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lyakimov's review against another edition
1.0
Alternate titles for this book: Grooming 101? Grooming for Dummies? Maybe… Grooming with Extra Nasty Perv Behavior? I think they are all fitting.
The book gets an immediate 1 star from me because of the grooming, but there were so many more problematic and disgusting aspects to this book. I feel like this book is the epitome of fetishization of gay men and it is awful. Let’s face it, this book would probably never be as popular and widely loved if it was not two men being in…love? I feel like I can’t even call it that because the entire time Elio was a child being manipulated by a conniving, creepy older man. Ironic how the person who played the creepy older man in the movie has been accused of extremely disgusting criminal acts & sexual abuse.
There was not much substance in this book and it felt like it was just thrown together with little editing. During the peach scene, there was a disgusting line that mentioned that the peach was like a sexual assault victim and that was absolutely horrendous and unnecessary and should have never been included.
I don’t want to insult people’s fetishes but this book was just not for me. I don’t want to read about an obsession with swim shorts and them watching each other go to the bathroom and observing their shits in the toilet. So this was not my cup of tea at all. I felt like I was in purgatory having to get through this book at some points, and the ending was so weird because of the sudden extreme time jumps. I definitely would have skipped parts of the book if I did not listen to it as an audiobook. Let’s just say I was very uncomfortable on my commute for these past couple days. I should not have even forced myself to finish this. What I will say is that I did get some entertainment out of it which is good.
The book gets an immediate 1 star from me because of the grooming, but there were so many more problematic and disgusting aspects to this book. I feel like this book is the epitome of fetishization of gay men and it is awful. Let’s face it, this book would probably never be as popular and widely loved if it was not two men being in…love? I feel like I can’t even call it that because the entire time Elio was a child being manipulated by a conniving, creepy older man. Ironic how the person who played the creepy older man in the movie has been accused of extremely disgusting criminal acts & sexual abuse.
There was not much substance in this book and it felt like it was just thrown together with little editing. During the peach scene, there was a disgusting line that mentioned that the peach was like a sexual assault victim and that was absolutely horrendous and unnecessary and should have never been included.
I don’t want to insult people’s fetishes but this book was just not for me. I don’t want to read about an obsession with swim shorts and them watching each other go to the bathroom and observing their shits in the toilet. So this was not my cup of tea at all. I felt like I was in purgatory having to get through this book at some points, and the ending was so weird because of the sudden extreme time jumps. I definitely would have skipped parts of the book if I did not listen to it as an audiobook. Let’s just say I was very uncomfortable on my commute for these past couple days. I should not have even forced myself to finish this. What I will say is that I did get some entertainment out of it which is good.
izzylashley's review against another edition
3.0
Very slow moving but great plot. When they said the book title everything made sense after, and it was extremely descriptive
cecefaulkner's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
3.75
This is one of the few instances in which the movie was better than the book
sagescassette's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
The plot was basic but didn't take away from the story. I think it was written well too, and isn't too long of a read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Cursing, Grief, Alcohol, and Drug use
sarachildrey's review against another edition
5.0
controversy aside, italians really know how to feel
elliesweetie's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-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
4.0
mamo__'s review against another edition
challenging
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lunacanread's review against another edition
3.0
im like 5 years late but i have thoughts. slight spoilers ahead.
i appreciate the feeling the book is trying to give you, the beautiful descriptions and the feeling of Elio’s desire, but i just can’t look past the romanticizing of the age difference i’m sorry. there is no reason why he had to be 17, it’s not important for the story at all. at one point he said something about the age not mattering and that he felt like the older one, which was really something. it would be fine if it just wasn’t being romanticized like this.
above all that there were a few disturbing things that made me incredibly uncomfortable. “i put my mouth where she smells of the sea”, “the bruised and damaged peach, like a rape victim, lay on its side on my desk, shamed, loyal, aching and confused.”, at this point i didn’t even want to finish the book. (also “i had already tried the animal kingdom, now i was moving to the kingdom of plants” did i miss something like what is this supposed to mean?). let’s also not pretend Elio smelling and putting on Oliver’s bathing suit is not creepy and predatory. random sidenote i also absolutely hated the poet’s speech about Bangkok. talking about Bangkok people being “as exotic as they come”, shut up.
i also found the book to be pretentious at times, but maybe i’m just not smart enough for this type of writing. i did really enjoy the final part of the book. anyway, these were my unimportant and incoherent thoughts.
i appreciate the feeling the book is trying to give you, the beautiful descriptions and the feeling of Elio’s desire, but i just can’t look past the romanticizing of the age difference i’m sorry. there is no reason why he had to be 17, it’s not important for the story at all. at one point he said something about the age not mattering and that he felt like the older one, which was really something. it would be fine if it just wasn’t being romanticized like this.
above all that there were a few disturbing things that made me incredibly uncomfortable. “i put my mouth where she smells of the sea”, “the bruised and damaged peach, like a rape victim, lay on its side on my desk, shamed, loyal, aching and confused.”, at this point i didn’t even want to finish the book. (also “i had already tried the animal kingdom, now i was moving to the kingdom of plants” did i miss something like what is this supposed to mean?). let’s also not pretend Elio smelling and putting on Oliver’s bathing suit is not creepy and predatory. random sidenote i also absolutely hated the poet’s speech about Bangkok. talking about Bangkok people being “as exotic as they come”, shut up.
i also found the book to be pretentious at times, but maybe i’m just not smart enough for this type of writing. i did really enjoy the final part of the book. anyway, these were my unimportant and incoherent thoughts.
bubbleblob888's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.25
anntrautmannm's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-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
5.0
There's a lot to say about this book, which I would not have read unless prompted to by family. I am very glad that I did. Although it starts in an idyllic setting (the Italian Riviera) as the story of intense attraction, first love, and longing, it has a lot more to offer. First, the way the author lets us into the mind of the young man, 17 YO, and his desire for a student living with this family for six weeks is so realistic. Haven't we all had those thoughts about someone we are crazily consumed by? Questioning every single thought and going back and forth enough to drive yourself mad. And being stared at by total strangers in awe of your happiness that you are unaware of wearing like clothing; the strangers enraptured by their happiness! So beautiful.
In the beginning, references are made to philosophers and Heraclitus in particular. Unfamiliar to me, I looked him up and briefly understand his main concepts to be that the world is constantly in flux, and (from the Greek translation) "No man ever steps in the same river twice." Of course, I did not look this up until after reading, but I loved it because I had felt throughout the book both a sense of time travel (not in the silly commercial sense of blockbuster movies) and of time and life being like a river, touching so many points simultaneously, always changing, people always changing, everything in flux, and (trying to avoid a spoiler) towards the end of not being able to hold/keep/go back to a moment/moments in time--like trying to hold water in your hand and watching it just slip out. Elio also often imagined himself in the future and considered who he would be in light of his action/inaction. The awareness of time slipping away . . . (All of that may make more sense if you have read the book to its conclusion.)
Other themes or items of note for me included:
- The freedom these young fellows had to explore their desires. The setting, in part, made that easier than it would have been in a different country/place.
- Also with regard to the setting, it was magical. And then Rome! So magical.
- I thought it was interesting (and good!) that there was no meanness--no revenge, ill intent, mean thoughts or words. Pretty cool.
- Related to the above "river/flux" theme, the fluidity also of gender; of names, the Bangkok person.
- The one statement that conveys the sense of being unable to "hold" time or revisit it, where (paraphrasing) left is false, right is false, up is false, down, forward, backward, etc. All "false" because they won't allow you to go back. Can't hold time in your hand.
- The beautiful line that the stars are only granted once. You should treasure and cherish and protect them. That's the main point, for me.
And I won't be buying peaches for quite some time. ; )
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content