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

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

244 reviews

nettles's review against another edition

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dark

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

4.75

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schmetterly's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Best book ever!

Though the end was a little bit... macabre. But it fit the story.

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sp00kyx's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

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

4.25

*Read in German.

My fiancée showed the movie to me and I really liked it, so I decided to read the book. I loved the way Patrick Süskind describes smell. Every single scent he described was so vivid in my mind. I also loved the way he wrapped up the storylines and guided the reader through the different stages of Grenouilles life. It felt a little dragged on at times and it took me a really long time to read, but it was easy to read and the text flowed and I was interested the entire way through. The book was funny at times and thought provoking. The ending was crazy.

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digthewarmth's review against another edition

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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? Yes

3.5

It was very bizarre, but fascinating and a Really creative story idea. I recommend everyone read the opening for the interesting take on the senses. The second half got really weird. Maybe this would be fantastic as a short story.

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ed_moore's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Süskind’s ‘Perfume’ to no surprise places a lot of emphasis on scent, both in its plot, character and descriptions, and never before when reading have I considered scent so much especially given I have a very limited sense of smell myself. This book was just as brilliant as the pigeon, but in an extremely different way. It was so carefully crafted yet weird, harrowing, uncomfortable and shocking (the series of twists at the ending!)

‘Perfume’ follows a child Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, as he grows into a young man and his super-human nose leads to huge successes in the perfuming business yet he seeks aims beyond profit, to create the perfect scent and also discover his own, for despite the power of his nose he himself lacks smell.

It really made me consider the impact of smell where it’s not played much of a role in my life (as I said earlier) and somehow was conveyed through words which led to the phenomenon of so intimately accessing one scent through the use of another.

The book also had a similar feeling to Dumas’ ‘The Black Tulip’ for some reason which I too thoroughly enjoyed, though was a lot more unsettling.

I am quickly falling in love with Süskind as an author.

though the orgy scene was really weird I didn’t love that…

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nmscavotto's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

5.0

This book is so weird but I love it so much

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woodsybookworm's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense 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

5.0

In 18th century Paris, a baby boy is born. Discarded by his mother who believes him to be a demon due to his body's lack of scent, no sweet baby smell, little Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is left to scrounge for himself on the edges of society.

Yet, Grenouille has a unique skill - an uncanny sense of smell - and he uses this ability to become an apprentice perfumer. But as his skill grows Grenouille becomes more and more desperate to create the ultimate perfume. What does one use to bottle the perfect scent? People of course! Hunting the streets at night for his perfect prey, Grenouille uses the essence of young women to create profoundly new concoctions.

I love stories from the perspective of the villain and Grenouille is a great one! His childhood and really his life in general is terrible so he becomes slightly endearing as a character, even with his many flaws...

This book is written in extremely flowery (budum tish 🥁) prose but if you can stick with it then I think it's an enjoyable read. Plus, it's been adapted into a movie and a TV show - though the TV show is set in modern times and references the book rather than directly follows Grenouille's story - and I recommend them both!

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