cover

Author: Sally Rooney

Format: Paperback

Normal People follows Connell and Marianne, two high schoolers living in a small town in Ireland, who begin an on-and-off situationship/relationship/friendship/thing in high school and follows their tumultuous relationship through university as they both grow into adulthood. The novel is a quick read and very well written; each individual conflict and poor decision made by the pseudo-couple feels entirely reasonable and relatable. The plot itself is relatively well-trodden - it’s hard to say that the novel is tropey, per se, but none of it feels particularly innovative. The book does in fact, do what it says on the tin, and mostly just presents a very understandable glimpse into the lives of two relatively normal people struggling through life.

I thought the ending was maybe the weakest part of the book, though I still broadly enjoyed it - (minor spoilers ahead) the final conflict feels like some sort of culmination of some of the insecurities / etc that the two go through but it gets resolved when Marianne’s family is abusive and Connell has to go save her from them, with only a passing mention in their final things-will-probably-be-ok scene.

Also Connell does highkey kinda read as an egg at points but maybe I’m biased.