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mold_munchr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content and Suicide
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Religious bigotry
elioreadsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Biphobia, and Abandonment
There are frequent references to the AIDS crisis and the effect it had on the POV character and people around him. The third section of the bookcatandherbooks's review against another edition
- 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? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Death
james1star's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
F**k… this book was phenomenal. I am so utterly speechless on how to articulate how this book made me feel, I know 100% it will stay with me for years and be re-read multiple times. Just wow. WOW!!! This has shot straight up to maybe my favourite book I’ve ever read.
Second read: November 2022
Third read: May 2023
Once again this book has well and truly devastated me. It’s one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking stories ever written and I will never not recommend it. Truly exceptional with a haunting last page that never leaves me, I always think about that letter… wow!
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, and Suicide
Minor: Hate crime, Miscarriage, and Car accident
iuvmoonie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Suicide
thewordsdevourer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.25
despite the story's relatively short length, besson manages to render his main characters fully dimensional, steeped w/ backstory and illustrating how philippe and thomas - despite their love - could only diverge from one another. we learn abt them prior to their relationship, during and after it as well, and while it might not be too much, what we learn allows us to paint a fuller, clearer picture.
there also isnt a sentence wasted, the prose sparse yet effective. more than being fueled w/ the plot, the novel's instead focused on its impressions and senses, and my fav thing abt it is how besson's able to so accurately, succinctly, and precisely capture the sense of lost youth and nostalgia - tinged w/ a lil regret - that so pervade the book. i couldnt help being startled or a lil in awe often while reading, thinking "yes! thats exactly how it feels," all the while relievedly reveling in the fact that im not alone in my sentiments. the metaphor and imagery are sublime as well.
while i cant decide whether it's a good or bad thing that this book doesnt hit me too hard in the feels - except for that last letter-form paragraph which nails me like a hammer, god - what i appreciate abt this novel above all else is its reflections and sense of feeling, how it so perfectly encapsulates nostalgia, youth, and regret. i recommend this to those who doesnt mind character over plot.
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Suicide
Minor: Death, Vomit, and Death of parent
irem_123's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Suicide
fatkidatheartreads's review against another edition
5.0
I picked this up on a whim. The writing is beautiful. I can't describe it. He writes about desire, loss and this eternal fear that we are seemingly never enough for those we want to be everything to. And he does this by carving out a tale of two teenage boys and their love story in a hidden town in 1980s France.
"I wonder if it's cold fathers who make the sensitive sons."
"So I'm from a bygone era, a dying city, a past without glory."
"I am stupidly sentimental: that hasn't changed much."
"...in the end my future is a fog and I don't care about it."
I mean, c'mon. This is so tender, soothing and enrapturing. I am aware that this is translated from French and Molly did a great job with it because the raw emotions are still very palpable from page to page.
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Suicide
irisjb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content and Suicide
Moderate: Homophobia
montyalmoro's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content