Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

23 reviews

lunaisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.5

I really enjoyed the writing, some quotes are beautiful and the metaphors are well-executed. The main character  is not a textbook villain or

serial killer

, but instead a very strange human that you grow to empathize for but also hate. I could've done without the

incest/pedophilia towards the end, as well as the animal death

. That, combined with the pacing being inconsistent and some parts feeling a bit dragged out or irrelevant, is what prevented the rating from being higher. Either way, I believe it's an interesting and thought-provoking read that will definitely make you feel uneasy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Violence, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, and Body horror

Minor: Torture and Suicidal thoughts

royal_jester'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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Animal death and Incest

sas_lk's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-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

3.5

I don't know what I expected the plot to be, but it certainly wasn't this. 
Some chapters I would think: "ooh, i like this, i like what the author did here" and others I would think "wth did I just read??"

Somehow it almost felt like the author himself was succumbing to insanity at the same time and speed as our main character Grenouille. 
I loved the writing though, the vivid descriptions, and the perspective of smell. I found it all quite fascinating and has given me a few things to think about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Stalking and Sexual content

Minor: Incest and Abandonment

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

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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.

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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

amelierawr's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

 Richis verdient besseres

>currently rereading for school

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Cannibalism, and Violence

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Incest

emmablue's review against another edition

dark

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Cannibalism, Animal death, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Incest

unroxy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Cannibalism

Minor: Incest, Racism, and Stalking

withlivjones's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.75

I read this book years ago for school and it has stuck with me ever since, and after rereading it it is still one of the most interesting, skin-crawling (in a good way) books I have ever read. We follow the life of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, who is born with a superhuman sense of smell but no scent of his own. Grenouille is such an interesting central character in that the narrator has absolutely no sympathy for him; while the reader might at least feel a little bad for the way he is treated as a child, the narrator constantly and from the very beginning handles him with distain, calling him an “abomination” and a parasitical pest. The book is a fascinating extended character study of a person with no sense of right or wrong and a lot of hatred for his fellow man. 

The description throughout the novel is almost nauseatingly vivid, with each character we come across thoroughly examined not only in terms of their scent but also in terms of their character, with their flaws brought to the foreground. Every character and setting is primarily described olfactorily as this is the way Grenouille perceives the world, and by focusing on smell over the other more common senses, it is as if one were to look at the world through an entirely different lens. Süskind even laments about the difficulty of describing scents in words, which is comically meta. 

In particular, I love the use of foreshadowing laced throughout the novel, and spotting the clues pointing towards certain characters’ demises make this book a great reread. Furthermore, the biblical imagery is also a fantastic addition to the vivid descriptions throughout, and this is especially clear during Grenouille’s dream sequence - one of the most entertaining parts of the novel for me. 

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book to everyone due to some of the topics it deals with being sensitive and/or pretty gross, and I find that much like Marmite people either love it or hate it. But if you’re looking for a book that will stay with you for years and you’re okay with the content warnings, I’d give it a go. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Alcohol, Animal death, Gore, Suicide, Pedophilia, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Cannibalism

Minor: Incest, Torture, Excrement, Misogyny, War, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism

mollylikethedrug_'s review against another edition

dark tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child abuse, Confinement, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, and Medical content

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

Minor: Pedophilia and Incest