A review by 21stcenturyfox
Gigi by Colette

3.0

I stopped by a coffee shop to read this while drinking a cup of coffee this afternoon. Truly sets the mood for a Colette book, huh? Although, well yes, I am pretty grossed out.

Its age is definitely shown, sometimes it gets pretty funny. But it made sense to the storyline. Gigi is a girl of 15, groomed to be a courtesan by her demimonde family, but Gigi does things her way and refused to follow her family's rules even when she's constantly tormented for being "backwards for her age" definitely shown when Gaston, a family friend in his 30's, confessed his love for her and she reacted with a childish burst.

I think Gigi is supposed to be a rebel girl who goes out her own way, choosing love instead of the life her family trained her for, but their age differences made it age pretty badly especially knowing that Gaston is a family friend who has known her since she was small, even considers himself her godfather! and gave her abundance of gifts throughout the years (a sign of grooming, by the way). As a 17 year-old I'm not saying I wouldn't have a crush on a handsome older man who is kind and generous to me with whom I spend a lot of times playing games with, especially if I was an isolated girl whose family forbid to befriend even girls her own age, but to me it seems like her love for Gaston is pretty little-sisterly than romantic, although I'm sure that's not what Colette intended. From today's perspective, it looks like Gigi escaped one type of grooming to be fallen to another.