Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Call Me by Your Name

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman

63 reviews

sonoma's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted relaxing sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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sillih28's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Having watched the movie before reading this book I already knew what to expect and wasn't too excited about it. As a queer person the fact that the only gay book that gets media attention is about pedophilia is very upsetting, however after reading the book I definitely understand the appeal. Through the whole reading-process I have had my ups and downs about who to like and what to think, but the thing that stands out most to me, was Elios very unhealthy obsession with Oliver. One could even see this as a balance to Olivers pedophilia.
All in all was the book a very nice read and I really like the authors writing style, and parting from what the movie shows was their romance way more lovey-dovey than erotic.

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ninascozydayreads's review

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

I could go on and on about what bothered me and what I hated about this book, and I will, but what I hated most (and yes, not even disliked, hated) was how unnecessary it all was. I have heard people describe this book as being "thought-provoking", and if that's the case for you, great! For me, whatever might have been thought provoking got completely buried under unnecessarily uncomfortable scenes. This book has ruined peaches for me. I love peaches! There was so much that I just wished I didn't have had to read, but unfortunately I did and this book will haunt me for the rest of my life in the worst way possible.

I also want to talk a bit on the actual problematic part of the book: the relationship. This relationship has been romanticized over and over again by readers, which gained a lot of critique in and of itself, and I've heard people say "but it's not a romance! It's a tragedy". I'm sorry, this is a romance. A bad one, an uncomfortable one, an overly-obsessive-bordering-on-stalking-and-danger-one. Sure, Oliver sometimes raises his doubts about the age difference between him and Elio. But there is never any substantial critique; not in dialogue, not in plot. And sure, the Elio's flaws were a main theme in the book, I'll admit that. But like the relationship, those flaws were never substantially critiqued or worked on. The whole book he kept this unhealthy obsession with someone much older, and it was creepy.

Fifteen years later, Elio is still obsessed with Oliver and doesn't even give it a second thought how problematic that age difference was. Sure, 8 years might not seem like a lot, and it's fine if say one person is 35 and the other 42. But at 17 and 25 you're at two totally different stages of life, and a 17 year old is by all accounts a child. And yes, this relationship is extremely romanticized in the book and it's simply put, unhealthy.

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_rhea_'s review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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ienbdri's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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painausten314's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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somesubtlebutessentialway's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I hesitate to call this exercise in infatuation a romance. Romance seems to sell the wrong idea; that this somehow has a happy ending, or that the characters are on equal footing. But as I continued on I found myself thinking maybe, just maybe, on a good day, this was a romance. After finishing, however, I walk back to my original assessment. Not a romance - though, this is not to the detriment of the book in the slightest. No I do not view this novel as a romance, as many other more critically claimed reviewers seem to have, but I do view it as romantic. There is something so raw in the way that Elio desires Oliver - not just desire, but this need for someone to fix you, someone to make you better, someone to see you, and say "Yes, I feel the same." Above all, Elio wishes for someone to acknowledge him - for someone to be his friend. I think, in a way, Elio's inner monologue and his attraction to Oliver is the truest to teenagehood I could imagine. Thinking about someone so often, so madly, feeling as though if they do not look at you, touch you, feel you, reciprocate - well, you would simply die. His constant looking out for Oliver, never wanting to let him out of his sight, trying and failing to start a game of cat and mouse, shows truly how young and naïve he is. And in their intimacy, when they do come together, there is something so aching in it I could hardly describe. Intimacy that you wish for and yet fear so deeply, this idea that someone might see you - you, the real you - and love you so unapologetically, wish only the best for you and give it to you because, so they say, you deserve it. I felt Elio's overwhelming emotion at every small display Oliver gave - so brought to tears by the trueness, by the tired-boned embrace their love came to be. I think, in part, Call Me By Your Name is more about Elio's relationship with himself than with Oliver. How he sees himself in Oliver, how he wishes to find out more about himself, and so on, is a common theme I believe we don't talk about enough. There is nothing more frustrating about being a teenager than that feeling of not knowing who you are, constantly feeling on the brink of a great discovery, only for the rug to be pulled from under your feet. Elio expresses this constantly, and in such a way that I often smiled - he was being so ridiculous, I thought, but had I not done the exact same? In the end, it is romantic. Their touches, their words, and their days by the pool. The earnest, terrified way in which Elio loves Oliver is horribly human, and horribly young. A book like this isn't necessarily meant, I believe, to make us feel as though we are in love. A book like this, I believe, is meant to remind us that we are on borrowed time, nostalgia isn't always truthful, and if not later, when?

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zzuk's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

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gabrielleclarke05's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Wow.. this was gross in multiple parts. Elio compared the peach to a SA victim🧐 I’m glad the film cut out the problematic bits. This book just felt like the author writing down his weird fetishes
The movie overall is better and this book just felt creepy and the author is a self proclaimed pedophile so take that as you will

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thelavendermenace's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was a great book. I didn’t read it but instead listened to it on audible. Army Hammer is an insanely good narrator and I was in tears at the end. I would recommend for anyone who wants a chilled out romance.

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