Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

« Arrête avec tes mensonges » by Philippe Besson

190 reviews

tellatrix's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆

𝑃ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑛

Disclaimer: I'm sadly not able to write reviews without including spoilers, so please read this only after you’ve finished the book.

I knew going into Lie With Me that it would be a short, sad story—and that’s exactly what it was. Initially, I thought the story seemed a bit basic, as I’ve read similar books before. But by the end, something changed. We got to see more of Thomas, got to know him more intimately, and that shifted my view of the book.

At first, I didn’t feel like I knew Thomas at all, which made it hard to connect. For me, characters are everything; I need to feel connected to them to enjoy a story. Finding parts of myself in a book, relating to a character’s struggles or emotions—that’s what I love most about reading. This book gave me that, especially by the end. I found myself empathizing with both Thomas and Philippe, with the pain of their hidden love and the lies Thomas told himself for so long. Philippe never forgot Thomas, and maybe Thomas never forgot Philippe either. They could have acted on those feelings, could have met up, maybe even tried to build a life together. But they didn’t. Philippe knew exactly who Thomas was and understood he would never get a fairytale ending from him.

I can’t help but wonder why Thomas never called him, why he didn’t reach out after leaving his family. What was the point of leaving if he wouldn’t reconnect with Philippe? These questions linger, but the answer is probably that he simply couldn’t. Maybe it was shame or fear of his own feelings. And in a way, I understand.

I, too, once loved someone deeply—at least, I think I did. I was only 11 at the time, and now I’m 20, yet I still think about them sometimes. I imagine scenarios in my head where we reconnect, maybe even build a future together. I could reach out; it would only take a message to reconnect. But I can’t. I worry that my feelings from nearly a decade ago weren’t “real,” or that I just imagined the connection between us. I fear rejection, and I’m afraid of the changes time might have brought. I worry that we wouldn’t even recognize each other anymore, that the person he was then is gone, replaced by someone I no longer know.

In that sense, I can understand why Thomas and Philippe didn’t reach out to each other. I do the same thing. But even with that understanding, I still struggle to make sense of their choices—or my own. This book felt like a self-reflection, so maybe I’m biased, but I also appreciated its simple language and youthful tone.

To end this review, here is one of my favorite quotes from the book: 

He adds this phrase, which for me is unforgettable: Because you will leave and we will stay.



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tashtasher's review against another edition

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

5.0


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anna_l's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad slow-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? Yes

4.25


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booksbri's review against another edition

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

4.0


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casey_esq's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.75

This would be a 5 star read if there were quotation marks to distinguish between dialogue and non-dialogue.

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01hannah11's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

gorgeous, intimate, gut wrenching, emotional. i loved this book. shedding a tear every time i read about young queer love.

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rwinchesterm's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.75


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autisticbucky's review against another edition

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emotional sad

4.0


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itac2i's review against another edition

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

4.5

This book, recounts an emotional and sexual love affair between two teenage boys in 1984. It is unimaginably real, and raw, and full of the emotions of youth. Of first love. 

In this book, you read of Phillipe’s intense yearning for another boy by the name of Thomas. In spite of believing his desire is one sided, Thomas and him end up having an affair, that seemed only sexual in nature.. until it was just more, for the both of them. 

Phillipe goes on to recall this entire encounter and this boy into his adult life, never forgetting this relationship that changed him even as an adult. He never forgets of this boy named Thomas. 

This book captures a real and uniquely raw queer experience, and all of the emotions that come with it back in a time when being queer wasn’t something that was possible for just anyone. How someone can suppress such feelings and queerness, and the shame that it causes them to carry. Even without these things being bluntly described it is understood in the context of the words written in this book. 

Reading this as queer person myself, this book was very easy to relate to and feel in my very core. Not only the queer aspects, but also the fervent amount of passion and infatuation one feels in their youth. It really hit me a little too hard in the heart. What an emotionally powerful story encapsulating a real, and harder side of the queer experience.

4.5 ⭐️.

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em_h_ma's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Hitting a little too close to home. The ending wrecked me. 

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