Given that this is adapted from the first novell Sally Rooney wrote, but made after 'Normal People', it's bound to be compared to it and seen in a worse light. The show is not for everyone, it's slow and depicts depression and emotional unavailability and one has to be in the right mood for it.
Though, it does feel real, it doesn't embellish or romanticise youth or mental illness, and honestly at times I was angry at the main character. Then only to realise that she is a lot like what I was at that age and that I had no real idea what I was doing or how to communicate properly and how not live in my head all the time.

I love the acting, maybe exactly because it's so subtle and "like real life". Joe Alwyn and Jemima Kirke's acting is especially great, seeing them on screen really enriched the view I had of them after only reading the book.