Normal People by Sally Rooney

Wow we have not written a blog post in a HOT minute!! But we are back and better than ever and I have a LOT of books to talk about!

I just finished reading Normal People, and my first impression of the book was that it was definitely not what I thought it was going to be. I thought this was going to be an easy-to-read, Taylor Jenkins Reid-esque book; a light romance with some shocking but eventually easy-to-digest twists. That is not what I got.

Rooney’s writing style is definitely easy-to-read, in the sense that I read it in less than two days. But the story itself was heavy, thoughtful, and just straight up depressing. As I read, I just became more and more lonely, as if I was living inside of the heads of Connell and Marianne, experiencing their melancholy versions of love, never truly understanding the meaning of happiness.

Despite its gradual downward spiral into a deep depression, it is a very good book. The subtleties of the way Marianne and Connell show their love to each other is so intriguing, and the paralleled between their relationship and their other relationships is so deep and important.

This is a book that makes you feel things, and most of them are not good things. Still, it is a work of art in the sense that it evokes a strong emotional response in the reader. These strong emotions make it so that when there is a good moment, or a line (i.e. “I’m not a religious person but I do sometimes think God made you for me”) it tugs on your heart even harder.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely pretty heavy and mature, but it was a fast read and it really made me think.

-Bella