Normal People, Sally Rooney

Normally I am always the last one to find out about anything, but luckily I picked up normal people two weeks before the infamous TV show dropped!Sally Rooney's Normal People (2019) is centred around Connell and Marianne and is considered a true millennial love story. It truly is a story of the modern fascination around love and the inability to commit and trust.

The first thing I will say about this book is I loved how it didn't overly romanticise relationships. It really is a book about 'normal people' and day to day relationships, which very relatable. It is the definition of 'speaking' 21st century culture, the are we together? Aren't we together? The book is riddled with miscommunication between characters which is ultimately the basis for novel.

I'm not going to lie, the book did frustrate me. I just wanted to bang Marianne and Connell's heads together, so if that's what Sally Rooney was trying to portray, A+. Another issue I had is the book is very sad and I mean very sad. I don't mean crying sad I mean borderline depressing, especially regarding Marianne. This certainly isn't a cheery, uplifting read.

My final thought is I struggled to relate to or even like the characters. It was only the last 100 pages I started thinking 'oh, they're alright'. I found them really easy to dislike, but anyone on Goodreads will tell you Rooney's body of work is mainly dislikable people in awkward situations.

Overall, I wouldn't say I enjoyed this book, just because of how frustrated I was with the characters, but I have watched the TV show and it is an amazing adaptation of the boo. It's almost word for word to the book and the casting is amazing. I enjoyed the TV far much more than the book (I'm on the way to get my holy water) which kills me to say, but there is so much more to the characters than the words between them. Too see the way the characters look at each other completely changed how I felt  about them.