Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

I really enjoyed the book the ending had me shocked. I also enjoyed Grenouille’s character and how he was perceived and that we got to see his thoughts and dreams it added a lot more depth to his character.

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sas_lk's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

I don't know what I expected the plot to be, but it certainly wasn't this.
Some chapters I would think: "ooh, i like this, i like what the author did here" and others I would think "wth did I just read??"

Somehow it almost felt like the author himself was succumbing to insanity at the same time and speed as our main character Grenouille.
I loved the writing though, the vivid descriptions, and the perspective of smell. I found it all quite fascinating and has given me a few things to think about.

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perlimpinpute's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

4.0

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amelody's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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linnea1801's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense 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? Yes

1.5

If I didn’t have to read this for school I would have dropped it a few chapters in. The main character was so despicable that it hurt every time he got away with something.

It was also extremely infuriating that all the victims were CHILDREN and they were still very sexualised

However, the way that scent was described was very intriguing. In my opinion it was overdone in the middle section, but especially in the beginning it was interesting. All in all I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone but it definitely wasn’t the worst book I was forced to read for school.

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charbookchar's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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lydiavsbooks's review against another edition

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dark 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

2.5

Its a difficult one to review, the concept was brilliant but unfortunately it just ended up being disappointing for me.

I do have to give it credit for its description of smells and the author's ability to create atmosphere just from scent. Reading it made me want to smell things, I actually bought a new perfume while reading this book because of this book and its immersive descriptions of scent and perfume.

I don't like calling books boring but for this one there's no other word for it really. Its a short book, with an amazing concept full of murder: it should be gripping, but somehow it managed to drag. Scenes where things actually happened were rushed past, and chapters where the plot was lacking felt so dragged out unnecessarily. I just lost interest. I also get the impression the author isn't a big fan of women, but that could just be me reading into it.

Its such a shame because the story had so much potential that it did not live up to.

Content Warnings

emmagreenwood's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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