Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

21 reviews

renorsomethin's review against another edition

dark medium-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

wtf did i even read 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cannibalism, Stalking, Suicide, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Sexual content

stephanieanneauthor's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.0

This book is wild! Sure, the story had it's dark moments, but it's also ridiculous (in a good way). I genuinely was not expecting some of the things that happened - especially in those final chapters. I also love the fact that it focuses so much on scent. It's an underused sense in literature, but so good as conjuring up emotions. Just do listen to the audiobook on public transit like I did - I was VERY aware of the scents on the bus that day.

But I think my favourite part is that it reads like a text from the 18th century. I've read a lot of Victorian literature for both school and for fun, so I'm very familiar with the writing style of the time. I had to double check that this book was actually written in the 1980s - you could've fooled me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Abandonment, Xenophobia, Torture, and Suicide

Minor: Incest and War

zauet's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Death, Excrement, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Sexual content, Genocide, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Rape, Pregnancy, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Suicide, Self harm, and Religious bigotry

liv_31's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

one of the best books I’ve ever read

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Suicide, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

asimpson7's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

This book was so strange. I don’t really know what to think about it. It started off strange and I was confused as to where it was going and why but then it had a truly grim and odd ending. It was an interesting and entertaining read, however I was very confused by it all, and I am glad I do not have that sense of smell as it seemed a curse rather than a blessing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Violence, Mental illness, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Classism, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Murder, Torture, Suicide, and Pedophilia

miamoo1004's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

5.0

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Violence, Cannibalism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Murder

nils_0's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Incest, Miscarriage, Suicide, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Body horror, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Torture, Violence, and Grief

Minor: War

linnea1801's review against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Cannibalism, Death, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Incest, Misogyny, and Racial slurs

phantomgecko's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.0

Sure learned a lot about old time-y perfumery.

Interesting story but slow. The extended daydreaming sequences could have been entirely removed and made it better imo. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Cannibalism, Suicide, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Murder, and Sexual content

Minor: Abortion

emmacartlidge's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual content, Murder, Torture, Death, and Gore

Minor: Animal death, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Excrement, and Pedophilia