Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

55 reviews

liilykke's review against another edition

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dark fast-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

4.25

I really liked this book!
From other reviews I realized most people read it out of school obligation, and that kinda ruins it, it's definitely not a book for everyone, but I wouldn't consider it a "bad" book. 
I think it's similar to a) Narcissus and Goldmund - Hermann Hesse b) A Certain Hunger- Chelsea Summers and c) My Year of Rest and Relaxation- Ottessa Moshfegh 
It contains long descriptions of olfactory stimuli, 18th century France in a beautiful and enchanting way.
It deals with the mind of the ultimate sociopath, whose killings are not out of moralistic obligation, to prove a point, nor because he liked the killing itself...but because he sees people in such a way that he is able to kill them in order to get what he needs- a scent.

I think you can read this book again and again and always find something unique. The prose is beautiful, it contrasts the gore descriptions that are presented. 
Süskind has done immersive research into perfumes, everything is articulated in such detail...
I really really enjoyed the descriptions inside the cave, his intense need to be away from everyone, how he described how much he wanted to empty himself.... I don't know how I feel about the ending yet, it was captivating and unexpected but part of me feels robbed of what it could have been, in a way...if that makes sense

I think if you enjoy dark and gore themes, but would also appreciate a discussion about humanity and death, this book is for u <3

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melie's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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laurapeirs's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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lola_lab's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense 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

Check the trigger warnings, because there are a whole lot of them

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kanefriedenhagen's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-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

4.0


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bugcollector's review against another edition

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mysterious sad tense 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

1.0



I don't think i get it. 
wanted to borrow it when i was a kid bc of nirvana, but didn't bc the cover had a naked ladyyy on it so when i heard about it again i figured that i might as well. 
maybe the old translation to hebrew is at fault too, but the book was so slow paced and the smells gimic gets overused, over detailed, just over. 
i mean we knew he was going to murder the gal from the begining nothing too shocking about any of it, so i guess you do get the premise , but it went on forever. 
it also took me too long to finish it and i had to extand my lending time from the library.

i think I'm in my girly mc era and this boring male wasn't giving what needed to be gave :/

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bizzybee707's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense 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

5.0


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emmaslibrary's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5


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sco_whi's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Stunning imagery, descriptive language, and an absurd plot

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bleu's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • 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? It's complicated

3.0

This book is no doubt not for the faint of heart. It’s the story of a serial murderer across an older French backdrop. I personally think if you’re looking for a passive book of gory (but not too gory) portions, this book might be for you. The main character isn’t anything interesting but I do think what the main character lacks in depth, the book makes up for in writing. The book very much is written for the ending rather than the journey being the most important. I dropped an entire 2 stars because of the main character and feeling like the book didn’t go into the killings enough to make the end feel more worth it. 

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