Normal People - Sally Rooney

I keep a list of books I want to read on Goodreads. With the lockdown and the subsequent caution in meeting people, I haven't been to a book club since February 2020. So I have been relying heavily on the library. I put a bunch of holds on my library card, both for physical books and ebooks with Libby. I love getting notifications that new books are ready for me! I think I added this book when I was searching for new books, but I really don't remember. It showed up to the library and I read it.

The book was okay. I'm still not sure exactly how I feel about it. The story follows Connell, a popular kid in school, and Marianne, a very unpopular kid in school. Connell's mom cleans Marianne's house. He goes to pick up his mom and he and Marianne talk. They would never talk in school, but it's different when it's just the two of them. Slowly this leads to them sleeping together. Marianne comes from an abusive home, and is looking for some way to feel better about herself. So she submits to Connell. Connell has always felt different and with Marianne he feels like he can talk about things and actually say what's on his mind. Marianne suggests he applies to the same university as her and he does. Unfortunately, Connell hurts Marianne when he asks a different girl to a dance and she ends up quitting school and only going to write the final exams. They don't see each other again until they are both at university.

At university, it seems like their roles have changed. Marianne is popular and Connell is trying to fit in. They lean on each other and fall into old habits again. A misunderstanding separates them again, but they keep finding their way back to each other.

I liked the book, but it was sometimes painful to read. The characters seemed very self-destructive, and while they think they were helping each other, I'm not really sure they didn't cause more pain.