As a book I think about daily, I will not tell you that Normal People by Sally Rooney is a perfect, fun, feel-good book. In fact, it is the complete opposite. 

Normal People follows Marianne and Connell in Ireland from high school throughout university. In high school, Marianne is singled out from her classmates as the weird girl while Connell is the popular “it” boy. 

With Connell’s mother being the cleaner for Marianne’s household, the two have an unlikely and complicated relationship. They never seem to be on the right terms as they can be friends outside of school yet Connell ignores her in the classroom. As they move onto University the roles seem to reverse. Marianne becomes popular in her group and Connell finds himself struggling to find his way.

Most people tend not to like the book since Sally Rooney is notorious for not using quotation marks. However, I didn’t find that to be an issue. It did take a few pages to get used to, and I definitely had to reread sections, but overall I wouldn’t say that it made me not want to read the book. 

Personally, I am kind of obsessed with Sally Rooney’s writing, especially in this book. While the characters weren’t inherently perfect and often made me frustrated, I found them relatable. I think it could be really reflective of real life situations since as individuals we aren’t perfect and we make a lot of mistakes that we often regret. 

If you are a fan of adapted books, this one is quite honestly perfect. It was adapted into a mini series on Hulu; and, the main characters are played by Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar Jones, both of which are some of my favorite actors. 

I give this book 3 stars. I know that might contradict half of what I wrote in the review, but the book lost 2 stars for how frustrated I was with the main characters. If you want a book that will make you scream at a wall, do not hesitate to pick this one up.