Reviews

I liked What Belongs to You, I could not stop thinking about parts of it, but overall it did not fully work for me. It is about an American teacher in Bulgaria who hooks up with a Bulgarian male prostitute and ends up in an obsessive relationship with him that spans the years--and his own reminiscences about his life growing up and his problematic, to say the least, relationship with his father. Although less than 200 pages the story feels like an epic exploration of the trajectory of one relationship. The sentences are beautiful but at times it is difficult to read--with very long paragraphs (one part of the book is a single paragraph), effectively no dialogue, but all in the service of a relatively simple story.

bookcub's review against another edition

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1.0

I couldn't connect to any aspect of this book. It made me feel so isolated, like I was missing a huge part of the book. Also, there were barely any paragraphs and only one character had a name. So annoying.

clmckinney's review against another edition

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4.0

I have been meaning to read this book for ages. It is the story of a esl teacher in Bulgaria and his involvement with a prostitute. The author writes with such intensity and passion. A lot of the story line are experiences that seem like a rite of passage for a gay man, which is why I related to the main character. I really enjoyed this novel. I look forward to reading Cleanness.

klaratoll's review against another edition

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3.0

So I didn't really get into this and there are a two possible, and probable, reasons. First of all, I listened to this on audio and when I started it I was insanely stressed because I was late for class, so I don't actually know how much attention I was able to pay to the first like 40 minutes or so. Secondly, I just didn't find it all that interesting or new. I did enjoy a few things, the language aspect and parts of the relationships, but I never felt like I connected with the main character and I never quite got into the story.

guinness74's review against another edition

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5.0

What a beautiful, beautiful book. I'm hard pressed to write more adjectives because they simply won't do it justice. The story of two lives, both separate and intertwined, will pull you in and will not let you go until they've wrung you with the experience. It doesn't matter the subject matter, these characters are human and they deserve your attention. This book just made my favorites list!

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