Scan barcode
maddie_08's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
THE LAST LINE OF, NO PARAGRAPH OF THIS BOOK WAS JUST *CHEF'S KISS*.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer
dorhi's review against another edition
emotional
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? Yes
3.25
I'm not sure I've ever read a book that has left me so baffled as to what I felt about it. I couldn't tell you if I enjoyed this book or not, and I'm not sure if it's good or not.
In 'Call Me By Your Name' we follow 17 year old Elio as he comes to terms with his attraction towards 24 year old Oliver, who is an American staying in his family home in Italy for the summer as he works on his manuscript.
Elio is a very mature character, to the point of pretentiousness often if we're to be very honest. All the characters are kind of along these lines: incredibly intellectual professors and philosophers and academics, poets. At first I really enjoyed the wordiness of the story as it seemed to partner the hot Italian summer atmosphere of the beginning of the novel. Long, hot summer days where there was nothing better to do than go for a swim or play some tennis and make sure you get a lot of rest and midafternoon naps. It was slow in the story, and it was a slow paced novel. It worked well, gelling with the slow build in tension between Elio and Oliver and their feelings for each other that they refused to confess to one another.
Then as we move on in the novel it remains verbose and slow paced when things should, in my opinion, be moving along. We're still spending a lot of time introspectively wondering if anything
has changed between Elio and Oliver until the peach scene (which is gross, and I don't find any deep meaning in it personally) and things suddenly ramp up quite a bit. This may be a norm of the romance genre and I'll confess to not having read much of it, but I found the pacing overall unsatisfactory.
Oliver as a character I found mostly unlikeable. I do think Aciman does a good job of describing people though Elio's perspective so I'm not sure I even have a good grasp on Oliver as a character because I'm not sure Elio ever truly gets him. But he read as frustrating to me, and fake. I didn't believe in anything he said or did and so never really cared about him. Personally, I don't think he really ever felt anything for Elio anyway so I wasn't really surprised when he just left and didn't remember the game of names that Elio is so fixated on at the end.
I think this book is enjoyable if you buy into Elio and Oliver's relationship. If you don't... well, it's just kind of dull and wordy. I don't understand Oliver at all, and I found Elio kind of creepy with his infatuation. I didn't enjoy them together in Rome or otherwise, and so I finished this book and thought 'huh, well that was a book I read'.
3/5 stars is a fair review from my personal opinion, I think. I cannot deny that Aciman is a talented author and I'd maybe be interested in looking into some of his other works, but this one just wasn't really for me.
In 'Call Me By Your Name' we follow 17 year old Elio as he comes to terms with his attraction towards 24 year old Oliver, who is an American staying in his family home in Italy for the summer as he works on his manuscript.
Elio is a very mature character, to the point of pretentiousness often if we're to be very honest. All the characters are kind of along these lines: incredibly intellectual professors and philosophers and academics, poets. At first I really enjoyed the wordiness of the story as it seemed to partner the hot Italian summer atmosphere of the beginning of the novel. Long, hot summer days where there was nothing better to do than go for a swim or play some tennis and make sure you get a lot of rest and midafternoon naps. It was slow in the story, and it was a slow paced novel. It worked well, gelling with the slow build in tension between Elio and Oliver and their feelings for each other that they refused to confess to one another.
Then as we move on in the novel it remains verbose and slow paced when things should, in my opinion, be moving along. We're still spending a lot of time introspectively wondering if anything
has changed between Elio and Oliver until the peach scene (which is gross, and I don't find any deep meaning in it personally) and things suddenly ramp up quite a bit. This may be a norm of the romance genre and I'll confess to not having read much of it, but I found the pacing overall unsatisfactory.
Oliver as a character I found mostly unlikeable. I do think Aciman does a good job of describing people though Elio's perspective so I'm not sure I even have a good grasp on Oliver as a character because I'm not sure Elio ever truly gets him. But he read as frustrating to me, and fake. I didn't believe in anything he said or did and so never really cared about him. Personally, I don't think he really ever felt anything for Elio anyway so I wasn't really surprised when he just left and didn't remember the game of names that Elio is so fixated on at the end.
I think this book is enjoyable if you buy into Elio and Oliver's relationship. If you don't... well, it's just kind of dull and wordy. I don't understand Oliver at all, and I found Elio kind of creepy with his infatuation. I didn't enjoy them together in Rome or otherwise, and so I finished this book and thought 'huh, well that was a book I read'.
3/5 stars is a fair review from my personal opinion, I think. I cannot deny that Aciman is a talented author and I'd maybe be interested in looking into some of his other works, but this one just wasn't really for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Rape
macdonac's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Rape, and Adult/minor relationship
lay_kone's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Pedophilia
2busyreading's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content
Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Vomit
honkinggoose's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-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
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
shawn_martines's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
relaxing
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Less is more (but I still wished for more). The reader is put inside the mind of a young man attempting to navigate his feelings for a relationship that will be ultimately defined by the end of summer. The author uses an intelligent cast of characters, some scholarly and some practically, to articulate different outcomes we expect, but won't definitively know until action is taken.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
emilyrc93'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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
skan's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Aciman writes this story romantically with the hope that teenagers hold about love. Armie Hammer's narration of the audiobook was not as bad as I was expecting, despite him playing Oliver in the movie, since he still captures the awe that Elio has. That said, at the end of the day, this is a book built on an adult-minor relationship where the minor seems to be more love with the adult that just moves on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content
jo_lzr's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This story focuses on love, physical desire (though not only physical) and separation. The prose of this book is one of the reasons why I gave it 4 stars. I cannot begin to describe how beautiful the prose was. I liked reading it from Elio's perspective, especially the 4th part of the book. This story shows that separation, in all kinds of relationships, is inevitable and an essential component of human existence. I love the way it portrays both the beauty and sufferings that are part of the human experience, without demonizing the pain but rather accepting it and even reminding us that it has its own use.
I also have to mention that it was surprisingly a fast read.
Additionally, the scenery was beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.
I didn't give it 5 stars because I didn't relate to some of Elio's thoughts and because there were some scenes that I wasn't as interested in.
I also have to mention that it was surprisingly a fast read.
Additionally, the scenery was beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.
I didn't give it 5 stars because I didn't relate to some of Elio's thoughts and because there were some scenes that I wasn't as interested in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Vomit
Minor: Rape, Antisemitism, Biphobia, Excrement, and Cancer