Book Review: Normal People by Sally Rooney

By María Fernanda Molina

“Generally I find men are a lot more concerned with limiting the freedoms of women than exercising personal freedom themselves” －Sally Rooney

Normal People by Sally Rooney has gained popularity through TikTok these last few months. It has received plenty of attention due to the characters, the plot, and the relatability of the book as a whole. Curiosity gained the best of me and I decided to give this book a try and I’m glad to say I was not disappointed, however, I still consider it did not live up to all of its expectations. Yet, it is a very good book with realistic characters and relationships. It tackles difficult topics throughout the novel, which will be mentioned later in my review. Please keep in mind these topics if you decide to read the book since some people may have experienced things such as these and might find the content a bit sensitive. This is not a happy book with happy characters and a happy ending yet I loved it and I think everyone should read it at least once in their lives.

The book follows Marianne and Connell and their complicated and sexual relationship. It begins during their senior year of high school and ends with them being in college. It follows all of their relationships' ups and downs, their “on-again, off-again” dynamic, and the intimacy of it all. Throughout the novel we see them grow and change and yet there is always a pull towards each other, they just can’t seem to be apart from one another. Whether they are single or in a relationship, they inevitably go back to each other.

However, this isn’t the typical romance book, in fact, I hardly consider it romantic and it shouldn’t be advertised as one. Marianne is a very complex character, she has suffered verbal and physical abuse on behalf of her family, was bullied at school, and publicly humiliated. All the way through adulthood she struggles a lot to maintain a good image of herself or even to respect herself. She constantly blames herself for the actions men take towards her, saying she provoked them. Her relationships, when she isn’t with Connell, turn out to be highly toxic and abusive, yet she endures it and blames herself for it.

Rooney portrays in her character the expectations society has of women; women are supposed to sit silently and look pretty, endure abuse on behalf of their partners or any men in their life. Despite it being a difficult topic, I enjoyed how Rooney portrayed it in Marianne and how it affects her in multiple aspects of her life. I think she demonstrates how misogyny can deeply affect a woman and it is heartbreaking to know that many women have gone through similar things.

Marianne’s infatuation with Connell is highly toxic, she states he could say anything and she will most likely obey him or break down. That is extremely visible in the book, she listens to him in everything, crumples at the slightest thing he does or says, and is highly insecure in regards to her relationship with him. It made me feel sorry for Marianne because she sadly does not believe she could be respected and treated properly by men, therefore she hates herself. The internalized misogyny she has is deeply rooted within her; she has a hard time believing she could be in a healthy or even a 'normal' relationship.

On the other hand, Connell tends to be self-absorbed. At the beginning of the book, I disliked him so much I couldn’t stand the chapters from his point of view, yet he has very good character development and becomes likable by the end. He is shy and clearly has a hard time opening up to people, he cares too much about other people’s opinions that he even hurts people because of this. He deals with mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety, they are obstacles for him and he has a hard time dealing with them, yet he seeks help and appears to be making progress. He isn’t as complex as Marianne yet his development was very nice and well written.

As mentioned before, their relationship is highly sexual. Rooney explores the theme of sexuality and the intimacy of it, how two people come together in the vulgarity of it. Rooney also explores the controversial theme of female sexuality, how it is normal-or should be normalized-for a woman to enjoy sex simply for pleasure not necessarily love or pleasing her boyfriend/husband. Rooney once again relates this topic to the views society has of women and how they shame or slut-shame women for having sex.

Overall, this book was fantastic. It tackles harsh themes such as misogyny, intrafamilial abuse, mental illness, and sexual assault. The characters themselves are not entirely likable, they can be relatable but Marianne lacks in development and Connell lacks in true complexity. The dynamic of their relationship is something common that could happen to anyone and the sexuality of it is normal and I enjoyed quite a lot how Rooney explored that in her book, especially female sexuality. I highly recommend this book, yes it is sad but definitely worth a read!