Reviews

This is a chilling tale following the scent-obsessed murderer named Jean-Baptiste Grenouille on his twisted quest to make the “ultimate perfume”. It is a story of social isolation, of obsessions and genius.
The book starts with the birth of Grenouille, if the fish market. You see, from the very beginning, the story heavily relies on the sense of smell. It is because of heady sensory overload that I nearly sympathized with him. I had to brush that off as soon as he began to display is darker-than-his-already-dark self.
As for his character, I think it was intense. I don’t know how Suskind fabricated a psychopathic character with such complexity and precision. His obsession and vanity was obvious through and through. He has crazy stalker skills, literally sniffing out his victims and killing them. His patience is more disturbing than the crimes. To think there can be such people out there…
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The end was a little hurried, and surreal in that sense. I did not feel it was consistent with the rest of the plot. I guess Grenouille got tired. Or I didn’t want the book to end.
(I could lose myself in the book thanks to the evocative descriptions of eighteenth-century Paris and Southern France.)
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Overall: dark and twisted.

emnoelle88's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

nmscavotto's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

5.0

This book is so weird but I love it so much

Content Warnings

charmingcapybara's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

peppa1972's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

woodsybookworm's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

In 18th century Paris, a baby boy is born. Discarded by his mother who believes him to be a demon due to his body's lack of scent, no sweet baby smell, little Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is left to scrounge for himself on the edges of society.

Yet, Grenouille has a unique skill - an uncanny sense of smell - and he uses this ability to become an apprentice perfumer. But as his skill grows Grenouille becomes more and more desperate to create the ultimate perfume. What does one use to bottle the perfect scent? People of course! Hunting the streets at night for his perfect prey, Grenouille uses the essence of young women to create profoundly new concoctions.

I love stories from the perspective of the villain and Grenouille is a great one! His childhood and really his life in general is terrible so he becomes slightly endearing as a character, even with his many flaws...

This book is written in extremely flowery (budum tish 🥁) prose but if you can stick with it then I think it's an enjoyable read. Plus, it's been adapted into a movie and a TV show - though the TV show is set in modern times and references the book rather than directly follows Grenouille's story - and I recommend them both!

Content Warnings

amatoxin's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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