Normal People

Wow,  this was an intense book on many different fronts.  I don't know what I was expecting but this was a thought provoking book.  Once you get past the lack of quotation marks around dialogue it is a fairly straightforward read.  Definitely made me examine the definition of "normal" and to think about how lucky I have been in life.  Made me feel a bit shallow at times though, thinking I didn't have deep philosophical discussions in college and young adulthood like the characters do in the story.   Overall a good thought provoking book



Normal People by Sally Rooney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting observations of human behavior

I definitely think this book got me to think about human behavior and what is defined as normal by society. Marianne is a damaged girl and Connell has issues of his own. The book follows them through very influential times of growth in their lives and examined the dynamics of their relationships with themselves, each other and others. There are a one very thought provoking interactions and behaviors in the book. At times I wish the reader got more answers particularly what had happened in Marianne 's childhood. Things are alluded to but not specific stated. I would like to have known more about her father and her relationship. There are some disturbing topics covered by the book but at the same time it made me appreciate my life and family that much more. It was interesting to see how people become "damaged" in the eyes of society

Overall I liked the book. Definitely left me thinking but I would have liked a few things tied up so that's why i didn't give it a 5 star


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Challenge Prompts

The Challenge Prompts I will use this for are:

1. Library Love  #LibraryLoveChallenge -  Book 11
2. Monthly Book Award-   #GXOAwardReadingChallenge  Costa 2018
3. Literary Escapes- Ireland
4. AtoZ and Alphabet soup challenge #AlphabetSoupChallenge "N"
5. Alphabet soup Author- #AlphabetSoupAuthorChallenge "S"
6. Around the Year in 52 Books- #33 A book about a non-traditional family
7. Popsugar- #popsugarreadingchallenge #41  Author in their 20s
8. 20 in 20:  #Read20in2020 #7  Book about mental health/dealing with mental illness
9. 52 Books in 52 weeks  #26 A strong “friendship” theme
10. Book List Queen #9 2019 Bestseller
11. NJM #NJMBookChallenge2020  #25 a book set in another country 
12. 2020 TBR  #2020TBRReadingChallenge #16 Set in different continents- Europe