Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Το άρωμα by Patrick Süskind

10 reviews

ninahuynh's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

2.75

That ending stank like how the beginning started! How is it he goes

and kill all these people and animals all for him to end by basically mob-suicide?! Unbelievable!!

Mister Suskind, I need an explanation now!!!! A 3-star book knocked down cause that ending has me raging 😤😡

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Pedophilia

tigertheory's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

unsure why this was such a hit. Sure, style is great, but the plot was so boring. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

Minor: Incest and Stalking

butchybats's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

4.5

Great book!! Loved the descriptions and imagery. Some parts felt a little slow but it was definitely a page turner and quick read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Torture

ohdeerboi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Cannibalism, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Excrement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

lesemaus2303's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Abortion, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

amemir's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Xenophobia, and Abandonment

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

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

maess's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

laurapeirs's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Stalking, Alcohol, and War

bleu's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

This book is no doubt not for the faint of heart. It’s the story of a serial murderer across an older French backdrop. I personally think if you’re looking for a passive book of gory (but not too gory) portions, this book might be for you. The main character isn’t anything interesting but I do think what the main character lacks in depth, the book makes up for in writing. The book very much is written for the ending rather than the journey being the most important. I dropped an entire 2 stars because of the main character and feeling like the book didn’t go into the killings enough to make the end feel more worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Death and Blood

Minor: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, and Alcohol