Normal People by Sally Rooney is about a romance between two people on the surface, but it is much more than just a “romance novel”. The story begins with Connell, a fairly popular and well-liked boy at school, and Marianne, a social outcast by all means, beginning a secret romance unbeknownst to Connell’s high school friends, and Marianne’s lack thereof. Connell allows his self-consciousness to overtake him, and the downfall of their high school relationship lies in his paranoia that people would find out about them. Connell doesn’t treat Marianne the best because of this, and when Connell doesn’t ask Marianne to the dance and takes instead Rachel, the most popular girl in school, the two fizzle out on Marianne’s accord. In college, the two experience somewhat of a role reversal, where Connell is having trouble meeting people and is a bit lonely his first semester of college, while Marianne is nothing short of a social butterfly, seen as well-liked and charismatic with lots of friends who respect her and a boyfriend in college. When the two cross paths, it is like no time has passed since the last time they spoke, and they are quick to rekindle their friendship.A pattern occurs throughout the story of coming and going into each others lives, but no matter what the status of their relationship is, they always find their way back to one another somehow.
Normal People is one of my favorite books, and while romance novels are not a part of my typical reads, I think this book is so much more than that. One quirk this book does have is there are no quotation marks for the dialouge, so it can make the book a little trickier to read. I’ve also heard that while some people are die-hard Normal People fans, others take a much stronger liking to Conversations with Friends, another popular novel by Sally Rooney. I’ve read both and would highly recommend either, so if this book isn’t your cup of tea, you might want to try out CWF. Overall, I love this book and think everyone should read it!
This reads like a young adult television show– not a bad thing of course, they’re popular for a reason! Interesting to see the timeline and roles change, really makes the book more unique.