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A review by alicetheplanet
Find Me by André Aciman
challenging
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? It's complicated
1.5
Do you ever find yourself unable to finish a book?
That's what happened to me with "Find me". I wanted to love this book so badly and had such high expectations for it, given I loved "Call Me By Your Name" and loved Andre Aciman's writing style but it just fell short. At first, I really liked Samuel and saw many ways his character could go but becoming obsessed with some girl half his age that he's known for 24 hours is not one of them and frankly, I find it kind've gross. Andre made Samuel a little pathetic and creepy in my opinion. Especially after it is revealed that his ex-wife is loving life in Milan with someone age-appropriate, it makes Samuel's decisions all the more uncomfortable.
Moving on, Andre makes Elio weird too, and frankly ruined him to me. Elio feels needy and lonely, which are not bad things but his going after someone double his age is unnecessary, especially after all the backlash about the age gap in CMBYN. Elio could have been written to be independent and strong but he leaves an aftertaste of broken adolescence and longing, and too much of it to be honest. As if he never got over Oliver, which is fine but he never dealt with his emotions so he's just sad and hard to look (read) at. Like the person at the party, you avoid it because he gets uncomfortably sad every time they drink.
Lastly, I didn't bother reading on after Elios's part because I was so grossed out over the age gaps and obsession in the book. I don't believe books have to be realistic at all, as I love Harry Potter and others like it, but this book trying to invoke emotion the way it did with CMBYN doesn't come close because of how unrealistic it is. How likely is it that Samuel and Elio will both end up falling in love or becoming unhealthily obsessed with people 30 years older or younger within 24 hours? The book did not give proper time to feel the emotions it is trying to invoke either, everything went so quickly, and there were no other things going on in the book besides the relationships so it's not like it was very interesting outside of the age gap. Really it just felt like they were so lonely that they would get with anyone who had something slightly interesting to say.
I'm sorry if this is really harsh but it was not for me at all. I hope all of you liked it way more than I did!
That's what happened to me with "Find me". I wanted to love this book so badly and had such high expectations for it, given I loved "Call Me By Your Name" and loved Andre Aciman's writing style but it just fell short. At first, I really liked Samuel and saw many ways his character could go but becoming obsessed with some girl half his age that he's known for 24 hours is not one of them and frankly, I find it kind've gross. Andre made Samuel a little pathetic and creepy in my opinion. Especially after it is revealed that his ex-wife is loving life in Milan with someone age-appropriate, it makes Samuel's decisions all the more uncomfortable.
Moving on, Andre makes Elio weird too, and frankly ruined him to me. Elio feels needy and lonely, which are not bad things but his going after someone double his age is unnecessary, especially after all the backlash about the age gap in CMBYN. Elio could have been written to be independent and strong but he leaves an aftertaste of broken adolescence and longing, and too much of it to be honest. As if he never got over Oliver, which is fine but he never dealt with his emotions so he's just sad and hard to look (read) at. Like the person at the party, you avoid it because he gets uncomfortably sad every time they drink.
Lastly, I didn't bother reading on after Elios's part because I was so grossed out over the age gaps and obsession in the book. I don't believe books have to be realistic at all, as I love Harry Potter and others like it, but this book trying to invoke emotion the way it did with CMBYN doesn't come close because of how unrealistic it is. How likely is it that Samuel and Elio will both end up falling in love or becoming unhealthily obsessed with people 30 years older or younger within 24 hours? The book did not give proper time to feel the emotions it is trying to invoke either, everything went so quickly, and there were no other things going on in the book besides the relationships so it's not like it was very interesting outside of the age gap. Really it just felt like they were so lonely that they would get with anyone who had something slightly interesting to say.
I'm sorry if this is really harsh but it was not for me at all. I hope all of you liked it way more than I did!