Reviews

Charming Young Man by Eliot Schrefer

margaretfrances's review against another edition

i’m in a reading slump and i tried this on audiobook but the narrator was bad i think maybe. no setting or characters came to life in the writing either and the slump continued..

drakoulis's review against another edition

4.0

Eliot Schrefer completely changes genre and prose by moving from The Darkness Outside Us to Charming Young Man.

A historical fiction set in the late 19th century Paris, inspired by the life a real person: young pianist Léon Delafosse.

Eliot's worldbuilding is once again flawless and immerses the reader in the social structure of the era, the constant self-doubt a poor outsider is feeling and how foreign the treacherous game of the high class feels to him.

Léon's thoughts are always with Felix, his best friend from the countryside and his experiences in cosmopolitan Paris are the door he needed to be opened for him.

It was a nice read overall, much more quiet and less groundbreaking than TDOU and with a bit of an open ending I dare say, I would prefer a more definitive one.

katielong84's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

yeahimreading's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

rtc. eliot schrefer can do no wrong imo

booksandsundaes's review

emotional funny fast-paced

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

4.25

cathyolibrarian's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

disabledbookdragon's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

mochiwangj's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted 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? No

4.0

starsandgutters's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Flung myself into this without even reading the blurb because ELIOT SCHREFER. Darkness Outside Us is one of my fave books ever so I was giving blind trust.

Consequently didn’t realise until I had dove into the book that it’s a historical reimagining based on real people - don’t love these kinds of books as it’s always weird to me projecting imagined personalities onto what were real people. 

The author’s note made me fractionally softer about this since it was inspired by such an intense sense of connection and born from so much passion, but this came too late to influence my reading.

Ironically the characters I enjoyed most and felt were the most full of life were the fictional characters Charlotte and Félix, perhaps because Eliot felt less constricted in his exploration of them. 

Definitely felt aimed at the lower middle YA audience. 

Some really beautiful descriptive language, especially in how Léon’s piano playing is depicted. 

Trods along at a fairly slow pace. 

There’s a lot of juggling with religious trauma and internalised homophobia, which grated on me after a while. 

Enjoyed Sargent’s cameo and thought the novel did a decent job with the exploration of class issues and struggles. 

hownovelle's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

4.5