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Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

En l'absence des hommes by Philippe Besson

6 reviews

dark emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This would be so good if there wasn't a pedophilic age gap between the couple. 

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lesbianhobbit's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 3%

age gaps are usually fine for me but 16 and 46???? SIXTEEN AND FORTY-SIX???? be serious. please. gay romance isn’t only about age gaps. get a hold of yourself 

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emotional reflective sad 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: Yes

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sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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main character is 16. his lover is 21 and a 45yo seems to like the 16yo too. 

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This book is incredibly lyrical and has a very interesting narrator choice. The story is told from a 16 years old boy, Vincent, point of view. It is also written as first person, in which Vincent alternates between talking to Marcel or Arthur. Because of this it feels very intimate to read. 

The way the author writes the thought process of a teenager seems very realistic. All the characters seem both complex enough to hold themselves up and limited since we are seeing all of them from the perspective of Vincent. 

This is mostly a coming of age story that mixes a teenager self assurance and confusion. Something that is registered when Vincent says "Is this what it means to become an adult? Giving up the beliefs which reassure us, which help us to survive?".

When it comes to thematics, it had discussions of class, war, aging, death and fearing it, grief, trauma, repression, etc.

My favorite thing about the book was for sure the writing, I underlined it intensely. In terms of characters I really appreciated the scenes between Vincent and Arthur. My favorite part was for sure the first one but the second one was quite enjoyable, and really showed me that I was able to picture the characters voices on their own. I feel like I was not a fan of the third part, I would either make it larger and better developed or take it out completely.

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