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pigeonpersona's review against another edition
emotional
relaxing
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
Phillipe Besson's debut novel is a great one! I'm very glad I read this, each line is well thought out and the whole story contains beautiful prose and characterizations. This would be a great novel to just fill a day with. I'm looking forward to reading his other works.
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Murder, and Pregnancy
Minor: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Antisemitism
samugranjo's review
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book is incredibly lyrical and has a very interesting narrator choice. The story is told from a 16 years old boy, Vincent, point of view. It is also written as first person, in which Vincent alternates between talking to Marcel or Arthur. Because of this it feels very intimate to read.
The way the author writes the thought process of a teenager seems very realistic. All the characters seem both complex enough to hold themselves up and limited since we are seeing all of them from the perspective of Vincent.
This is mostly a coming of age story that mixes a teenager self assurance and confusion. Something that is registered when Vincent says "Is this what it means to become an adult? Giving up the beliefs which reassure us, which help us to survive?".
When it comes to thematics, it had discussions of class, war, aging, death and fearing it, grief, trauma, repression, etc.
My favorite thing about the book was for sure the writing, I underlined it intensely. In terms of characters I really appreciated the scenes between Vincent and Arthur. My favorite part was for sure the first one but the second one was quite enjoyable, and really showed me that I was able to picture the characters voices on their own. I feel like I was not a fan of the third part, I would either make it larger and better developed or take it out completely.
The way the author writes the thought process of a teenager seems very realistic. All the characters seem both complex enough to hold themselves up and limited since we are seeing all of them from the perspective of Vincent.
This is mostly a coming of age story that mixes a teenager self assurance and confusion. Something that is registered when Vincent says "Is this what it means to become an adult? Giving up the beliefs which reassure us, which help us to survive?".
When it comes to thematics, it had discussions of class, war, aging, death and fearing it, grief, trauma, repression, etc.
My favorite thing about the book was for sure the writing, I underlined it intensely. In terms of characters I really appreciated the scenes between Vincent and Arthur. My favorite part was for sure the first one but the second one was quite enjoyable, and really showed me that I was able to picture the characters voices on their own. I feel like I was not a fan of the third part, I would either make it larger and better developed or take it out completely.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, and War
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Better description of the 'adult/minor relationship' and 'pedophilia' tags:
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