A really interesting novel around two millennials growing up in a small Irish village and their complicated, secret relationship moving from secondary school to college where suddenly everything flips and they need to rediscover each other and themselves all over again.

I was so sucked into this story from the get go.There was something extremely raw and real about Connell and Marianne from the moment I entered the world and I'm not sure if it's because I've known people like them, I've been both of them at different points in my life or we just grew up in the same type of Ireland and were in a very similar environment.

Normal People is a very fast, flowing book because of the lack of typical dialogue which I don't think would suit every type of book or writing style but worked perfectly with this one - mostly because of the typical Irishness of the conversations and the phrases used by all the characters.I heard the conversations, the tones, the nuances, ringing in my ears rather than reading them in my head.

While Connell and Marianne's relationship is both frustrating and engrossing all at the same time, I feel like the back and forth and run around thing they had with one another is actually quite of reminiscent of the type of sexual, intimate relationships a lot of people in their 20s have during college years.

Normal People also touches on heavier topics more than just fitting in and finding your place in a world that seems to expect you to be everything at the same time. It touches on emotional and physical abuse in the home, self harm in the type of relationships you can seek out when you're hurting and male mental health and getting help.

A lot of this book actually reminded me of the quote from The Perks of Being a Wallflower - ". We accept the love we think we deserve."