REVIEW: Normal People (Sally Rooney)

Book: Normal People
Author: Sally Rooney

My rating: 4/5.

Premise: Marianne is the young, affluent, intellectual wallflower; Connell is the boy everyone likes, shadowed by his family’s reputation and poverty. Unlikely friends, and later lovers, their small town beginnings in rural Ireland are swiftly eclipsed by the heady worlds of student Dublin. Gradually their intense, mismatched love becomes a battleground of power, class, and the falsehoods they choose to believe.

I was apprehensive reading this book as I'd heard good things but I knew it was a romance of sorts, which isn't my favourite genre. But this story is so full of emotion so you can't help but just live this book. The story revolves around two young people navigating social pressures and working out what sort of person they want to be. There's an underlying theme that our relationships with other people help shape our lives - they can lift you up, or lead you astray. I think most people can relate to these characters in some way, trying to fit in and trying to create your own "person". After finishing this book, I had to just sit and feel for a bit. Wonderful!

Yet to watch TV series, but when I have, I will review!