A book review of Normal People by Sally Rooney
seriously, why didn't he ask her to the Debs?
I’ve had this book for about a year, probably more. I can’t say exactly what made me pick it up and decide to finally read it, but I’m so glad that I did. (I’m lying because I spent about an hour watching Normal People edits on TikTok) This book is different from any other book that I’ve read. Granted I haven’t read a book outside of high school required reading in a couple of years, so my expectations were deep in the gutter.
Before the review, my qualifications as a reviewer…
I have an undying commitment to consuming media that falls in between the confines of The Book of Disquiet (next up on my book reviews) and The Twilight Saga. Some of my absolute favorite books are The Color Purple, The Thing About Jellyfish, Love is a Dog from Hell, The Red Queen Series, Pride and Prejudice, and my Wattpad favs that I will gatekeep forever. I’m not scared to shy away from art in any form and I will give my honest review ALWAYS. Let's get into Normal People.
Trigger warnings (or lack thereof)
As a reader, I’ve never considered trigger warnings before but there’s a first for everything! This book covers A LOT of sensitive topics and I cannot imagine reading it any younger or any less mature. It’s not a silly little romance novel (like a John Green or any other YA romance). This book is REAL— not to be taken in the way “real” has grown to mean— but it’s serious. It details real-life experiences and difficult emotions. In this sense, I’m happy that I went in blind because it gave the same effect on how we experience life, relationships, and romance. At some points, and it should be known I’m a dramatic person anyway, I would put the book down and audibly attempt to chastise or console Marianne and Connell. If I would have known the content of the book I still would have read it, but if you’re more sensitive you can read more about any potential triggers here.
In general
I loved the book. One thing that I remarked to my mom about Normal People was Rooney’s use of imagery. In some books that I’ve read (Great Expectations), the author will go on and on describing a certain scene, which can be good, but for me it often gets me out of the flow of the book. The first time I sat down to read the book I got to page 60 because it’s so easy to get into Rooney’s flow and really feel like you’re in the story. I felt genuinely intrigued by Connell, Marianne, and their surroundings from the very beginning.
I think it's also important for me to mention that I saw myself in the characters. As a black woman reading romance novels, I often find it hard to connect to the characters when they're white. Simply put, often the white romantic experience in literature is vastly less complex and lacking in some of the difficulties that POCs face (naturally). However, this book wasn’t unrelatable in that sense. I felt that this book contained SO much nuance, not based on race as Connell and Marianne were both white, but that Rooney considered socioeconomic background as a huge factor in their love story (which it was— in this story and many others— however a lot of authors barely deal with it or dismiss it altogether).
The quotation marks were M.I.A.
This book did not have ANY quotation marks for dialogue, it was simply written as sentences. I have to admit I liked it. I’ve even seen a theory that the lack of quotation marks was meant to emphasize the miscommunication and difficulty that they had in understanding each other. At first, it was a bit off-putting, but it was very easy to pick up and fall into the flow of the novel.
This book had such interesting formatting. At the end of chapters, I would be like “wow that was a wholesome moment I’m sure they’ll actually be together now," but then SIX MONTHS will pass and nothing will have changed. For me, that was super frustrating, and it almost made me want to quit reading. Despite that, I was constantly drawn in by the way that Rooney wrote their relationship. Even when it “wasn't romantic,” which I feel like it always was, they always had such complex feelings and ideas of each other.
This is also true in real life, when forming an opinion of anyone there are so many different forces at work: your perspective, the opinions of others, your history, how you’re feeling on that day, etc. Rooney laid these forces bare and clearly showed how they affect how we view and interact with the people that we love the most. Even though this happens all of the time in real life, having to read about it made me ornery. At some point, I had hoped that Connell and Marianne would put aside their preconceived notions of each other and just see the other person for who they truly were, but it never happened.
Let’s discuss the ending *SPOILERS*
[This is a filler sentence so that you don’t accidentally read something that you didn’t mean to.] I mean, after everything that they went through I found it shocking that they never fully decided to be together (or at least that’s the impression I received). That’s what killed me about the ending, I never really knew that they were going to be together finally and be happy. I wanted that so much for both of them, the security of being actually together rather than relying on understood or uncommunicated feelings (LIKE THEY DID THE ENTIRE BOOK). However, I keep turning that thought on its head— like there are real relationships that are based on unspoken feelings— but are they as strong as relationships where both people have verbally decided to be together? I don’t know the answer to that one, but at this point, I believe that Connell and Marianne deserve much more than understood feelings. I find that relationships are built on understood feelings but also a verbal commitment and constant action to support those feelings. When I think about it maybe Connell and Marianne have that, I just don’t know why this ending doesn’t feel like happily ever after.
Final remarks
If you can’t tell, I really liked this book. It’s a good choice especially if you want a romance book that makes you think about the human experience. If I could, I would absolutely change the ending, but I didn’t really hate it. If you’re just on the precipice of starting your “real” life (like me) or waiting to be swept off of your feet (also me) this book might be the answer to your prayers. It really gets into that feeling of being unanchored in life and the journey of finding oneself both alone and with someone else. Even if you take the romance out of it, Normal People conveys emotions relevant to anyone who is seeking to belong and find their place in the world.
Normal People rating: 8.7/10 ~must read
brb going to watch the show on Hulu :)
This was such a great review!! I love how you described their relationship and how it connected with struggles outside of romantic situations. (Im also currently reading the book of disquiet)