Normal People by Sally Rooney follows the relationship between Connell Waldron and Marianne Sheridan. Spending their youth in a small-town in Ireland, the two find themselves to be polar opposites in high school, Connell, a popular jock, and Marianne a quiet outcast. However, they discover that their interests align perfectly, sparking a relationship.
The story follows two young strangers, Fallon and Ben. Fallon is a girl who is physically and emotionally scarred by a fire, while Ben is an aspiring writer. The two meet on November 9th, a date that is significant to both of them. They agree to meet every year on the same day without any contact in between, which makes the suspension for both of them intense. Over the years they reunite with dramatic change and their relationships grow complex. As secrets from Ben's past come to attention, their relationship is being tested forcing them to both be in uncomfortable situations.
All That’s Left in the World is a survival book written by Erik Brown. The book is about two teens in a world where a super flu killed most of the world, and everyone else needed to find a way to survive. It was great to see how far they came, from Jamie pulling the gun at Andrew when he first came to loving each other. The author did an excellent job of showing how ruined and lonely the world was after the super flu and how everyone died.
Lover is Taylor Swift’s 7th studio album, following a summer-y pop narrative. It was released on August 23, 2019, by Republic Records. The album comprises 18 songs total, all with amazing beats and lyricism. There are four singles on this album; ‘The Man’, ‘Me!’, ‘You Need to Calm Down’, and, of course, ‘Lover’. A fun fact: the album was originally supposed to be called "Daylight," but Taylor decided to change the name to Lover instead!
If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin is a moving story about self-discovery that follows childhood best friends who grow apart but continue to have a shared connection. Autumn and Finn have been raised as family since childhood with their mothers being best friends and living next door to each other. After they began middle school, popular Finny and alternative Autumn found different friends, styles, and relationships as they stopped interacting with one another.
“When you truly love someone and they love you in return, you ruin your lives together. That is not a curse, it’s what life is, my girl. We all come to ruin, we turn to dust, but whom we love is the thing that lasts.”
In The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, Hazel is a sixteen-year-old with lung cancer. She meets a cancer survivor around her age named Augustus (Gus) at a youth support group. They soon begin spending time together and develop a bond. As they journey through life and face the challenges that come their way, they learn more about each other and help one another continue fighting. This is a story of love, friendship and never giving up.
The story of love, heartbreak, betrayal, and reunion between the two main characters, Connell and Marianne. Told over the course of a few years, readers follow their journey through high school and college as they navigate their ever-changing relationship. I really wanted to like this book. After everything I had heard about Sally Rooney, I had high expectations for this book, and unfortunately, I feel like it didn’t quite live up to the hype. Normally I am a big fan of romance, but this one just didn’t cut it for me.
Delirium is the story about a dystopian society where love is a disease and people are forced to take the “cure” when they turn 18 in order to be unable to fall in love. Lena is very excited to get the cure until she falls in love with a boy named Alex only a few months before her 18th birthday. The concept of the book alone was enough to make me love it. I love dystopian stories, and Delirium was a super fascinating take on totalitarianism.
