expressing more emotion than at any time in his life before, while simultaneously feeling less, feeling nothing. 

Abigail Mills

She felt she would do anything to make him like her, to make him say out loud that he liked her. 

Eliška Lhotská

She would have lain on the ground and let him walk over her body if he wanted, he knew that. 

No one can be independent of other people completely, so why not give up the attempt, she thought, go running in the other direction, depend on people for everything, allow them to depend on you, why not. She knows he loves her, she doesn't wonder about that anymore.

Life is the thing you bring with you inside your own head.

llikaditoo 

Syrina

She was attuned to the presence of his body in a microscopic way, as if the ordinary motion of his breathing was powerful enough to make her ill.

joy-lynn

He was really laughing then. Marianne, he said, I'm not a religious  person but I do sometimes think God made you for me.

rach

nica

It was culture as class performance, literature fetishised for its ability to take educated people on false emotional journeys, so that they might afterwards feel superior to the uneducated people whose emotional journeys they liked to read about.

Ezgi Hatipoğlu

kayla 

Marianne had the sense that her real life was happening somewhere very far away, happening without her, and she didn’t know if she would ever find out where it was and become part of it. She had that feeling in school often, but it wasn’t accompanied by any specific images of what the real life might look or feel like. All she knew was that when it started, she wouldn’t need to imagine it anymore.

Anna Cassmer Ling-Vannérus

If people appeared to behave pointlessly in grief, it was only because human life was pointless, and this was the truth that grief revealed. 

Shari Ilg

Laura Dobie

Sophia Bowers

sofia mae

nidsy

Sally Rooney

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the celebrated author of Conversations with Friends comes "a stunning novel about the transformative power of relationships" (People), hailed as "a masterpiece, pure and simple" (Minneapolis Star Tribune). "Among the vast cohort of new millennial novelists, none are connecting with readers as intimately, or generating as much excitement, as Sally Rooney."--Entertainment Weekly WINNER OF THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARD * WINNER OF THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD * LONGLISTED FOR: THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE * THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE * THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION * THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE * THE KERRY GROUP IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD At school Connell and Marianne pretend not to know each other. He's popular and well-adjusted, star of the school football team, while she is lonely, proud, and intensely private. But when Connell comes to pick his mother up from her job at Marianne's house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenagers--one they are determined to conceal. A year later, they're both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. And as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other. Sally Rooney brings her brilliant psychological acuity and perfectly spare prose to a story that explores the subtleties of class, the electricity of first love, and the complex entanglements of family and friendship. Praise for Normal People "[Rooney] has been hailed as the first great millennial novelist for her stories of love and late capitalism . . . [she writes] some of the best dialogue I've read."--The New Yorker "Arguably the buzziest novel of the season, Sally Rooney's elegant sophomore effort . . . is a worthy successor to Conversations With Friends. Here, again, she unflinchingly explores class dynamics and young love with wit and nuance."--The Wall Street Journal, "12 Best Books of Spring" "Keenly observed, deeply perceptive, and psychologically acute, Normal People brims with disarming insights into how men and women wrestle with sex, class, popularity, and young love."--Esquire, "Best Books to Read This Spring"

A Novel

Normal People

- i definitely see the appeal of sally rooney as a writer now. she has such a solid grasp on what it means to be young and unsure, but also hungry and full of desire. so many of her characters are desperate to receive validation, acceptance.... some kind of message to know they are loved despite their abnormalities. all her characters experience such traumatic inner worlds, yet by the time the book is over you feel so.... safe? comforted? loved?

- that being said, i have dramatically conflicted feelings for normal people. the whole experience was just.... painful, and exhausting. there is so much trauma and sadness packed into this little novel that i did not see coming, and it wasn’t until the VERY end where you are pulled back up from underwater. it’s emotionally draining and stressful at every moment it finds the opportunity to be so, and it brought out such extreme feelings of frustration, emptiness, and sheer terror that i closed the book unsure on if i actually enjoyed the experience or not

- connell was a monumental piece of shit and made me want to pull my hair out in nearly every chapter. marianne, the poor girl, deserves the whole world. some of the later chapters where she just shrinks into herself were unbearable, it was just cruel

- idk.... very unsure how i feel. i’ll definitely write an updated review in a couple months. truthfully, though, the first half (maybe two thirds) of the novel were filled with very negative feelings

smile??

- i definitely see the appeal of sally rooney as a writer now. she has such a solid grasp on what it means to be young and unsure, but also hungry and full of desire. so many of her characters are desperate to receive validation, acceptance.... some kind of message to know they are loved despite their abnormalities. all her characters experience such traumatic inner worlds, yet by the time the book is over you feel so.... safe? comforted? loved?

- that being said, i have dramatically conflicted feelings for normal people. the whole experience was just.... painful, and exhausting. there is so much trauma and sadness packed into this little novel that i did not see coming, and it wasn’t until the VERY end where you are pulled back up from underwater. it’s emotionally draining and stressful at every moment it finds the opportunity to be so, and it brought out such extreme feelings of frustration, emptiness, and sheer terror that i closed the book unsure on if i actually enjoyed the experience or not

- connell was a monumental piece of shit and made me want to pull my hair out in nearly every chapter. marianne, the poor girl, deserves the whole world. some of the later chapters where she just shrinks into herself were unbearable, it was just cruel

- idk.... very unsure how i feel. i’ll definitely write an updated review in a couple months. truthfully, though, the first half (maybe two thirds) of the novel were filled with very negative feelings

OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES AND TOP FIVE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER THE BBC THREE ADAPTATION OF NORMAL PEOPLE WILL PREMIERE ON APRIL 26 WINNER OF THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2018 WINNER OF THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS NOVEL OF THE YEAR WINNER OF NOVEL OF THE YEAR AND BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS WINNER OF THE SPECSAVERS NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS INTERNATIONAL AUTHOR OF THE YEAR LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2018 LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2019 Connell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in the west of Ireland, but the similarities end there. In school, Connell is popular and well-liked, while Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation - awkward but electrifying - something life-changing begins. Normal People is a story of mutual fascination, friendship and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find they can't. 'The literary phenomenon of the decade.' - Guardian SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD 2019 SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ENCORE PRIZE 2019 LONGLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2019

it’s difficult for me to say whether this is a good book or a bad one. it felt very layered, yet very flat at the same time somehow. kinda matter-of-factly. this is this and that is that. i guess that’s her style and maybe i’m just not the target audience. i liked when she included her/her characters political views or that whole dilemma about classes and power and capitalism and how we are kind of helpless against it. i wished there was more of that, especially throughout the middle/main part of the book, because i liked the beginning and i somewhat liked the ending but that middle part seemed to be just sex and parties and drunkenness and mess, which i would have been okay with had it not seemed a bit pointless (?) i honestly don’t know. also potentially should have looked up trigger warnings beforehand but that’s on me

jana 

i wanted to like it so bad, but it comes of as erratic and i did not like the ending

kate 

It was both very vexing and interesting at the same time

maderinn⟢

I'm having a difficult time properly rating this book because I had a hard time putting it down while reading, but ultimately felt disappointed with it as a whole. 

The best aspect of the book to me is the dialogue between characters. It's smart, honest, and feels moderately realistic. The dialogue is what hooked me and kept me turning pages well past what I intended each reading session.

Some may find themselves frustrated by both Connell and Marianne's inability to grow as individuals. We are introduced to them when they are in high school and finish with them as young adults figuring out what the future holds for them post-university. From beginning to end, they still have the same communication problems, the same character flaws, and the same attachment to each other. Every time you think, "maybe they've learned now, they'll be good this time", they revert right back to their old ways and mess things up for each other all over again. Personally, I found this to be a realistic and relatable representation of young adulthood and didn't mind the choice, but it is insanely frustrating to read at times.

What I really didn't like was how little depth there is to the characters. We are outright told things about Connell and Marianne that absolutely contribute to who they are as characters, but we never really get to explore any of those subjects because the focus always remains on Connell and Marianne's relationship with each other. Every major character revelation is quickly brushed aside and hardly acknowledged again. These characters have trauma, but the trauma is never addressed, which I do think can serve as an explanation for the previously mentioned lack of growth. That might also just be another realistic feature of the book. 

Ultimately, "Normal People" is an incredibly entertaining read that has some beautiful moments in it. That alone makes it worth enjoying to me.

Bryce Widdel

I'm having a difficult time properly rating this book because I had a hard time putting it down while reading, but ultimately felt disappointed with it as a whole. 

The best aspect of the book to me is the dialogue between characters. It's smart, honest, and feels moderately realistic. The dialogue is what hooked me and kept me turning pages well past what I intended each reading session.

Some may find themselves frustrated by both Connell and Marianne's inability to grow as individuals. We are introduced to them when they are in high school and finish with them as young adults figuring out what the future holds for them post-university. From beginning to end, they still have the same communication problems, the same character flaws, and the same attachment to each other. Every time you think, "maybe they've learned now, they'll be good this time", they revert right back to their old ways and mess things up for each other all over again. Personally, I found this to be a realistic and relatable representation of young adulthood and didn't mind the choice, but it is insanely frustrating to read at times.

What I really didn't like was how little depth there is to the characters. We are outright told things about Connell and Marianne that absolutely contribute to who they are as characters, but we never really get to explore any of those subjects because the focus always remains on Connell and Marianne's relationship with each other. Every major character revelation is quickly brushed aside and hardly acknowledged again. These characters have trauma, but the trauma is never addressed, which I do think can serve as an explanation for the previously mentioned lack of growth. That might also just be another realistic feature of the book. 

Ultimately, "Normal People" is an incredibly entertaining read that has some beautiful moments in it. That alone makes it worth enjoying to me.

finished in one sitting, safe to say it whisks you away.

Alanna Rieser

Za izbingeat i plakat, 13 reasons why vibe

Eva Cace

An emotional journey for sure. I feel like I understand a younger version of myself better and can see my current self better after reading it. The words unspoken between two people so clearly in love because the fear of losing that person is so crippling is all too relatable. I feel for both Marianne and Connell on such a deep level I just wish they weren’t cowards and embraced love. It’s so scary even terrifying but there’s also something so safe in having your person. 

Joe Ricupero

so this is just an irish version of The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton? (because you think it’s a love story, which it is, but still covers things like class and gender) i think for a 2018 book it eats but reading this in 2025 makes it a bit paler than i thought it would be. i also really didn’t want to read this because a main trope is miscommunication, but it’s not as bad as i thought it would be. i do love the writing style though, always have a soft spot for the gentle and mundane against some terrible shi happening

Ianna Chia

sadly i eat this up like i couldn’t put the book down i think this is one of the very few books that have gone viral on booktok and i actually get the hype. such an easy read

nina 

Teenagers Connell and Marianne pretend not to know each other. He's popular and well-adjusted, star of the school football team, while she is lonely, proud and intensely private. But when Connell comes to pick his mother up from her job at Marianne's house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenagers - one they are determined to conceal. A year later, they're both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world, while Connell hangs on the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their time at university, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities. And as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other...

normal people by sally rooney is a novel that, while having a good plot, can be a bit challenging to read because of the author’s writing style—especially the dialogues, which don’t use quotation marks when the characters are talking to each other. the story mainly revolves around marianne and connell’s on-and-off relationship, with a heavy focus on their sex life, which at times overshadows other aspects of their characters. it would have been more compelling if the narrative dug deeper into marianne’s troubled family and the abuse she experiences, as well as connell’s way of thinking and the reasons behind his struggles. i do love how the book ends openly, leaving readers to choose their own version of how their story continues, but it also really frustrates me that this was the ending after everything they went through. despite these mixed feelings, the book still offers an honest portrayal of intimacy, miscommunication, and the messiness of young love.

in my opinion the ultimate sally rooney book. i have not read the new one and based on my review of the first one you might think normal people would not be up my alley. but it precisely is. it evokes raw emotion in a way most books don't. it is also the only time a sally rooney book does not suffer from prolonged political commentaries disguised as mere conversations. the way the characters connect and interact is so captivating

Vincent Osvald

Normale Menschen

Ich habe gedacht, dass ich dieses Buch nicht mögen würde, doch es hat mich positiv überrascht und emotional so sehr mitgenommen, wie ich es niemals erwartet hätte.

Ich habe dieses Buch während meiner Rom Reise gelesen und ich denke, dass das ebenfalls einen Einfluss darauf hatte, wie ich dem Buch gegenüber empfinde.

Diese Geschichte ist keine Love Story und zum allerersten Mal geht es in einem Buch meiner Meinung nach nicht zentral um die romantische Beziehung zwischen den beiden Protagonisten, sondern um eine tiefe Freundschaft, eine Verbundenheit und Vertrautheit, wie ich sie so noch nie gelesen habe. Dieses Buch hat in mir so starke Gefühle ausgelöst, mich zum Weinen gebracht, und jedes Mal, wenn ich es in den Händen halte, werde ich von den Emotionen überschwemmt, die ich beim Lesen empfunden habe. Sally Rooney konnte all das in einem Leser/Leserin auslösen und dabei einen Schreibstil verwenden, der sehr nüchtern und einfach ist. How?!

Das Buch behandelt wichtige Themen wie den Kampf gegen Minderwertigkeitsgefühle, Depression, gesellschaftlichen Rang sowie Freundschaft, Liebe und Zugehörigkeit.

Ich werde Connell und Marianne wahrscheinlich nicht so schnell vergessen können.

Zainab 

Ich habe gedacht, dass ich dieses Buch nicht mögen würde, doch es hat mich positiv überrascht und emotional so sehr mitgenommen, wie ich es niemals erwartet hätte.

Ich habe dieses Buch während meiner Rom Reise gelesen und ich denke, dass das ebenfalls einen Einfluss darauf hatte, wie ich dem Buch gegenüber empfinde.

Diese Geschichte ist keine Love Story und zum allerersten Mal geht es in einem Buch meiner Meinung nach nicht zentral um die romantische Beziehung zwischen den beiden Protagonisten, sondern um eine tiefe Freundschaft, eine Verbundenheit und Vertrautheit, wie ich sie so noch nie gelesen habe. Dieses Buch hat in mir so starke Gefühle ausgelöst, mich zum Weinen gebracht, und jedes Mal, wenn ich es in den Händen halte, werde ich von den Emotionen überschwemmt, die ich beim Lesen empfunden habe. Sally Rooney konnte all das in einem Leser/Leserin auslösen und dabei einen Schreibstil verwenden, der sehr nüchtern und einfach ist. How?!

Das Buch behandelt wichtige Themen wie den Kampf gegen Minderwertigkeitsgefühle, Depression, gesellschaftlichen Rang sowie Freundschaft, Liebe und Zugehörigkeit.

Ich werde Connell und Marianne wahrscheinlich nicht so schnell vergessen können.

sometimes you love people so intensely, it changes you ! 

anyway the missed communication huRt me physically at times here,, simply put:: if situationship intense,, how not real relationship??? 

Nat Wong

sometimes you love people so intensely, it changes you ! 

anyway the missed communication huRt me physically at times here,, simply put:: if situationship intense,, how not real relationship??? 

From what I’ve read about this story, it is controversial. I think there’s no way to understand it if you haven’t lived an experienced close to the relationship of marryanne and Connell.

This book is honest and raw. I feel like it does well describing the experience of your twenties. Whether or not you are in this kind of romantic situation or not.

As for the read, it was very slow, but interesting and kept me entertained. I found myself frustrated many times trying to force something to happen between the two, as if it were my story to tell. But it isn’t, and that’s the entire point. When I read the last chapter, this book became clear to me.

I don’t think I would recommend this to someone, but I enjoyed it and found it relatable at times.

Hadley 

From what I’ve read about this story, it is controversial. I think there’s no way to understand it if you haven’t lived an experienced close to the relationship of marryanne and Connell.

This book is honest and raw. I feel like it does well describing the experience of your twenties. Whether or not you are in this kind of romantic situation or not.

As for the read, it was very slow, but interesting and kept me entertained. I found myself frustrated many times trying to force something to happen between the two, as if it were my story to tell. But it isn’t, and that’s the entire point. When I read the last chapter, this book became clear to me.

I don’t think I would recommend this to someone, but I enjoyed it and found it relatable at times.

finja

as much as I understand how the author is trying to capture how the relationship dynamic between the characters is undeniably realistic, it is just too anticlimatic and lack of emotions. 

zahra

the most heart-breaking but comforting book i have ever known. i could read it over and over again and it would kill me every time. 

evie coxon

Anticlimactic and kind of boring. Complex characters but they were both honestly infuriating and the entire relationship was kind of gross to observe

I avoided this book because it was so hyped, but I'm glad I finally read it. It's well worth the hype. I grew to really like the main characters. We follow their overlapping lives over the years, and we get to dig deeper and see them grow. There's a beautiful authenticity that's revealed and it's satisfying to see them find acceptance and embrace themselves.

Saffia

I really can’t bring myself to give a gaf about them im sorry

Cate

Connell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in the west of Ireland, but the similarities end there. In school, Connell is popular and well-liked, while Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation - awkward but electrifying - something life-changing begins. Normal People is a story of mutual fascination, friendship and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find they can't.

it was a story that i read very easily and it was very emotional and unique. it was very interesting to read it while watching the show. marianne and connell were very relatable and i really found myself in them. there are many people, and i include myself, who do not know how to "communicate" their feelings, maybe they find it difficult or even cannot do it. this is a good example of how people keep making the same mistakes over and over again, and how they simply won't grow up.

i know that many people find the lack of quotation marks tiresome  because it's hard to tell when it's dialogue and everything seems messy but so is life and you can't always understand it, so i think this makes it much more fascinating. the dialogue was really entertaining and i would like to read more of the author's writings.

victor

it was a story that i read very easily and it was very emotional and unique. it was very interesting to read it while watching the show. marianne and connell were very relatable and i really found myself in them. there are many people, and i include myself, who do not know how to "communicate" their feelings, maybe they find it difficult or even cannot do it. this is a good example of how people keep making the same mistakes over and over again, and how they simply won't grow up.

i know that many people find the lack of quotation marks tiresome  because it's hard to tell when it's dialogue and everything seems messy but so is life and you can't always understand it, so i think this makes it much more fascinating. the dialogue was really entertaining and i would like to read more of the author's writings.

loved this book to the moon and back, gave me a new perspective on my relationships with other people

Normal People by Sally Rooney

Reviews

Highlights