Rapid Review: Normal People by Sally Rooney

Normal People
by Sally Rooney

(Finished reading: 30/6/19)

2.5 stars

Sally Rooney's second novel Normal People follows Connell and Marianne who grew up in the same small town in the west of Ireland. Marianne's family is wealthy but she is unpopular and lonely at school whereas Connell's family is less well-off but he is popular and well-loved. However, once they begin college, the tables turn and despite their differences, they develop a striking connection.

Having loved Sally Rooney's debut novel Conversations with Friends, I was very excited to get my hands on her next novel. And literally everyone and anyone seemed to be raving about this book. In fact, the BBC are currently adapting the novel to a TV series which just goes to show how popular and well-received it has been. I'm not usually one to always gravitate towards the bestsellers but I loved Rooney's writing and I had high hopes for her next novel. However, I'm sorry to say that I really didn't enjoy this book as much as I wanted to. Which is strange, because if I had read this a few years ago I would have loved it, but right here right now, it just wasn't for me.

Firstly, I didn't hate it. The writing was actually really good and I appreciate how much Rooney's writing has matured and developed since her debut. I liked how the novel was structured and went through the years, it reminded me a lot of One Day by David Nicholls. It was just a nice, coming of age tale about two young people navigating life from the same place but entirely different backgrounds.

However, I did not like the story. It was one of those very frustrating slow-burn romances that's on and off through the whole thing and ends before it get's even the slightest bit interesting. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a good slow-burn romance. In fact, Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern was one of my favourite romance novels for a few years which is very much a slow-burn romance with lots of close encounters but the characters never quite get there for certain reasons. But the reason why I liked it is because it illustrates why adult life is messy and issues of bad timing. And there was always a big reason why the two characters don't end up together so even though it was frustrating, it added to the suspense. However, in Normal People, Connell and Marianne don't have any reason not to be together, they just aren't. They're relationship isn't hectic or thrilling it's just lazy and their reasons for not being together are unconvincing. Having said that, by the end of the novel we don't even know how they will work as a couple because both of them make poor choices which makes us question how those choices effect they're relationship. It's just a dull and tiring story that you know the ending to before you even start the book and the journey there isn't even that thrilling.

The characters weren't particularly likeable either. And not in an interesting or compelling way like in Conversations with Friends, just in a way that made me question why I should care about them. I didn't feel like they had depth or complexity and they weren't particularly relatable to me in any way. Of course, this may be different for other readers, but I just struggled to form any connection to the characters at all. In fact, I struggled to even remember who the side characters were between chapters because they just weren't interesting or different enough in character.

Having said this, I can see why people did enjoy this. Sally Rooney is good creating her own distinct microcosm for her stories and you really do feel sucked into her little world she's crafted. At the end of the day, it's a romance/coming of age story about two people but a little darker than your classic chick-lit. Worth picking up if it interests you, but I personally didn't enjoy it. I'm interested to see the BBC's adaptation though and hoping they truly capture Sally Rooney's tone and style through the screen. Perhaps the characters and story will feel more real once they've come to life visually too.

***EDIT (April 2020)
I recently watched the BBC adaptation of Normal People and it actually moved me more than the book did. I still didn't love the story on the whole, but I appreciate the themes more than I did when I initially reviewed the novel. I thought the BBC did a great job at adapting it, arguably the book did some aspects better, but I enjoyed watching it on the whole. Having said this, I recommend going in with caution if you are affected by abuse, depression or suicide. I found the TV show to be especially raw and potentially triggering to some viewers without any real warning going in. So do be careful if you intend to watch it. There were also a lot of sex scenes which were fairly graphic in places. I don't remember this being the case in the book and I didn't think it was particularly necessary to the context of the story. But that's just my opinion.
Looking back on my review of of the book, I think perhaps I was a little harsh. I don't think it's really as bad as maybe I made it out to be. And possibly I read it naively at the time. But in all honesty, the book just wasn't for me. I understand the hype, I just cannot relate. I can't exactly pin down what it is that I disliked about it. I hate it when that happens because usually I know exactly what it is that prevented me from liking a book. But with this book I really don't know. I think it's just the general atmosphere of the story felt uncomfortable and I didn't click with the tone of it. I feel after watching the TV show I understand better why it is how it is, but I wouldn't say it changed my opinion of the book on the whole. I guess we can't all like everything! I'm happy that other people loved it but it's not one that I will personally be coming back to in the future.