emilyandthewhippet's review against another edition

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slow-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

3.0

Bloody hell. I mean, it's well written but Elio just gives total serial killer vibes doesn't he?

Like his
low key stalking, wishing Oliver was dead, forcing sex on others, his secretly wanking into Oliver's swim trunks when they're not even on speaking terms, wanting to EAT his swim trunks...
!? And that's just the start. Or perhaps it's his wanting to
cut Oliver's heart out
?

And that's before we get onto him
fucking the peach
!? Then describing it like
it'd been raped
? Not to mention
leaving it for hours on the side whilst he has a sticky nap covered in peach slush, only for Oliver to pop right in and willingly, INSIST on EATING. THE. DAMN. THING
!

When I read the blurb, I thought this was going to be, and I quote "like Saltburn but without the disturbing stuff". If anything, this felt more disturbing than Saltburn 😂

Ultimately is a book about obsession. Is it love? I'm not sure. At it's heart it's about a horny 17 year old, obsessively lusting over 24 year old college professor who's only there for the summer.

One quote from Elio sums the story up pretty well:

"Do I like you? I worship you"

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amaralh's review against another edition

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emotional reflective relaxing sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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gabi_sud's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.5

Absolutely loved the movie and wanted to love the book just as much but unfortunately I did not. 
I thought it was very beautifully written, the raw and real emotions Elio felt, I could very much relate to things he was going through. However, even putting the age gap aside, the relationship between Elio and Oliver was very predatory from both sides?? The amount of times Elio had thoughts about SA’ing Oliver? And many time he acted on those thoughts, touching him without consent. The time he thought about disabling him so he could be his master?? And obviously Oliver is no better even through we don’t know his thoughts but the peach scene alone was a good indicator of how sick in the head he is as well. 
I wonder how people that view this as a beautiful love story would feel if one of them was a woman? 
Also what the fuck was that bathroom scene. I get loving someone that much you want to be one with them, but looking at each others fecal matter is surely not the way to do it? 
I truly don’t get Elio’s fascination with Oliver who might as well been a cardboard cutout cause he has just as much personality. Elio truly only desired Oliver because he was hot cause let’s be honest here, he didn’t even know him. 
I’m not gonna say I didn’t enjoy the book at all, cause I’d be lying. There were parts I absolutely loved, could totally relate to Elio and his yearning for someone he can’t have but all the good parts were overshadowed by the weird and creepy stuff. Like there was truly no need for it. 
And the foot fetish was driving me absolutely insane. Like not all of us are Quentin Tarantino. 
The ending, however, absolutely crushed me , it was heart wrenching and really did things for me. Not sure how I feel about there being another book though. I feel like it defeats the whole point of this one. 

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dianadelacruisin's review against another edition

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

3.75


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joeykills's review against another edition

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dark 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

4.25


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jelliestars's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.5


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lindasoderlundd's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

2.25

The writing was beautiful and atmospheric, and I really liked the last part of the book. Other than that, this book was just... meh. There was a lot of stuff that I found boring, and a lot of stuff that weirded me out. And for the most part, the love story didn't even feel like one.

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alice_hesse's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.5


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emmaoline's review against another edition

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fast-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

0.25


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cgibson25's review against another edition

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dark 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? It's complicated

1.0


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