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minnie_xx's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-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
5.0
real
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content
ams5x9's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
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? It's complicated
2.0
I really wanted to like this book, however despite being well written, it lacked substance.
I’m here for a timeless, devoted love story between two men that transcends age and culture set in a time period where such thing was taboo.
However, this book fell flat. The characters lacked dimension and several parts of the book felt like I was imposing on the mind of a very anxiously obsessed adolescent who throughout the novel *rapes* a peach and prizes *literal* shit.
I didn’t find it to be arduous admiration—it felt creepy.
I think other reviewers, particularly gay men who have similarly rated this two stars or lower, do a great job at describing the problematic parts of this novel, so I would defer to their sentiments and opinions for more extensive commentary that echos or matches my experience reading this novel.
I’m here for a timeless, devoted love story between two men that transcends age and culture set in a time period where such thing was taboo.
However, this book fell flat. The characters lacked dimension and several parts of the book felt like I was imposing on the mind of a very anxiously obsessed adolescent who throughout the novel *rapes* a peach and prizes *literal* shit.
I didn’t find it to be arduous admiration—it felt creepy.
I think other reviewers, particularly gay men who have similarly rated this two stars or lower, do a great job at describing the problematic parts of this novel, so I would defer to their sentiments and opinions for more extensive commentary that echos or matches my experience reading this novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Pedophilia, and Adult/minor relationship
tadiwa_e's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I cannot really express the experience I went through reading this book. Almost DNFed it 3 times… I am still processing. But I will say. What a beautifully written piece. I would not call it a romance but maybe a recollection of Elios memories. It was intimate and sometimes really intense.
However I cannot get behind the age gap and power dynamics in the relationship. No matter how much Aciman tries to present it as something to be praised. For that I cannot give a higher rating. Some parts of this book also were disgusting… sorry… there’s no way THAT scene is going to be skipped past like it never happened.
Overall I loved a lot of quotes in this book and it was thought provoking especially Elios Fathers speech at the end.
However I cannot get behind the age gap and power dynamics in the relationship. No matter how much Aciman tries to present it as something to be praised. For that I cannot give a higher rating. Some parts of this book also were disgusting… sorry… there’s no way THAT scene is going to be skipped past like it never happened.
Overall I loved a lot of quotes in this book and it was thought provoking especially Elios Fathers speech at the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Child death, Cancer, and Death of parent
greyreadss's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, and Adult/minor relationship
leahhmorriss's review against another edition
challenging
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
i enjoyed the movie but didn’t like the way the book was written. there was way too much of elio rambling on about how obsessed he was with oliver and not enough actual plot.
i didn’t exactly like either of the main characters. elio’s obsession was creepy and weird and uncomfortable to read. oliver was clearly a groomer, it wasn’t even the age gap that got me it was oliver’s reaction to elio regretting their time together and how he was clearly manipulating a minor because of his guilt.
for some reason, even though this book made me angry and uncomfortable multiple times, i still enjoyed the ending of them both being adults and reconnecting. i found myself wanting to read the second book even though i probably never will.
i didn’t exactly like either of the main characters. elio’s obsession was creepy and weird and uncomfortable to read. oliver was clearly a groomer, it wasn’t even the age gap that got me it was oliver’s reaction to elio regretting their time together and how he was clearly manipulating a minor because of his guilt.
for some reason, even though this book made me angry and uncomfortable multiple times, i still enjoyed the ending of them both being adults and reconnecting. i found myself wanting to read the second book even though i probably never will.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, and Toxic relationship
zamakodknjiga's review against another edition
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Kraj je bio emotivan i svideo mi se, zbog toga 3.25⭐️. Inače zaslužuje 3, osrednji je roman kada se sve sagleda. Imala sam love-hate odnos s glavnim likovima, mnogo toga mi je bilo diskutabilno, a pritom portretisano kao ljubav. Za mene je, uprkos kraju, to što su Eli i Oliver imali ništa više od privlačnosti i seksualne tenzije koju su na određeni način zadovoljili. Pritom, razlika u godinama, seksualizacija i fetišizam koju je Asiman prikazao definitivno nije u mojoj zoni komfora. Mislim da mi je na neki način ogadio breskve, to je sve što ću reći... 😵💫 Stil pisanja jeste donekle izvukao celokupnu knjigu. Ono u šta sam sigurna je da ovo definitivno nije LGBT knjiga u kojoj sam uživala, ali mi je drago da sam je pročitala jer bih mislila da sam propustila nešto. Krajem nisam ostala ravnodušna, ali je pomalo bilo prekasno da se vežem za likove. Ukoliko "možete da progutate" dozu pomalo čudnih seksualnih fantazija i okej vam je tinejdžerska dramatičnost prve ljubavi (to sam i uspela da preguram), verujem da bi vam knjiga bila u redu. Što se mene tiče, ja se s Asimanom više neću družiti, nije mi toliko legao koliko sam se nadala da hoće.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship
milakzm's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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? It's complicated
2.5
snoozefest lowkey. movie is better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cancer, Death, Alcohol, and Sexual content
kris10coopah's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content
Minor: Antisemitism
jordan_noel's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-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
3.75
At first, I felt this book was an overly vulgar description of a teenager’s sexual awakening initiated by his attraction to an older, mature man. It felt like a summer romance and nothing more; a fling to be done with at the end. Maybe reminisced upon in an older age, but never a deep regret.
However, in Part 4, this suddenly felt like much more to me.
<SPOILER>
With loss, their romance could be clearly recognized as eros; something the readers could grieve with the characters. In Oliver’s forced complacency with his new wife and family and Elio’s determination to hang on to this brief moment in the past, it’s hard not to feel grief for such a short-lived happiness. What they had together doesn’t disappear as they age but it gets silenced and the characters are forced to live lives of dejection. If I could feel as much in the rest of the book as I felt in Part 4, I could find practically nothing to complain about in this book. Maybe it was the author’s intention to make us feel such deep regret after viewing their love as an initially silly romance, I don’t know. But I do feel this book greatly connects beauty and sexuality with a most turbulent and determined kind of love in a way that’s unique and unexplored in many modern love stories.
However, in Part 4, this suddenly felt like much more to me.
<SPOILER>
With loss, their romance could be clearly recognized as eros; something the readers could grieve with the characters. In Oliver’s forced complacency with his new wife and family and Elio’s determination to hang on to this brief moment in the past, it’s hard not to feel grief for such a short-lived happiness. What they had together doesn’t disappear as they age but it gets silenced and the characters are forced to live lives of dejection. If I could feel as much in the rest of the book as I felt in Part 4, I could find practically nothing to complain about in this book. Maybe it was the author’s intention to make us feel such deep regret after viewing their love as an initially silly romance, I don’t know. But I do feel this book greatly connects beauty and sexuality with a most turbulent and determined kind of love in a way that’s unique and unexplored in many modern love stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Excrement
Minor: Chronic illness, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Death
carlycormier_'s review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
The exploration of the psyche that Aciman takes you on is… just wow. This book captures a snapshot of all young people’s lives when they find themselves in their first relation/situation-ship that is all-encompassing, passionate, maddening, and the intricacies of figuring out yourself and life. You truly feel like you are Elio experiencing turbulent mental and emotional processes as he navigates his relationship with Oliver, his family, and, most importantly, himself. This narrative perspective opens a window into the unspoken depths of our minds. Elio has many racing, and racy, thoughts that we don't typically vocalize, which makes the book feel almost intrusive and voyeuristic at times.
"He came. He left. Nothing else had changed. I had not changed. The world hadn't changed. Yet nothing would be the same. All that remains is dreammaking and stranger remembrance."
Part Four will rip your heart out and put it back just so it can do it all over again. The hazy, dream-like visuals and intense inner-monologues of remembering a life that equally feels distant and unreal, yet fresh, are the gems of this book. Memory is an additional, unspoken character woven through the storyline and the dialogue with billowy (wink wink) and effortless ease.
Palpable, visceral, intoxicating, bellissimo.
I have a feeling - I know, rather - that I will be thinking about this book for a long time. To add more to this review would do this book a major injustice. So, just read it for yourself and feel all of its beauty first-hand.
"He came. He left. Nothing else had changed. I had not changed. The world hadn't changed. Yet nothing would be the same. All that remains is dreammaking and stranger remembrance."
Palpable, visceral, intoxicating, bellissimo.
I have a feeling - I know, rather - that I will be thinking about this book for a long time. To add more to this review would do this book a major injustice. So, just read it for yourself and feel all of its beauty first-hand.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Adult/minor relationship