Normal People
by Sally Rooney
★ Top 10 book of 2018 · #7 on Best Books of 2018
Two Irish teenagers from different social positions form a hidden bond that carries through their university years. Drifting apart and back again, they face how far they will go for each other.
Best for: Readers who like spare, psychologically sharp stories of first love and class
Normal People is #7 on BookWard's Best Books of 2018, out of 59 2018 books that cleared our data bar.
What Normal People is about
At school, Connell and Marianne act as though they barely know each other. He is easygoing, well liked and the star of the soccer team. She is proud, lonely and fiercely private. Their paths cross because Connell's mother cleans Marianne's house, and when he comes to collect her, a connection forms that both teenagers are determined to keep hidden.
A year on, they are both at Trinity College in Dublin, but the positions have reversed: Marianne has found her place socially, while Connell feels shy and unsure. Over the college years they drift toward other people and keep being pulled back to each other. As Marianne spirals into self-destruction and Connell looks for meaning elsewhere, each has to face how much they would risk for the other. Sally Rooney's 2018 novel is told in spare, precise prose, with a quiet focus on class, first love and the difficulty of saying what you mean.
Normal People on the Best Books of 2018
Normal People came out in 2018. Of the 59 books first published in 2018 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #7 on our Best Books of 2018 list.
Why it made the list: 1,914 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (81 ratings); 46 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2018 list
- Five Feet Apart Rachael Lippincott, #5
- Then She Was Gone Lisa Jewell, #6
- Circe Madeline Miller, #8
- Verity Colleen Hoover, #9
See all Best Books of 2018 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2017 Best Books of 2019.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 1,734 want to read it, 46 are reading it now and 134 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4 out of 5 from 81 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 90 | 55% |
| Reader love | 53 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 88 | 20% |
Questions about Normal People
When was Normal People published?
Normal People by Sally Rooney was first published in 2018.
Was Normal People one of the best books of 2018?
Normal People is #7 on BookWard's Best Books of 2018, out of 59 2018 books that cleared our data bar. 1,914 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (81 ratings); 46 are reading it right now.
Why is Normal People on the Best Books of 2018 list?
1,914 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (81 ratings); 46 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2018
- Heartstopper, Volume 1 Alice Oseman, #1
- Where the Crawdads Sing Delia Owens, #2
- The Laws of Human Nature Robert Greene, #3
- Atomic Habits James Clear, #4
- Five Feet Apart Rachael Lippincott, #5
- Then She Was Gone Lisa Jewell, #6
See the full Best Books of 2018, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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