Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Call Me By Your Name

I like a lot of the prose and have definitely tabbed some of it.
But the two major things that put me off in this book outside of the obvious problem are what feels like the author's own personal kinks slipping in and Elio being the most pretentious 17 year old in the world.

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mimielizabeth14's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

4.5

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caitlin_123a's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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

3.0

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voxnts's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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kimberlyswalters's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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violetdisposition's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

I loved the writing style of this book - I would describe it as eloquent, overwritten, unreliable narrator vibes. The main characters are both terribly flawed and are destined to lose each other and yet there is so much in the story about relationships, self-discovery, the passage of time, memories, families, etc.
This is not a sweet love story, and I don't think it is trying to be one either. I would definitely recommend looking at content warnings before reading this book.

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librarymouse's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-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

3.25

Call Me By Your Name really reminds me of Bernhard Schlink's The Reader, and despite its literary merit, I am similarly unsure that I enjoyed reading the novel. The writing is beautiful in some parts, but Elio's unhinged obsession and Oliver's acquiescence to the sexual advances of a minor are both cause for concern and not particularly enjoyable to read. Elio is damaged from the experience, unable to let his history with Olive go in order to form new and lasting bonds in adulthood, in a way that Oliver is not. The power imbalance in this novel is stark. Call Me By Your Name is considered a romance, but I don't see it as such. It's about obsession, miscommunication, and social expectations. There are also an egregious number of scenes that focus on feet.

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natraf_reads's review against another edition

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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? No

3.0

have a lot of mixed feelings about this -

The first being the prose was beautifully written. It felt like poetry the way descriptions flowed off the page. However, I felt that this thought stream coming from a 17 year old boy was incredibly unrealistic.

17 year old Ellio, finds himself magnetically drawn to 24 year old Oliver, a postdoctoral student studying abroad and staying with Ellio’s family. What starts as a fascination becomes more of an obsession. Every waking thought Ellio has is of Oliver.

Having a young person interested in an older, seemingly cooler, more put together person seems normal. But Ellio’s thoughts become focused on fantasies he has had about he and Oliver’s pairing. There is a lot of sexual content that seems very one sided. These are Ellio’s thoughts and fantasies. It’s not until over halfway through the book we see Oliver reciprocate any feelings or interest.

At which time there’s the pretty disturbing scene with Ellio and the peach that I’m just going to pretend I never read… but it’s fine.

Once joined, I feel that Oliver has continued to take advantage of Ellio and his obsession with Oliver.

We see once Oliver moves back home and comes back a few months later to visit, that he is engaged. He has a woman he’s been seeing the last few years, and pretty much just ends everything he and Ellio shared.

Years later, he still has pieces of memories they shared, Ellio who is still hoping for a chance to see his long lost love , knows he still wants more with Oliver, but can’t. Oliver even acknowledges that his eldest son is the same age as Ellio was when they met, and that he would never want that for him.

I thought the writing was beautiful. I felt that the emotions conveyed and the deep feelings Ellio held were beautiful - but kind of crossed into the territory of obsessive. I feel that Oliver took advantage of him. I feel that their whole relationship was unsafe.

It’s a hard balance between seeing the true romance this was intended as, and the twisted obsession it was.

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