dakotahreads's review against another edition
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Suicide
jblawson's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
My, oh, my.
This book touched me in the deepest of ways, bringing out something I hadn’t felt in many years: the feeling of being seen in literature.
Though this story isn’t mine, the experience that is Phillipe’s often felt like my own. There is a particular experience that most (if not all) queer people must endure: love that cannot be. A swarming desire that must be compressed. I’ve experienced it myself.
This feeling of love, it transports me; it makes me happy. At the same time, it consumes me and makes me miserable, the way all impossible loves are miserable.
The double meaning of the translated title is pure genius. The nuance of the characters (specifically Thomas) is so well written. The unmistakable love that could not see the light of day ate away at me. The untarnishable mark that is left after a great love (and loss)… this book was so much more than I could’ve asked of it to be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Suicide
augustst's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Suicide
Moderate: Sexual content and Homophobia
Minor: Alcohol
hue's review against another edition
2.0
It felt rather. . . flat. The narrator tells a lot of details and such but it feels like a long explanation rather than a story to follow. I didn't much care what the narrator was up to nor where the story would go. It could've been sad but since it was written so "clumsily", it wasn't. Didn't leave an impression.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Homophobia, and Sexual content
katieb94's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
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? Yes
3.0
Firstly, thank you to Netgalley for letting me read this in exchange for and honest (but late) review. I do feel I wasn’t the right audience for this book however, it was a queer coming of age story and I really couldn’t connect with the characters at all.
I’m also not sure if it’s semi-autobiographical or not.
Another issue I have is with the layout, I just get confused by novels that don’t have speech marks for anything spoken. Even though it was indicated I still
got lost.
The main part of the story is told to use by the writer/narrator as he tells us about his relationship with a boy, Thomas, whilst at high school- including the details of their sex lives too. I liked this part of the book best and seeing their relationship develop was nice to read.
It felt very obsolete though when it came to their adult hood. They drifted away, didn’t contact each other and it isn’t until the narrator meets Thomas’ son that we have any idea what happened after.
It takes a surprisingly sad turn towards the end that I didn’t see coming and there’s no direction it’s going to happen.
3/5 stars.
Sweet little queer romance book.
I’m also not sure if it’s semi-autobiographical or not.
Another issue I have is with the layout, I just get confused by novels that don’t have speech marks for anything spoken. Even though it was indicated I still
got lost.
The main part of the story is told to use by the writer/narrator as he tells us about his relationship with a boy, Thomas, whilst at high school- including the details of their sex lives too. I liked this part of the book best and seeing their relationship develop was nice to read.
It felt very obsolete though when it came to their adult hood. They drifted away, didn’t contact each other and it isn’t until the narrator meets Thomas’ son that we have any idea what happened after.
It takes a surprisingly sad turn towards the end that I didn’t see coming and there’s no direction it’s going to happen.
3/5 stars.
Sweet little queer romance book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Suicide
Minor: Homophobia
risemini's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, Homophobia, Suicide, Bullying, and Death
janewsom8112's review against another edition
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
5.0
I am inconsolable
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Sexual content
molly_kate's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia and Suicide
q_bert13's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
a memoir of the author's high school years that tell the story of a young 80's romance. Its an absolutely wonderful read and a tear jerker at times. This is the first book I've read by Philippe Besson, but it won't be the last
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Homophobia, Death, Death of parent, Classism, and Bullying
Minor: Suicide and Abandonment
morebedsidebooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
3.5
I’ve always loved to do that, to invent the lives of strangers in passing. It could almost be considered an obsession. I believe it started when I was a child. I remember its worrying my mother. “Stop with your lies!” she would say. She used the word “lies” instead of “stories,” but nevertheless, it continued, and all these years later, I still find myself doing it.
Lie With Me is an English translation of French writer Phillipe Besson’s Arrête avec tes mensonges translated by Molly Ringwald. (Yes, that Molly Ringwald from the Breakfast Club or, to this generation playing Archie’s mom on the TV series Riverdale.) Somewhat autobiographical, the novel contains the over twenty years later mature reflections of a verbose writer on first love as a teen in 1984 rural France. A bestseller, it has been nominated and won awards in the last few years. More attention coming with translations, a hype train behind it with comparisons to several contemporary American gay works going back to Brokeback Mountain. (That title as part of a collection by Annie Prolux was a Pulitzer Prize nominee and if you lived through the Brokeback Mountain movie mania, I suppose that would give an idea of the discussion around this book.) Can it live up to such expectations? Having read it in two languages it remains a beautiful, if melancholic book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Grief, Suicide, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcohol, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Death, Car accident, Vomit, and Ableism