This is one of the best books I have read in the past few years. Sally Rooney managed to capture the feeling of adolescence, love and friendship in all of its confusing and complicated glory for those in their college years. It's an absolutely brilliant read that feels like a modern day "Catcher in the Rye."

Many critics have considered this book a contemporary zeitgeist, and I think that's a really valid statement. All though the book can be pretty relatable to younger people, Rooney has a talent for writing about the and mental strategy and acuteness that go into presenting yourself socially and in personal relationships. The book is definitely intense at times, but it's an intensity that is super resonate, particularly with younger people. Bringing in dynamics of socioeconomic class and privilege makes class consciousness a critical factor that I think people in their 20s and 30s are in tune with more so than other generations I definitely recommend this book, it's so good!!

I loved every bit of this book. From the moment I read the first few lines, I knew I would have a hard time putting it down. I had a visceral connection to it almost immediately and I couldn't put it down. I didn't want to.

The books I love fall into two categories: books i have no qualms about recommending to everyone and books I love but I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending without a bunch of caveats. This book falls in the latter category.

I want to start with the caveats:
- this might be boring for many, there's no plot, nothing really happens and there's no "ending" either. It's almost like a glimpse into the lives of these characters over the course of a few years.
- there is a lot of sex and drinking and some drugs in the book. not many graphic descriptions of any of it but if you're sensitive it will bother you.
- the secondary characters are not well developed and are so not the point of the story that the writers almost comes off like she couldn't be bothered
- it's hard to tell what the "point" of the story is or if there even is one.

I will also say while I liked it ok, I didn't love Rooney's first novel and I didn't go into this thinking it was going to be amazing. Man Booker prize finalists are a mixed bag in my opinion so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Ok, now that I have all the other caveats out of the way, I am going to come back to: I loved this book. I will thinking about it for a long, long time. I've underlined many parts of it. So much of this book connected with me.

I don't even know how to describe what spoke to me so deeply. It's so human is the best way I can think to describe it. The emotions the two main characters have, the deep conflict, the constant miscommunication (or lack of communication) that is a result of their own insecurities, their own feelings of inadequacy can be felt so acutely in this story that it made me wince several times. There are so many moments of realizations for the characters, moments where they see how their idea of something doesn't really match up with the reality of the world and how their distorted thinking ruins their chances of joy again and again. It felt so true and real to me.


Here are a few quotes that really spoke to me::

Marianne sometimes sees herself at the very bottom of the ladder, but at other times she pictures herself off the ladder completely, not affected by its mechanics since she does not actually desire popularity or do anything to make it belong to her. From her vantage point, it's not obvious what rewards the ladder provides, even to those who really are at the top.

The ladder is complicated for all people, at all rungs.

Even in memory she will find this moment unbearably intense, and she's aware of this now, while it's happening. She has never believed herself fit to be loved by any person. But now she has a new life, of which this is the first moment, and even after many years have passed she will still think: Yes, that was it, the beginning of my life.

This was such a touching moment for me. Those times in your life when you can experience something monumental and be aware of it's hugeness at the same time. Sort of like both living and observing your life simultaneously.

He knew that the secret for which he had sacrificed his own happiness and the happiness of another person had been trivial all along, and worthless.

Isn't this the saddest moment when you find out this thing you were so afraid of being "found out" for was meaningless to others? What you made so big in your mind, what you contorted your life for.

You learn nothing very profound about yourself simply by being bullied but by bullying someone else you learn something you can never forget.

i wish this were true. I don't know if it is.

No one can be independent of other people completely, do 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.

this might be the crux of this story in the end. if only we could.

I can't even tell you what the story is about. I just know that there's so much of it that spoke to me. And I can totally see that at another time, in another place, I might have found all of it empty and pointless. But I didn't. I connected with this deeply and felt rewarded again and again throughout the story.

huge thanks to netgalley for an advance copy in return for an honest review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This coming of age story focuses around two young people who grow up together in a complicated relationship. With a focus on 4 years of their lives, this book shows the depth of love, its’ boundaries and its’ insecurities. It is a story that will touch your heart and leave you pondering the character’s intentions.

Thank you to @netgalley and @hogarthbooks for this ARC in return for an honest review

4 stars

To be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about this book. I did however, find it quite interesting and finished it in two seatings! I have to say I did not particularly like the ending, but I guess it made sense for this book and the characters involved . If you are looking for a traditional love story, or at least a few normal characters, this is not the book for you . However, it really is quite an interesting study of disfunctional relationships !

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for my review. I was really excited to read this story as it has been given lots of advance praise and possible awards, but it really didn't click for me. It is the story of Connell, who's mother cleans the house of Marianne's parents. Connell is the most popular student in high school and if anyone knew that he enjoyed spending time with the socially awkard Marianne it would kill Connell's social status in a hurry. Fast forward to their college years and Connel and Marianne are both attending Trinity College in Dublin, but their social lives have switched. Marianne is the darling of the social scene and Connell is struggling to fit in.

I really didn't like either one of the characters. There was really nothing redeemable in either one. Also, despite all the praise I also didn't care for the author's writing style either. For me, it was not a good story at all.

This book was painful. I devoured it in one day. I cant say I identified with either character, but the writing was so unflinchingly poignant and raw that I couldnt put it down. I cant say I liked or enjoyed the story either, but the writing. The writing! Another reviewer’s words really resonated with me, saying that the book doesnt set out to inspire, instruct or entertain, but simple presents the (painful) truths of youthful experiences without the filters of nostalgia or sentimentality. The author allows you to climb completely into the character’s minds and experience their pain and turmoil first hand, which is both alluring and revolting. As a reader you’re enthralled by the prose but as a human being you’re scarred by the subject matter and the utter misery the characters experience. Excellently written, but not one I could pick up and give another go, for fear of my own phsyche never recovering.

3.5 stars.

Sally Rooney's upcoming novel Normal People almost felt like a puzzle, in that you didn't really know what you were truly getting until all of the pieces came together. Beautifully written although a little slow in its pacing, it's a novel full of deep emotions, which made it difficult to read at times.

Connell and Marianne know each other from high school, although they pretend not to, plus his mother works as a cleaner for her family. Marianne is a bit of a laughing stock in school, mainly because she doesn't care what her classmates think of her. Connell is tremendously affected by what people think of him, so when a connection starts to grow between him and Marianne, and turns to something physical and even emotional, they keep it hidden, and he ignores her in school.

"At times he has the sensation that he and Marianne are like figure-skaters, improvising their discussions so adeptly and in such perfect synchronisation that it surprises them both. She tosses herself gracefully into the air, and each time, without knowing how he's going to do it, he catches her."

Marianne feels so intensely for Connell, and she is willing to let him possess her completely. He can't explain his feelings for Marianne, except that she thinks so highly of him, but he continues to fear what his peers would think if they knew what was going on. He winds up treating her badly, leaving her to deal with her own emotional distress.

One year later, both are studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Connell feels uneasy, no longer the popular fellow he was in high school, and has difficulty relating to his peers and fitting in. Marianne, on the other hand, is comfortable in this world, enjoying deep conversations about the political and economic issues facing society, and being looked at as an object of desire, not ridicule by her fellow students. No matter what other opportunities present themselves, the pair finds themselves drawn to each other once again, enjoying the way their interactions make them feel yet falling into the same patterns which cause friction.

"Marianne had a wildness that got into him for a while and made him feel that he was like her, that they had the same unnameable spiritual injury, and that neither of them could ever fit into the world. But he was never damaged like she was. She just made him feel that way."

Normal People follows Marianne and Connell through their time at college, through different relationships and the periodic circling back to one another, whether solely for friendship or something else. Each chapter, with a few exceptions, takes place a few months after the last one. But Marianne's penchant for self-destruction and Connell's inability to cope with the emotional stresses he faces leave them both unsure what their relationship should be and could be, if anything.

Marianne's feeling she is unworthy of being loved without abuse or mistreatment, and the way she is treated by her family, boyfriends, and others, is very difficult to read about at times. Connell's bouts with depression are also quite painful to read, so at times this book felt very heavy, and its pacing seemed to move much slower than I would have liked. And like many books which focus on relationships, at times I wanted to shake both characters to make them say the things they wanted to, to each other and other people in their lives.

Despite the book's emotional turmoil, Rooney's writing is exceptional. There were so many passages beyond the two I've cited in this review that I read over and over again, marveling at her use of language and imagery. She definitely got me completely immersed in this book and these characters, even when things seemed particularly draining or moved slowly. Normal People is really affecting, and it will stick with me for a long time.

NetGalley and Crown Publishing provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Sally Rooney writes modern classics. Excellent fine-drawn characters who pull you in and break your heart. I can understand why this novel is a prize winner, subtle but powerful it epitomizes great writing.

This novel has garnered the highest accolades possible -- even to winning the prestigious Costa Award for best novel and favored to win that award for best book of the year. Rooney's writing is so subtle and yet fearless, it is impossible to deny her powers of observation and delineation of character. Her skill at devising those characters is so deft that when the finale comes, a reader who has been so immersed, feels as if they know these people intimately, maybe even more so than the people themselves. Marianne and Connell personify the terrors of commitment. Despite their early connection of Connell's mum being Marianne's family housekeeper, they attend the same secondary school, where she is an outcast and he, a star. Their mutual attraction is so profound they deny it, keeping it a secret from his (supportive and loving) mother and her (abusive and sadistic) family. Advancing linearly, their Uni life and personal changes evolve over the course of a number of years as they come into their own, individually and together, personifying today's youth.

I'd say an honest 3.5 stars.

I've always enjoyed novels that takes one character, a set of characters, or whatever grouping you'd prefer, through glimpses of their lives over several years. In this novel, we get the pivotal years of Connell & Marianne (and a revolving cast) from the equivalent of senior year of high school through undergrad. I'm roughly 20 years removed from this timeframe, but the author did an impeccable job in making the characters so easy to relate to.

Will everyone relate to the storylines of depression, anxiety, and heartbreak? No. But for those of us who have experienced any of these, I'd say Sally Rooney nailed it to the core. The writing was stark and succinct exactly when it needed to be. That's not to say this novel is a tearjerker (I didn't find myself reaching for any tissues), but it will evoke some real emotion.

I was a big fan of "Conversations with Friends" and couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. It did not disappoint! I devoured it in one day because I simply could not take me mind off the budding romance between Connell and Marianne. At times I was rooting for them. At times I was not. I was, however, invested in the outcome 100% of the time.

Normal People is a really unconventional love story paired with a protagonist that I just could not like or empathize with. Marianne was strange, sure, but I expected some type of character growth from her. It’s like she just kept getting worse, more disturbed and less confident in herself and her decisions as time went on instead of the opposite happening. I adored Connell but there were plenty of times I was just saying, “WTF are you doing, Connell?” out of pure frustration. And pretty much all of the other characters in this with the exception of Niall were so one-dimensional, shallow and ridiculous that I sincerely hope they’re just an exaggeration and aren’t inspired by real people.

I didn’t particularly like the writing style - it just wasn’t for me and took me a while to get through quite honestly. 3 stars because it did keep my interest throughout.

I really couldn’t put this book down in the last day or two. I found myself feeling like the third wheel in a very intimate relationship between two very dynamic characters who change and evolve throughout the novel. Author Sally Rooney brilliantly creates a world revolving around Connell and Marianne focusing on individual moments and pieces of time that amount to a relationship that almost feels like a lifetime. I loved the style of changing back and forth between voices and timelines throughout the novel. It felt natural and necessary. I absolutely think this novel would make a good novel for students to read in examining a number of different critical theories.

This was very well written, I can see why people are talking about it so much! I wouldn't say that it was a book I liked, but I also couldn't put it down!

Thanks to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for providing me an ARC of Normal People in exchange for an honest review.

"Normal People" depicts love and friendship in a way that it is intimate and even slightly uncomfortable at times. At different points, I could relate and empathize with the two protagonists in the story. I found myself channeling my younger teenage self in Marianne where I had to constantly battle my own feelings of desperately wanting to feel loved and keep that "giddiness" feeling that only a first love can give you with knowing that I needed to stand up for myself and not be a glutton for punishment time and time again. With Connell, I felt his pain of being torn between two worlds--the riskier unknown path where I feel I can be my true and authentic self with the safe path where I can be content and fit in, but not challenge myself.

I feel Rooney took on a risk with this book. So many different issues were brought into it-- socioecomic status, feminism, violence, self-worth/confidence, mental illness that overall I felt like it was too much thrown at you. I feel like by dialing it back a bit and not including so many important and big issues, it could have been more effective and felt more powerful.

I enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would. I'm 66 and beyond first love but everyone recommended it. I'm so glad I listened.

It brought back all the feelings and unsecurities of your first love. And not being part of the popular circle.

I did want to hit Connell in the head a few times but his mother did that for me.

Definitely will get her new book.

***I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Faber & Faber and Sally Rooney.***

Normal People, by Sally Rooney, is a uniquely written book with a lot of rawness and emotion. Connell’s mum is a housekeeper at Marianne’s house. They go to high school together. Connell is a popular athlete while Marianne is a loner who’s seen as odd. They begin an affair in secret. Once they get to university, their roles switch. Marianne is popular and Connell is uncertain and lacking the confidence he seemed to exude in high school. This book follows their relationship over the course of 4 years.

The writing in this story was interesting and distinctive, although admittedly probably not for everyone. It took me a little while to get used to it, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. The story telling is done in periods of time. There is a fair amount of jumping around, where characters think back to a previous time period, and this makes the story a bit disjoint at times. The plot was Interesting, hitting on mental health, class differences, and the intricacies of first love, friendship and family. The main characters were challenging to relate to, sometimes maddening in their thinking, but at the same time unpredictable and aroused intense curiosity in me. They had such a unique ebb and flow of intimacy. Marianne and Connell shared very few words—especially important ones—unless they were in an intimate situation, yet somehow their emails managed to seem incredibly intimate. There is dark and light in the story, but it left me with an over whelming feeling of sadness.

What starts out as a sweet love story about two misunderstood teens, turns into an adult love story that is more roller coaster than epic. At times you wish Connell and Marianne would figure out what they want and move on, but I found myself rooting for them when they expressed how they felt. Overall, the book is an interesting take on modern love.

This is a brilliant psychological study that carries the reader along with suspense that also manages to include bright and powerful prose. A great effort by a wonderful talent.