I'm so glad I'm not the only one who didn't enjoy Sally Rooneys books. Barely made it through normal people and DNF'd beautiful world where are you.

@valeriag2842

2 жыл бұрын

Same... I had to read Normal People for school and it was sooo hard to finish it even though it's such a short book

@SammieMousie

2 жыл бұрын

I haven't tried Normal People but I DNF Conversations with Friends. 100% not my cup of tea. I may give Normal People a shot.

@manonvo8615

Жыл бұрын

Im about 40 pages into beautifull world where are you... and I'm so bored and confused... really trying to figure out if I should give it more time?

It's sooooo good to find other people in booktube who didn't like her books. Normal People is one of the worst books that I've ever read (amd I read a lot), but it always felt like it was forbidden to talk bad of her books. Glad to see it's now becoming normalized.

I love sally Rooney but I definitely think a lot of your critiques are very fair. I actually read the scenes where rich white people are talking about race and class issues as being a continuation of them as unlikeable characters, that you're meant to read those conversations and roll your eyes bc you know that their theoretical ideas/values have no impact on their lives at all. This actually makes me think that her novels often are about race (specifically upper/upper middle-class whiteness) but I'm very aware that I might be extending her more grace than she deserves with that take too! The other thing I will say is that the miscommunication throughout her books can be frustrating but is very deeply steeped in Irish culture and ways of communicating and I feel like sometimes that can get overlooked in discussions of her writing. I definitely like conversations with friends the most out of all her books too - I think what I find most interesting about her writing is her exploration of close female friendships whereas her depictions of hetero romance i find a little boring and uncomfortable. Loved this video!!

@thisstoryaintover

2 жыл бұрын

Yes agreed! The female friendships are what interested me the most! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!!

Oh my god THANK YOU for discussing how Sally Rooney writes about female sexual desire and women being submissive in sexual relationships with men! I hate it! I honestly would enjoy Sally Rooney soooo much more if she didn’t make this a pattern

i only read normal people by sally rooney and i already knew from that one, her work is not gonna be for me. i was so bored and also same as you, i thought they were insufferable lol. yeah you wouldn't like the show either bc it was pretty loyal with the book, just with pretty visuals and cinematography lol

Everybody talks about the lack of quotation marks during dialog, but when I read Normal People I didn't even notice.

as someone who did not like the novel normal people, I 100% recommend the show because it's honestly amazing. the way the characters felt so much more fleshed out thanks to the performances of the actors (especially connell) was incredible. the story was much more impactful as a show, imo

@rebeccaandro8910

Жыл бұрын

I definitely plan to watch the show. I think it will be a better story that way.

I’ve always gone back and forth on whether I should try this author at some point in the future and this video really is showing me that this author is most likely not for me

I really like these challenge-y type of videos that you've been making recently! Can't wait to watch this!

100% agree about white people discussing politics and social issues, but their stances don't actually go beyond these conversations/manifest in their actual lives/actions. It felt performative. I hated those emails in Beautiful World, Where Are You

Thank you for your honesty. I purchase a lot of the books you recommend. So I am grateful for and refreshed by your honesty.

Thank you for this! I feel less alone now not liking Sally Rooney’s books. I DNFed both Normal People and Beautiful World where are you. I can also confidently say Sally Rooney is not the author for me.

I would recommended the tv show. The acting give a lot of what is missing in the book. The portray of Connor anxiety is quite interesting.

I'm from Ireland and went to college in Dublin, at a time when Irish wasn't super diverse, but I'm not sure what the authors excuse is as she grew up in a much more diverse city. The author is from a wealthy background and I really feel she's tackling the 'ooh, edgy' subjects without really understanding them (a slam poet who's working class but her dad pays her rent? ehm, sure). She needs an editor or honest feedback cos her books should be getting better, not worse.

Normal People is one of my favorite shows of all time. It’s so achingly raw and beautiful

I loved Normal People but really did not like Conversations with Friends so now after watching this I know I need to pick up BWWAY and that it'll likely appeal to me, thanks for the video 😁

your experience was totally the same as mine !! i read conversations with friends first and i loved it, it wasn't perfect by any means but i really appreciated the story, how messy the characters were and it was very engaging. so i was very excited to read normal people and it was sooooo boring. i don't really mind unlikable characters that much but at least make it interesting! i've read conversations with friends 2-3 years ago now and i'm afraid if i reread it, i won't like it bc the spell has been broken and i want to hold on to the reading experience i first had. still unsure about picking up sally rooney's latest book bc i really did hate normal people but wanna give her another chance since i did love her first book.

THANK YOU for critiquing Normal People and calling it out for what it is. Subscribed!

I'm about to finish Normal People and I'm so happy to find validation that someone disliked that book as much as I am doing while reading it.

I totally understand how her work can be seen as boring or just slow… and it is definitely not for everyone, but I am absolutely in love with the way she writes characters, so flawed and you can really understand their thoughts… but yea she definitely not for everyone 💛

@afsaaasiazaira3723

Жыл бұрын

she is for me, really, I have not been able to explain what I want to say to anyone, and reading normal people put them in an organised form.

Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson is what I wish Normal People was. It's a gorgeous exploration of a relationship between two young black artists in London, and it's just absolutely breathtaking. So many beautiful quotes, interesting conversations and thoughts. It's my favorite book of the year so far, so whenever you feel like picking up some literary fiction again, which I understand might never happen hahaha, I'd recommend checking it out :))

@chloemcdermott3293

2 жыл бұрын

You ever read Scabby Queen by Kirsten Innes? It's a really good character driven book you may like it based on the recommendation you gave. It's a book I haven't seen talked about a lot on book tube tho. Your recommendation sounds good btw

@emmadarms8394

2 жыл бұрын

@@chloemcdermott3293 never heard of it actually so thanks for the recommendation!

@bluebellbeatnik4945

Жыл бұрын

god i hate that book. really struggled to get into it. hate the second person. i didn't like the way the protagonist looked at the world either.

I cannot explain why but everything about Sally Rooney‘s books just screams boredom

I've been wanting to read Sally Rooney's books for so long so I loved getting to hear your thoughts! I'm not sure if I'll end up liking them but I want to give them a try anyway :)

last month i actually did a read through of all of sally rooney’s books too! i read normal people last year and did not like it but i picked up beautiful world where are you and ended up loving it so i went back and read conversations with friends and normal people again to see how i’d feel. i totally agree that conversations with friends is completely different than the other two and i can see how if you enjoy that one you’d despise the others. i liked conversations with friends and i felt like it easily had the most interesting plot but for me it felt the most clunky and i could tell it was her debut if that made sense. for my re read of normal people i enjoyed it a bit better the second time because after reading her other two books i felt like i had a better grasp on her style, but i absolutely hated connell and it makes the book hard to get through for me. i also totally agree with your sentiment about party discussions topics about issues for entertainment. for me, beautiful world where are you just clicked for me in the way it was structured and i felt like the big discussion topics being in the emails made sense to me for some reason compared to the ways she tries to incorporate them in the other two books. she has some interviews where she mentions trying to be a marxist writer within her genre but i think she has a lot more work to do if she wants to get to a place where it doesn’t come off as a rich white woman trying to be woke. i ended up ranking them as 1 beautiful world where are you, 2 conversations with friends, 3 normal people. i do think i will read more from her but i would love to see here incorporate more diverse characters because there is diversity in ireland esp in uni where she tends to set her writing and i would love for her to stop with the self insert characters because it’s sooo obvious and after three books i think she can start exploring other perspectives. loved your video so much!!

@thisstoryaintover

2 жыл бұрын

Aww thank you for sharing your thoughts!! I totally get your perspective on them!💗

@ingridfischer3432

2 жыл бұрын

I totally agree with you on the self insert characters. I have first read Normal People, than planned to continue with CWF but I put it down after only a few pages. I think her style is interesting but I felt a little bit like reading the same book again, just the names were different.

I DNFed Normal People because of the lack of quotation marks, but I didn't mind the show. I think I'm going to listen to Conversations with Friends on audio after hearing that you enjoyed it!

Thank you for uploading this video! I’ve been trying to figure out 1. Whether to try Sally Rooney and 2. Which book would appeal to me. I think I’ll try out Conversations with Friends as it’s the one I’ve been leaning towards. I appreciate you sharing all of your thoughts :)

I've been thinking of reading her books so thank you for this video. The no quotation marks is a hard pass for me since I know I won't be able to concentrate on a book like that thanks to my ADHD.

I have always wondered if Salley Rooney books are worth the hype. My curiosity is peaked, I may have to pick up one of these. Another book for my ever-growing pile. ☺️📚- Syn

I feel the same way as you about Normal People. My biggest problem with it was the complete lack of character development. I will never understand the hype.

I’m really liking these test/challenge videos, Jananie! Knowing myself, the mere fact that the author doesn’t use quotation marks when using dialogue would not sit right with me, so I’m personally not interested in her checking out her books. But this was still a fun video to watch!

I read Normal People and decided was never reading a Rooney book again. Glad to hear your thoughts on the other books 📚

@elize3137

2 жыл бұрын

Same!

i am currently reading normal people and this was very good to see

Ok I actually really liked the realness of this video!! It’s refreshing to see you actually NOT like a book!!

The Normal People show is 1000x better than the book. You should try it. It is actually beautiful.

So interesting how divisive this book is. To me is a testament on how peculiar its writing style and characters are. I personally enjoyed her latest book, and decided to get Normal People.

Love Normal People and Conversations with Friends so much. Couldn’t finish that third one

you put to words what i thought of normal people so well!! in my storygraph review i called it A Book. the most Book of all time. literally nothing happened i felt like i wasted my time reading it and everything in it felt like an inferior version of something ive read somewhere else

@thisstoryaintover

Жыл бұрын

Yes exactly!!

I feel like there might be a thing going on, where the first book you read by SR, you'll enjoy because it's a bit different than other books out there (for me it was Normal People) but as soon as you pick up the second and third one, you realise how entitled, pretentious and plotless her books are and you just cannot get behind that. BWWAY is my most hated book of 2021 (and I've read over 100 that year so there was choice...).

@nemo5288

2 жыл бұрын

I hated that book too, it was absolutely terrible and I just cannot understand why people loved it so much. It honestly confuses me

@fedwagb

Жыл бұрын

@@nemo5288 I mildly enjoyed "Beautiful World Where Are You" but I can already see patterns and flaws. I will not be picking up another SR book.

I will be an odd adult who has zero plans to like wine and reading Sally Roneys' books.

Where is that cardigan from??? Ive been looking for one for a year!!

I also preferred Conversations With Friends to Normal People which I’m always surprised to hear is a controversial opinion whenever I talk to people about Sally Rooney! I had a very similar feeling to you when I read Normal People, and I knew that her stuff wasn’t for me in a way that made me even want to read her third. But I was happy to hear your thoughts as someone else who doesn’t really read this genre often but wanted to see what the hype was about!

I personally enjoyed all of the books and would rank 1) NP 2) BWWAY 3) CWF but I can see how Rooney's writing/style could be polarizing. NP is one of my all-time favorite novels and have read it multiple times. I find the writing lucid, beautiful and engaging. At 18:00, you point out how Marianne's submissiveness does not change throughout the novel. I agree, and it was pointed out to me on social media that the first line of the novel exemplifies her place in the relationship: "Marianne answers the door when Connell rings the bell," and in the last line: "I'll always be here, you know that" serves the same purpose: she has not changed in this regard throughout the novel, and will always be at Connell's beck-and-call, wherever he is and at all stages of her life. Her submissiveness is due to her abusive father, and subsequent isolation at school. The beginnings of her relationship with Connell solidify this identity, along with her relationships with Jaime and Lukas, and Connell eventually having to 'save' her from her family. She'll always be this way. It's frustrating, but I think it makes her a very complex character.

I watched this video long ago and I hadn't read any of Sally Rooney. Now that I'm finishing Conversations with friends I came back cause I wanted to remember what you said. And I feel super similarly to you on this one, so I think I'll never pick the other ones then xD

I'm glad to find out I'm not the only person that hated Normal People ,I wasn't able to connect with the characters in any scene and OMG boring! I avoided dnf it bc I wanted to say what I thought. Gave it 1 star.. I hate the privileged girl and I can't forgive the no quotes marks. Thank you for making my life easy and make me avoid the others Sally Rooney's books :) Sorry for your suffering. haha!

I read Normal People and Beautiful World and share almost the same thoughts, the characters are emotionally immature and generally unlikeable. I picked up Conversation with Friends based on your comments! Hope I will be able to enjoy it, thanks for the vid!

i've been watching your videos for the past week or so and i really enjoy them. i'm also a reader of color that tries to read authors of color! the main difference in our reading tastes is that i mostly read literary fiction and don't read much fantasy. i'm definitely going to watch some of your vids about fantasy novels to get recs. i know you've been reading more literary fiction as of late too, but i highly recommend literary fiction by authors of color! it just has a flavor that some other literary fiction lacks tbh! some of my faves: - Luster by Raven Leilani (similar vibes to Rooney stuff but like...so much better) - The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (gets compared a lot to Daisy Jones & The Six because they're both about the music industry but the main character is black in this one) - Freskwater by Akwaeke Emezi - What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi (very fairy tale/fantastical vibes) thank you for the vid!! like you i've been wondering if i should read sally rooney but it seems like i'm not missing out. maybe i'll read Conversations with Friends but i have so much on my tbr that i might not even waste the time 😂

I totally agree about Normal People, I hated it and have been shocked at how much hype it's gotten over the years. To each their own but I do not get it at all lol

I love this (:

Sally has a way of making you dislike the majority of the characters 😅 Also I think the main theme was about two people with mental health issues trying to have a normal relationship but they constantly misunderstood each other they are on the ASD spectrum. Although it’s never mentioned in the book.

I am not kidding when I say that Conversations With Friends was the worst book I've ever read - something about it just made me feel a bit sick. So glad to finally find a booktuber who's not afraid of saying they didn't enjoy Rooney's books. BWWAY was so pretentious, I DNFd it quite early on. On the other hand, I enjoyed the TV series Normal People, thanks to the amazing actors and screenwriters.

I personally loved beautiful world, liked conversations with friends, and hated normal people-however i feel like if i have had read conversations w friends and normal before beautiful word i would have liked beautiful world lees

I read Conversations with Friends and my feelings were roughly the same as yours to Normal People. Sally Rooney is not for me.

I’ve still yet to read Sally Rooney 👀

I loved this reading vlog! Not because I have any strong opinions on Sally Rooney’s books, it that I could eat popcorn from the sidelines and watch you rip into these books 🍿 this was very entertaining and now I have an excuse to never read these books 😂

Thanks for the video! I was also quite annoyed with Marianne's lack of character growth in NP. It seemed like a weird way to end her story, considering how much trauma she experiences throughout the book. I wonder why Sally Rooney did her dirty like that...

I really struggled through beautiful world where are you. I haven’t read the others but I think I’ll at least give normal people a try

it's funny, when I first read Normal People in the beginning of 2020 I really didn't get it. I didn't hate it, but I didn't understand the hype. I was bored and was frustrated. I reread it end of last year and I love it now. I also watched the show and love it, as well. I'm not sure what happened in almost 2 years, but Sally Rooney's novels are my favorite. BUT I completely understand and agree that her works aren't for everyone. loved hearing your thoughts!

THANK YOU bc same

@JiixBooks

2 жыл бұрын

Also I’d love to see a vid on the show

I literally subbed to your channel because of this (and I just found your channel). I only read Normal People and was disappointed. It would've been a really good book if the main characters were at least realistic or made sense.

@theimpossiblesomething6773

2 жыл бұрын

I can’t say I agree about the characters not being realistic, I think they were painfully realistic, but I think the TV show does an even better job at bringing the characters to life. The performances were absolutely fantastic.

I didn't think that conversations about world problems weren't there to make them seem worldly but make them seem shallow and performative and elitist

@user-es7ui5mc1m

2 жыл бұрын

yeah same! like they're performative and annoying but that's the point? and obviously you can still dislike a book (and think the characters are annoying) for that reason but it makes sense in the context imo

I've known ever since the I found out about the hype for Normal People that Sally Rooney's books would not be for me. I already struggle enjoying literary fiction. There's a few exceptions like Little Fires Everywhere by Celest Ng, but you really hit the nail on the head when you talked about white privilege and why you don't enjoy literary fiction by white authors.

@Anhorish

2 жыл бұрын

Imagine not liking literature because the author writes about people of color ? Beyond absurd. Literature provides doorways, not mirrors.

So, glad I'm not the only person who doesn't like her writing! I DNF'd "Beautiful World" also. Nothing happens and the relationships are painful to read about on many levels. Current literary fiction is an interesting topic...

I've only read Normal People and didn't like it at. I tried so hard to like that book just because of the hyle around it, but I just didn't. You perfectly summarized my thoughts. After this video I might guve CWF a chance but I for sure will not pick up BWWAY

This is the thesis we need because Sally Rooney is a major part of the Cultural Zeitgeist.

I finished Normal People last night and was so upset how it ended. The first half I was captured and couldn’t put it down. I think because I figured there be a good ending because of all the hype and then I got to end and I was like what???? I’m glad I found I’m not the only one that didn’t enjoy this book. I liked Connell and figured he’d have the most growth as a character but Marianne just felt like same thing over and over. I get she had family problems but I hoped at the end she would get away from that but I felt like she was not developing and would bring Connell down.

so here for the normal people slander. I just did not jive with it as much as I did conversations w/friends and beautiful world. I hate the miscommunication trope so I was already biased but I was just bored and irritated while reading it

@millievanillie24

2 жыл бұрын

Side note: the show is much better

I personally did not like the two Sally Rooney books I read. I won't be trying anymore. I actually struggled through them.

Finally I found a person who doesn't like "Beautiful world, where are you". I'm on page 111 and can 100% say that it's one of the most boring books I've ever read (not sure that I'll finish it tho). Also, I felt that characters are pretty shallow and sex scenes are quite random and didn't make any sense. But I loved "Normal people". Especially, TV series from HBO. But definitely won't even consider purchasing "Conversation with friends".

I hated Normal People! My first (and probably only) Sally Rooney book.

Your curls are looking lovely! 😊 Thank you for your reviews on her books, they sound like a book I read last summer that almost made me want to avoid literary fiction forever; bland, annoying white people complaining about their privileged lifestyles 🙄

I have no interest in sally rooney but i loved hearing your thoughts! (Kind of made me glad i never read her books tbh)

It's very interesting how these people in the comment section offer their views and hate xP Interesting because Sally addressed the vitriol received by authors and how she literally never asked for any of it. Of course, people will have views. I get that. Obviously the novels do not subscribe to classical styles of writing. They're more intellectually satisfying and have undertones of the philosophies she probably reads. I think what most people are bothered by in the books is the casual infidelity that isn't immediately frowned upon. She doesn't characterise infidelity as something that is immoral and even gives the character the mental maturity to be able to retain their friendships while knowing their s.os are cheating on them x) And I find that more androgynous, open-minded like her books :P I would know. She's definitely very gifted. Cannot deny that whatsoever. I absolutely loved Beautiful World, Where Are You. The email format was insufferable, but the content in them actually deals with the discussion around where and what is a beautiful world! Lmao the whining about the emails feels like the book was wasted on people. But that's just my opinion 😛 Don't respond with hate, I just cannot care what strangers have to say about my thoughts. ✨

I mean 12:30 ish really hit the point on the head. I also just finished conversations with friends and was just bored and tired of hearing white people's takes om the war in Syria. That felt so performative and unneeded. Not to mention that barely anything happens in the book!!

Normal People is the only one of her books or hers I have read and I hated it too! It put me off so much that I've never read any of her other books. I just don't understand the hype!

I just discovered your channel and I’m thrilled with you giving a genuine opportunity to trending books but actually approaching them with constructive critic. You just did not jumped to the hype as everyone else and actually pointed the reasons why. Loved it. I’m looking forward to see more of your vids. 🤍

I just finished normal people and really disliked it. I keep also seeing people say "oh youve to be irish or grow up in ireland to relate to it" and no. No. No. Im irish have lived here all my life and still didnt relate to it. The characters were so pompous and pretentious. I actually found the writing itself to be pretentious. I disliked both conall and marianne. Connall was just a dick who imo seemed to use marianne for sex and needed therapy and Marianne was "im not like other girls" rich girl who knew nothing about the hardships of financial struggles and seemed to be immune to it completely even judging people for having a job whilst she lived in the capital city of dublin (where rent is extortionate) going to TRINITY, and NOT working yet still having money for smoking, drinking , going out etc. Shes also just not a very nice person "concious of jamies ugliness". Both werent thst nice of people. I nearly flung this book across my room I dont know how many times. Im very relectant I think to pick up one of her books again. I was reccomended this book so hard by friends and was told its life changing and Im just so shocked so many people found it relatable...... Also would have made sense if they taked about political situation in Ireland between goverment parties and social issues here with the disadvantaged areas as they are called around the country, the politics in the north between religious divides, and languahe instead of adding issues from other cuntries to make the writing seem wordly as you have said.

I've only read Normal People, and I went into it thinking I would hate it, and so ended up being pleasantly surprised that I found myself enjoying it. I don't think I'd want to read any other Sally Rooney books though, and I've heard that prior to Beautiful World being published, most people only liked one or other of her books, not both. I wonder if that's because each one is just a rehash of the first but with different pros and cons? In addition, I really appreciated what you said about Normal People, where there's an issue of a bunch of white people standing round and discussing the problems of the world, problems which don't touch them on any personal level. It smacks of performatism to me - and I'm not saying that's an unrealistic portrayal, because this 100% does happen at uni parties (I've been there) but I do have concerns that Rooney is looking at this from her own biased perspective. More recently she refused to have her latest book published in Hebrew because she disapproves of what is happening in Palestine, and while I can completely agree with her views on that, I think it's highly disturbing and stinks of antisemitism and judgement from a point of disconnect and safe privilege to ONLY veto the Hebrew publication, and not say, a Chinese publication, considering how China* are treating the Uighurs or the people of Hong Kong (or anything else for that matter). Like it smacks of Rooney thinking she is so righteous, but actually all she's doing is preventing Israeli (and Israeli-Palestinian Christian?) people reading her dodgy books in their native tongue, so maybe it's a win after all. *This is not an argument for censorship in China, it's a point about nuance and consideration globally

Ive only read Normal People & I DNF'd it.. I didnt bother with the other ones after that.. So boring, nothing happened!

Does anyone know that she boycotte Israel? Like she doesn't authorize the sale of her books in Israel... She support BDS...

@zuhraa4171

2 жыл бұрын

I need to read her books now

Omg I'm sobhappy with this review of beautifull world where are you. I'm so bored and annoyed by the long ass emails and the info dumps. Especially eileens first chapter that dumps her whole lifes story. I was SO frustrated reading that chapter. Thank you for putting into words what was annoying me so much!

I loved Normal People, but feel very lukewarm about Conversations with Friends and Beautiful World, Where Are you?

I only read Normal People because of the hype, and I feel like it made an effective point around the 35-40% mark about not worrying about appearances and other people's opinions, but then the rest? Like what was the point of the rest? These were meant to be intelligent, well-versed people, in each other's proximity, who understand each other like nobody else, with plenty of sexual chemistry, and somehow, through the course of several years, they couldn't figure out how to build a stable relationship on any of that. If anything, that tells me that they are a horrible match, instead of the 'God made you for me' star crossed lovers they are sold as.

I read Nornal People the book and really did NOT enjoy it, gave it 2 stars and would give 9 or 10 out of 10 to the tv show, It's one of the only case where the adaptation is better than the book !

I can’t stand how she doesn’t use paragraphs or punctuation.

I DNF Beautiful World as well haha i kinda liked the other two but this one is soooo bad

🇧🇷

I feel that, no offence, if you aren’t Irish, it might be hard to understand her books in a more in-depth sense. There is a lot more to them than meets the eye.

I decided to try out Normal People and gave it a one star, was so bored. Rooney is not for me.

Sally Rooney 's books characters are just mess up with each other lives...i don't know why people are hyping about her books

this one chapter one paragraph shit... she thinks she's thomas bernhard or what?? (I only read NP and hated it btw)

@denizkureta535

2 жыл бұрын

but bitch is rich, no doubt on that!

Normal People, Truly a waste of time!!! I DNF it. Very pick me vibes for both Marianne and Connell 🙄

I watched the Normal People TV show before reading the book. I absolutely adore both but honestly I much prefer the show, the acting is beautiful and while I still think the book is great, the show really improved the ending by finally giving Marianne agency, growth, and a source of happiness/purpose which was separate from Connell. I’ve not read the other books, but I really don’t agree with any of your criticisms about Normal People other than the ending. Any of the character flaws you’re pointing out are fully intentional from the author, whereas it seems like you’ve interpreted them as oversights or ignorance on Rooney’s part. I think you really missed the point of many of her choices. I get that the book might not have been for you, but I think you might get a lot more out of the show.

omg this is comforting, I literally was thinking the exact same thing as you for Normal People (p.s. I don’t know if it was just me, but I imagined Connell as Black for the first half until I realized, he wasn’t. 🥲)