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There is no way I'll be able to do this book justice. It's phenomenal and there are so many great reviews for it on ŷ������ that I don't feel the need to get into a deep review about the plot or its impact on Western literature. What will follow are random thoughts I had on the main character and the story as a whole. These are just my opinions, so try not to take them too seriously.

The beginning of the story was somewhat difficult for me because I wasn't used to the writing style and because I quickly discovered that I didn't like the MC, David. I couldn't stand being in his head, reading his shitty thoughts and witnessing him take out his anger and frustration with himself and his sexuality on everyone around him. He looks at everyone with some level of contempt or envy all the while using them for money, sex, alcohol (because apparently he can't stop drinking), companionship (even if that means spending time with people he detests because they remind him of himself or his future self), and, most odiously, for love and affection that he never even tries to reciprocate.

I understand that he was going through a lot of self-loathing and guilt over his sexuality, but that doesn't excuse his terrible attitude and behavior toward the people around him. I felt sorry for anyone unlucky enough to be associated with him. He was miserable and seemed to want to spread that misery to everyone else. Perhaps there exists somewhere very deep in my mind a small nugget of compassion for David but right now all I can think about is Giovanni's pain, so anger is all I feel.

The ending was brutal. I'm an avid romance reader so David's actions (or should I say inactions) toward Giovanni hit me so hard that I literally had to take breaks between mere paragraphs to get through it. Both Giovanni and Hella deserved so much more than David and I was heartbroken for both of them.

Knowing that this story was written by a queer black man who lived in Paris during the time that he wrote this made the story feel so much more personal, more authentic. For the longest time I had a hard time actually picturing the MC as white. 😅 It would have been interesting to know how this story would have differed if the MC really was black. Would he have had the connections that this MC had? Would he have been able to walk into the same bars and pick up men with the same ease? I can't imagine what everyday people in the 1950s thought when this story came out. The buzz within the literary community must have been crazy.

I'm so glad I read this. It had been on my physical tbr forever. I struggled in the beginning, but I was determined to finish it no matter what; even if that meant only getting through a few pages a day. Thankfully, it wasn't bad at all. 5 stars for all the strong emotions I felt while reading this. It was certainly very different from my usual read.