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The Scent of Your Breath

by Melissa Panarello (Goodreads Author), Shaun Whiteside (Translator)

2.64 of 5 stars 2.64 · rating details · 2,260 ratings · 201 reviews

Melissa P.'s fictionalized memoir, 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed, became an international literary phenomenon, selling over two million copies worldwide and inspiring profiles in Vanity Fair and The New York Times, as well as a warning from the pope. The Scent of Your Breath, the second installment in her series of confessions, is a smoldering tale of obsessive love...more

Paperback, 144 pages

Published July 17th 2006 by Grove Press, Black Cat (first published January 1st 2003)

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Aug 12, 2007 Empress rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: All those moms and health ed teachers who thought Reviving Ophelia really spoke to my generation...

Surely this has been misclassified as erotica--yes, there is a lot of sex, but it isn't erotic by any means. If anything, it's depressing. Think Go Ask Alice, only with nocuous sexual encounters being the object lesson instead of irresponsible experimental drug use--only much, much worse.

(I should have known from the title...)

Wracked with self-doubt after a disappointing first encounter with love, the author admittedly attempts to muffle her feelings of loneliness and inadequacy through deliber...more Surely this has been misclassified as erotica--yes, there is a lot of sex, but it isn't erotic by any means. If anything, it's depressing. Think Go Ask Alice, only with nocuous sexual encounters being the object lesson instead of irresponsible experimental drug use--only much, much worse.

(I should have known from the title...)

Wracked with self-doubt after a disappointing first encounter with love, the author admittedly attempts to muffle her feelings of loneliness and inadequacy through deliberate self-exploitation. Although she is sincerely fascinated by her new-found seductive powers, she clearly does not feel liberated in acting upon them. She persistently seeks out precarious rendezvous with highly questionable men in a predictable cycle of self-punishment. Deriving little to no pleasure from these encounters, (except perhaps her slight satisfaction in exposing other’s perversions) the tone of the book is regretful if anything--not by any means liberated or erogenous.

Occasionally, Melissa will lapse into her mirror-world where she is so taken with her own beauty and sensuality; her inherent ability to be desired, that the despair she feels melts away, and for a moment the reader is convinced that she may actually be enjoying herself. However, that illusion is always quickly shattered when the camera pans back out and we see her again as an ashamed, distraught and misunderstood would-be heroine.
As Melissa becomes less and less recognizable to her former self, her exploits hasten and become increasingly risky in a blurred attempt to reincarnate her prior self (the girl in the mirror), and if not, to at least chastise it for disappearing. She spends the entire book frantically struggling to regain ownership of her sexuality. Unable to achieve this on her own, she repeats this sequence of sexual extremes and shame until her knight in shining armor finally comes to rescue her from herself.

As if her sexual misadventures weren't bad enough, the language she uses to describe them is even worse. She routinely uses ridiculously androcentric, terribly unattractive and cliche metaphors to describe her encounters:
“He positioned me on top of him like a defenseless doll and aimed his long lance into my sex…”
Yikes.
She also habitually refers to her vagina as “The Secret,” and well, enough said.

Neither an erotic tale nor a feminist coming of age piece, 100 Strokes serves more as an exposé on the incidence of child predators in Sicily (and everywhere else, unfortunately) than anything.
Barf.

Overall, a depressing, cheesy and cliché book of a little girl lost. Like Snow White meets Reviving Ophelia as told by a cautionary Lolita--laden with shame, BDSM undertones, and creepy, creepy men.

Then again, it is considered one of the most scandalous and wildly controversial novels to come out of Europe in recent years…

(less)

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Aug 10, 2007 Ashley rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoirs

This book is a true story about a young girl's sexual encounters with different men. It is in the form of a diary. This was a strange book...didn't really enjoy it. How her parents didnt realize her that their daughter was having these sexual encounters is beyond me. The authors description of the sexual encounters was horrible.

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Apr 14, 2010 Shelley rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: in-translation, biomemoir, smut

Not sexy, not hot, not erotic. A bored teenager had a lot of bad sex with a lot of lame guys and wrote about it. I keep reading to find out why, and I think I did: she was bored and dumb.

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Sep 23, 2012 Arwen56 rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: spazzatura

Poichè di questo libro, oggettivamente, neppure quel "maestro della parola" che è Baricco potrebbe mai farsi venire in mente qualcosa da dire al riguardo e poiché l'ho "etichettato" come "spazzatura", ne approfitto per parlarvi, appunto, della spazzatura.

Ne avrei un tantinello le palle piene, io, della spazzatura. Smistare i rifiuti sta ormai diventando un lavoro a tempo pieno, almeno qui in Lombardia.

Nella terrazza della cucina ho la bellezza di otto pattumiere: una per l'umido, una per la ca...more Poichè di questo libro, oggettivamente, neppure quel "maestro della parola" che è Baricco potrebbe mai farsi venire in mente qualcosa da dire al riguardo e poiché l'ho "etichettato" come "spazzatura", ne approfitto per parlarvi, appunto, della spazzatura.

Ne avrei un tantinello le palle piene, io, della spazzatura. Smistare i rifiuti sta ormai diventando un lavoro a tempo pieno, almeno qui in Lombardia.

Nella terrazza della cucina ho la bellezza di otto pattumiere: una per l'umido, una per la carta, una per il vetro, una per la plastica e le lattine, una per le pile, una per il secco, una per i medicinali scaduti, una per i materiali inerti. Senza contare ciò che sono obbligata a portare direttamente in discarica, perché a domicilio non viene ritirato (metalli in genere, oggetti ingombranti, materiali potenzialmente inquinanti).

Ogni sacrosanto giorno mi tocca uscire di casa portandomi appresso uno o due sacchi da depositare nell'apposito locale del condominio oppure nei contenitori predisposti dal comune.

E come se ciò non bastasse, pago una cifra in tasse per lo smaltimento dell'immondizia.

Orbene, a me vien da chiedermi ... ma perché se compro una semplice confezione da otto di Kinder Delice mi devo ritrovare tra le mani un involucro esterno da smaltire con la plastica, un contenitore interno da smaltire con la carta, otto singole confezioni da smaltire non so bene dove perché non so come cazzo devo considerarle e una stronzata di sorpresa che se se la tenessero loro mi farebbero un piacere, perché non so che farmene (ho 54 anni e ho voglia di mangiare un Kinder Delice, mica di giocare con i “Coccodritti”)?

Non sarebbe meglio ridurre gli sprechi all’origine? Non sarebbe meglio mettere gli otto Kinder Delice in un solo sacchetto (senza sorprese) di materiale riciclabile?

P.S. A proposito, io propongo di far pagare alla signorina Melissa P. tutti i danni derivanti dall’aver sprecato carta, e dunque alberi, per stampare il suo insignificante libercolo. In via subordinata, va bene anche che si impegni a tacere per sempre.

(less)

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Aug 18, 2012 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I couldn't decide between 4 or 5 stars so I chose 5 because it was very well written for such a young girl.

An erotic account of a very young girls sexual desires and experiences during her search for true love. I didn't perceive this book to be disturbing however she is an underage minor according to law which understandably makes it seem morally wrong. So don't read this if this is what you believe in.

To me this book actually shows the reality of a lot of teenagers who imagine sex to be 'love'...more

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Mar 05, 2011 Nickname rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biografico, sessualità-ed-erotismo

Forse vince il titolo di libro più brutto e stupido mai letto.
OK merita una stellina (sarei tentato di non dargli manco quella) ma la merita, perché:
1) Ha una parvenza di trama.
La ragazzina che cerca l'amore ma non sa distinguere tra amore e sesso, la da a tutti e alla fine riesce a capir qualcosa trovando l'unico ragazzo sensato di tutto il libro.
2) Sono riuscito a finirlo, vista l'alta dose di stupidità ho più volte pensato di abbandonarlo.
3) Il libro è piuttosto corto (e per fortuna, altro c...more

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Nov 26, 2008 Stephanie Tuell rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: teens

Shelves: 2008, family-friends-life, erotica-sexually-graphic, romance

this book wasn't as good as i thought it would be. melissa begins to keep a journal about her sexual encounters as she searches for love. although she is only 14, she comes off as being older. i'm not really sure what i expected the book to be like, but i don't think it was like this. i guess i was looking for more suspense or detail. more about why she was doing this.

this is a book i would recommend to teens around the age of 15 or 16 to read. i know some people may disagree saying that it may...more

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Nov 26, 2008 Drew rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

It’s customary to find the second novel of an acclaimed writer to be wanting. The highs of the first are seldom reached in the second work. In Melissa P’s case, this axiom rings true. While her first book, 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed, was an emotional burst and breath of reality, her second attempt is hardly worth the nice paper it’s printed on. It’s as though she went to a writing school after her first book and learned all the tricks of the trade and reproduced them without feeling, em...more

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Feb 15, 2009 ShaRose rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Though sexually explicit, the graphic nature of a young girl's thoughts in an expository style of writing is felt during a critical time of personal sexual development makes for an insightful read. It makes an argument that more needs to be discussed openly with responsible, mature leadership of women with young girls prior to approaching, on the cusp of, and during their initiation into accepting their own womanhood to inspire greater levels of self esteem and self-knowledge about sexual, datin...more Though sexually explicit, the graphic nature of a young girl's thoughts in an expository style of writing is felt during a critical time of personal sexual development makes for an insightful read. It makes an argument that more needs to be discussed openly with responsible, mature leadership of women with young girls prior to approaching, on the cusp of, and during their initiation into accepting their own womanhood to inspire greater levels of self esteem and self-knowledge about sexual, dating and relationship matters. I find that it is imperative for girls to not be so compartmentalized about sex as this journal portays. Come to think of it, grown women, including myself, can use these types of life lessons on-goingly! It is shocking that teen girls in recent generations are becoming more involved in escapades that are potentially life threatening and harmful to them in the long-term being so cavalier about sex and their own sexual trust and expression. I know I was no different in some ways in my own youth and took unnecessary risks, don't we all, whether self-aware or not, but even with my own generation's sense of coming into one's own does not compare to the shock value of what was floating around in Melissa P.'s mind and inked in her journals at her early teenage age. However, it might be that the language seemed harsher in context due to my reading an English translation since this work was originally written in Italian. This book is a unique look at a sexual coming of age story of a young girl becoming a woman, and her authentic voice shines forth through her bright vocabulary. I might suggest a parental read through first, but then no parent would want their daughter reading this, mine if I had any any for certain! But a young girl herself seeking some help to understand a rather confusing topic and time in her life might find this a way to read about a fellow youthful experience without herself having to get somewhat lost in it. In the end Melissa P. finds a positive resolution, as her story unfolds over a few years, the reader senses she has learned the difference between sex and love, and has evolved into loving herself more fully first. Circle of Stones: Woman's Journey to Herself I suggest reading the slender book "Circle of Stones: Woman's Journey to Herself" and the rest of Judith Duerk's books as any woman's companion and guide.(less)

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Sep 25, 2012 Shana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Last week I read One Hundred Strokes of the Brush Before Bed by Italian teen, Melissa P. This book came out (I think) in 2003 and I remember hearing about it around then. There was a lot of fuss about it due to its highly sexual nature, and of course, being America, we had to get all in a tizzy about teens having sex. I was curious about it but had forgotten its title a while ago and only recently remembered it again.

Well, I can see where part of the hype comes from. We’re not used to hearing te...more

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Sep 22, 2012 Deborah Ideiosepius rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, definitely-adult

Technically an ‘erotica’ book this is a fascinating story about a girl who is exploring her sexuality. It has a very rough and honest feel to the writing style because there is very little sugar coating of motivations; if she wants to have sex with someone, or explore a type of sex she has not previously done there are no convoluted justifications for doing so. A lot of novels would sugar coat the behaviour, using excuses of love or innocence for doing things. This novel does not; she does thing...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Stephanie D. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Prior to reading it, I was under the impression that 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed by Melissa P. was a fictional, memoir-type erotica. It turns out that this is an actual diary of a then 15-16-year-old Sicilian teenager's sexual "adventures," first published when she was a minor, hence only the first initial of her last name.

I would have preferred this was fiction as the events described in 100 Strokes of the Brush, although shocking, was not enjoyable reading in any way. I felt very sad...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Mighty_k24 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dit is een autobiografische dagboekroman van de op dat moment 16-jarige Melissa P, over de voorbije twee jaar en haar zoektocht naar liefde, vriendschap en vooral zichzelf.

Het boek speelt zich af in Catania, Sicilië, en begint op de 14-de verjaardag van Melissa. Haar verhaal is de weerslag van wat er gebeurt als honderd keer een borstel door je haar halen voor je gaat slapen (een oude Siciliaanse raad om je haar stralend te houden) niet volstaat om de ware liefde te vinden.

Melissa's eerste relat...more

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Mar 21, 2012 Zoe rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book because I heard that Melissa P's mother threw her manuscript in the trash and was enraged at the thought that her daughter would write such a thing, let alone attempt to publish it. Writing that is provocative and even controversial interests me. That being said, I didn't think the book offered anything particularly new or interesting. The protagonist goes from virgin to "absolutely zero inhibitions" over the course of a page or two, and repeatedly seeks out men who do not respe...more

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Sep 25, 2011 Sasha Martinez added it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2011

This book’s narrator is 14 to Fanny Hill’s 15. Both books are confessional, Panarello’s in diary form while Cleland’s is epistolary. Queasiness for your average reader aside and regardless of the time period, both are documentations of a very young woman’s sexual awakening. The similarities, however, stop there.

Mostly because Panarello’s narrator is an out-and-out idiot. [Come on, Main Characters, remember that little talk we had about me needing to respect you?] The shorthand description for th...more This book’s narrator is 14 to Fanny Hill’s 15. Both books are confessional, Panarello’s in diary form while Cleland’s is epistolary. Queasiness for your average reader aside and regardless of the time period, both are documentations of a very young woman’s sexual awakening. The similarities, however, stop there.

Mostly because Panarello’s narrator is an out-and-out idiot. [Come on, Main Characters, remember that little talk we had about me needing to respect you?] The shorthand description for this ghastly book: Misery porn, but without the redemption, only a lot of nonsensical suffering and pretentious, call-your-vagina-“Secret”-repeatedly sexual encounters.

Our narrator—I shudder to call her a heroine—becomes aware of her lust, the need to assuage a need within her. And so what does she do? She goes on a series of asinine and preposterous hook-ups, where she’s basically treated like dirt; she’s molested every which way, there’s a repeated demolition of her body and her self—and what does she do? She writes in her dear diary, lamenting her sad fate, only to jump willy-nilly back into the craziness again! And she’s going, Oh, but I feel so wretched and abused, and I am crying golden tears, and my Secret is too, but ooh, when he calls me again, I’ll be sure to meet him sans panties! Use your noggin’, honey, please.

It’s not morality I’m pointing out here. It’s self-respect, it’s common sense. There’s no other explanation for her tendency to indulge in sex that holds no pleasure for her—except that she’s stupid. She refuses to preserve any shred of dignity for herself. And then she curses her fate, and then she proceeds to annihilate herself once again. I am not titillated, I am not enchanted, I am not even aghast that someone so young embarks on so much sex.

I was laughing, okay? Testament to my black heart, I was laughing whenever you referred to your Secret, whenever you went home covered in god-knows-what to brush your hair a hundred times before bed. Okay, so I grimaced when you went on one of your moronically desperate attempts to keep having sex, but, Narrator, I was laughing when you cried.

Better to fall “victim” than to go out looking for ways to fuck yourself up, in this case. Ugh. Hello, Schadenfreude.(less)

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Mar 14, 2011 Elisa rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: letteratura-italiana

I commenti sull'opera d'esordio di Melissa Panarello si aggirano prevalentemente intorno ai "che schifo", "secondo me non ha fatto davvero queste cose", "è una mossa commerciale". Quindi, siccome sono una Lettrice antipatica, mi sono proposta di leggere il libro per trovarci un senso un po' più profondo. Mi stupisco che l'interesse del lettore medio si concentri sulla veridicità di quanto raccontato. "E' impossibile che abbia fatto tutte queste cose!". La protagonista si chiama come l'autrice, m...more I commenti sull'opera d'esordio di Melissa Panarello si aggirano prevalentemente intorno ai "che schifo", "secondo me non ha fatto davvero queste cose", "è una mossa commerciale". Quindi, siccome sono una Lettrice antipatica, mi sono proposta di leggere il libro per trovarci un senso un po' più profondo. Mi stupisco che l'interesse del lettore medio si concentri sulla veridicità di quanto raccontato. "E' impossibile che abbia fatto tutte queste cose!". La protagonista si chiama come l'autrice, ma non è detto che sia lei. Realtà e finzione possono scorrere su binari differenti. Vedere solo la scabrosità dei contenuti sessuali mi sembra un modo per cavalcare l'onda pubblicitaria su cui è stato lanciato il libro: come puoi criticare l'operazione commerciale e poi fermarti alla superficie dell'opera? Allora sei un anello della catena: leggi solo perché la pubblicità ha fatto effetto, sei un finto snob. Se devi sollevare una critica, fallo almeno in modo un po' più approfondito, ferisci i punti deboli del romanzo, non mettere le mani avanti specificando che "l'ho letto solo perché me lo sono trovata in casa, io certe cose non le leggo". Tranquillo: la tua purezza non verrà attaccata da un centinaio di pagine.

"Cento colpi di spazzola prima di andare a dormire" è un romanzo redatto sotto forma di diario personale. La protagonista è un'adolescente profondamente bisognosa di amore e appoggio. L'approccio con l'altro sesso è stato per lei brusco e freddo, le ha donato la consapevolezza di essere per gli altri solo un corpo privo di peso interiore. Il vuoto che la pervade la spinge a buttarsi a capofitto in storie di sesso estremo e violenza, donandole l'illusione passeggera che qualcuno al mondo provi interesse per lei. Alla fine della giornata si ripete lo stesso rituale: la ragazza si presenta al cospetto dello specchio per prendere atto della propria decomposizione. Con quei cento colpi di spazzola che le principesse dedicavano alle loro chiome prima di andare a letto cerca di accarezzare il sogno di essere amata, forse solo da se stessa. Diventa la Lolita di un professore, partecipa a diverse orge, si lega momentaneamente a un uomo adulto come sua "concubina", cerca di sondare il terreno dell'omosessualità maschile e femminile. Alla fine incontra l'amore che l'accetterà nella sua interezza, Maddalena pentita e principessa coi capelli ben spazzolati.

Il libro è scadente, ma non per il contenuto sessuale esplicito. Ritengo che commenti come "è gratuitamente pornografico" siano ingiusti e bigotti. La pornografia non comporta una caratterizzazione dei personaggi, mentre Melissa presenta luci e ombre. Ogni sua azione è finalizzata a ricevere amore, a sperare di riempire il proprio vuoto, nonostante sappia che la strada scelta non è quella più adatta allo scopo. Diventa ridondante e insensata, spesso, ma credo che anche nella realtà di molte "Lolite" accada lo stesso.
Il linguaggio è molto semplice e spesso banale, anche se bisogna considerare che l'io fittizio è una ragazzina e che a lei devono essere imputati i pensieri e le parole del diario.

Non mi è piaciuto perché avrebbe potuto scavare meglio nel personaggio, metterne a nudo le ombre, andando al di là del banale binomio principessa-puttana. Infatti la problematica presentata è reale: basta accendere la TV o leggere i giornali per rendersi conto di quante ragazze si buttino nel mondo del sesso nello stesso modo, per guadagnare dei soldi da spendere in abiti firmati o semplicemente per sentirsi un po' sicure di sé. La Panarello, però, la affronta in modo frettoloso e altrettanto frettolosamente conclude la narrazione. Un romanzo molto acerbo.(less)

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Aug 11, 2009 Emily rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: gross and lonely men. pervs, really.

Recommended to Emily by: To be honest... I was curious, basically.

God. That was porn. Seriously. I totally expected it to be much, much better. I mean, I knew about the explicit sex and all (and it's not that bothers me -I actually like it when other books are honest and stuff), but... this? This isn't even erotica! This is depressing sex, told by a depressed, two-faced teen who's bored and hates herself 'cause I have no other reason. Besides, it was so badly written! I know she was sixteen and it's her diary, but "my rose", "my secret", "his lace"?! So cliché...more

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Jan 14, 2011 Sha rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: on-kindle

I read this when I around the same age as the author is in the book, my cousin gae it to me when she found out I was sexualy active. She read it because her literature profesor made her. She told me that if I was going to be sexualy involve with somone I should have my eyes pretty open, because guys dont think the same way about sex that we woman.

I have to admit at first I was suprise my cousin let me read a book with such content, but whe I finished it and started thinking about everything I u...more

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Apr 15, 2010 Evan rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: _lfpl-library, sexuality, deliciously-nasty, fucked-up-women, 2010-reads, none-too-good, kickass-titles, grove-press, age-gap

When wine tasters judge wine, they clear the palette with saltine crackers.

Professional book reviewers need something like those crackers before objectively reading and judging sex books -- especially all the hormonal, Lolita-crazed reviewers from the New York Times and Kirkus reviews and the Times (UK) who raved about the alleged literary merit of this laughable piece of garbage. To clear their mental palette, they need to masturbate before reading; to cleanse the system and clear their brains...more When wine tasters judge wine, they clear the palette with saltine crackers.

Professional book reviewers need something like those crackers before objectively reading and judging sex books -- especially all the hormonal, Lolita-crazed reviewers from the New York Times and Kirkus reviews and the Times (UK) who raved about the alleged literary merit of this laughable piece of garbage. To clear their mental palette, they need to masturbate before reading; to cleanse the system and clear their brains of sex juices. I say this because something was obviously interfering with their clear-headedness...

Luckily, I'm not a professional book reviewer and can read things like this for the cheap thrills promised. Alas, even there, this was a disappointment.

The book has one very good thing going for it -- apart from the prurient allure of "ravenous" (as the jacket copy teases) teen sexuality, which, I admit, got me interested -- and that's its title. This book has a great fucking title.

The book is, supposedly, culled from the diary of its author at ages 14 to 16. At the beginning she's a virgin and along the way rather thoughtlessly throws herself into the sexual breach, pawed over and cum onto by hordes of mostly older males. You would think this might be somewhat arousing, and occasionally one does sense a slight stirring in the nether regions, but the situations are so blithely and quickly dispensed with that there's never any sense of buildup or real sensuality. The quality of the writing doesn't even approach the level of the lowliest pulp fiction of 40 years ago. By the time she was making it with the hunky math tutor ("I bit my lip and said hello") I just couldn't stop laughing. The girl is constantly referring to her pussy as "my sex" or "my Secret." I mean, what the fuck is this, 1840?

There's a telltale sign that this book is heavily fictionalized and that is that several of the "encounters" described are outright dream sequences. Not only that but the dreams, as described, are way too structured and "meaningful" to resemble actual dreams. It calls into question the veracity of the entire book.

Along the way, we're fed cliches like sex with the professor ("Teach me" says she; they even call each other Humbert and Lolita; whatever) and the Eyes Wide Shut-style orgy complete with masks (someone should sue). The book gains some slight gravitas about halfway in when Melissa P. begins to long for true love -- even as some uncontrollable urge keeps her from it in favor of degrading encounters. Some of the writing in these passages actually wanders into the higher realms of sophomoric.

On the whole, though, the book is pretty weak tea.(less)

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Apr 08, 2011 Bronwyn Rykiert rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, library-book, erotic-fiction

There seems to be a debate about whether this story is fact or fiction - I would like to go with fiction.

I chose this book to fit in with a challenge I am in and it fits 2 caterogories - a language other than my own and this book has been translated from Italian and n erotic novel with a menage theme - this fits that slightly.

Melissa starts writing her diary as a 14 year old virgin then she meets Daniella and they have a short affair where she loses her virginity and she thinks she is in love wi...more

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Oct 31, 2009 meredith rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was about a pathetic girl with a pretentious style of writing/being/thinking trying to write about 'coming of age' and sexuality, but instead only managing to create a book full of perversion. If it wasn't a short, quick read I would've stopped altogether. And it doesn't deserve any more of my own criticism, so rather I will copy & paste (eh hem, bit o' plagiary) other people's scathing reviews (which, if I'd read before I picked this book up from the library, I wouldn't have bothe...more

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Dec 13, 2008 Sarah rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2005, fiction, erotica

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 09, 2012 Sveva Caputo rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dove la P. sta per “Per favore non scrivere più”?
Sì, penso che l'iniziale del suo cognome significhi quello.
Ho acquistato questo libricino in un momento di totale follia e convinta da un'amica (che ora amica non è più, sarà stato anche per questo?), la quale mi disse di esser rimasta molto colpita da questo racconto e per "colpita" forse intendeva che le era precipitato in testa dallo scaffale più alto della libreria e si era decisa che era un segno del destino e non poteva non acquistarlo.

Una...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Siina rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, biographies

I remember the hype for this book and decided to check it out. Sadly so the hype was for nothing in this case.

The whole book is Emmanuelle all over again but with a younger main character. It even has the same problems; the main character is not likable and utterly selfish. She is dull and so self-centered that it is not funny anymore. There are quite a lot of sex scenes, but the writer does not have enough skill to make them work. She does not describe them enough nor the main character's feeli...more

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Jun 26, 2008 Duygu rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-to-movies, young-adult, t-rk-e

I was very disappointed in this book, which is basically a story about a young girl being very promiscuous. This book was trying so hard. I don't think it is impressive that a 16-year-old wrote it, as it reads totally like a high school assignment. I didn't find it anything -- not erotic, not scandalous, not repugnant, not even interesting. The only thing I found it to be was a waste of my time

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Jun 07, 2007 Ciara "Chuck" Warner rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who like Nin, erotic ficton etc...

Supposedly true erotic tales of Melissa P. Interesting keyhole into the life of a sexually charged adolescent girl and her foray in accross and over the lines that define "normal" sexual development. Her musings and reflections are tender and sad but bold in their defiance of taboo. What is ok to know, to do, to say, to write? Pulpy but intriging look at a volatile period in adolescent development.

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May 09, 2012 Karla rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Most review are 1-3 starts i don't think it deserves that low of a review. It was actually very intresting although i already knew what i was getting myself into. A couple of years ago my best friend sent me the Film (Italian and only version). It was re-freshing to read it because it had much more than the movie (Like all do)

If your looking for an erotica this won't do. This has a very strong sexual content. But it's also very sad and i felt as if Melissa is hard to figure out but she's just a...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Débora rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Este livro foi lido em um LV que eu falei que tinha recebido aqui faz tempo. Acabou que eu terminei de ler enviei e não fiz resenha como prometido.
Melissa Panarello traz ao público o diário de uma garota de 16 anos - com muitos toques de suas próprias experiências - iniciando sua vida sexual. No livro, a jovem Melissa, tem sua primeira vez com um garoto egoísta (e machista), e depois dele decide que vai sair oferecendo seu corpo e sua alma em busca daquele que a compreenda e a ame. A partir daí,...more Este livro foi lido em um LV que eu falei que tinha recebido aqui faz tempo. Acabou que eu terminei de ler enviei e não fiz resenha como prometido.
Melissa Panarello traz ao público o diário de uma garota de 16 anos - com muitos toques de suas próprias experiências - iniciando sua vida sexual. No livro, a jovem Melissa, tem sua primeira vez com um garoto egoísta (e machista), e depois dele decide que vai sair oferecendo seu corpo e sua alma em busca daquele que a compreenda e a ame. A partir daí, ela é arrastada para orgias, sadomasoquismo e até mesmo lesbianismo. Nunca se contentando, ou conseguindo encontrar seu lugar.
Como disse uma leitora anterior a mim deste Livro Viajante, não sei se gostei ou odiei o livro. Achei ele todo muito frívolo, sem se aprofundar no que a garota sente e sofre em seu caminho de auto-destruição. Você não sabe se ela sente nojo de si mesmo ou satisfação por todas estas experiências. Ou mesmo se for esta dualidade, não fica claro.
Além disso, a garota ou é uma pamonha ou uma vadia acidental. No livro todo ela é arrastada, até contra sua vontade, por homens que querem saber apenas de seu corpo. E apesar de odiá-los, todos, ela continua se encontrando com eles, em um ciclo doentio.
No fim, ela acaba encontrando um cara que a respeita e a protege e a tira desta vida. Mas mesmo a descrição deste episódio é tão vazia e sem sentido.
Eu também, de certo modo, tive minha primeira vez com um babaca do tipo, mas nunca saí por aí dando pro primeiro que passasse. Ok, desenvolvi um certo receio de relações mais sérias. Mas sei que sair por aí em orgias pouco saudáveis não vai bastar pra encontrar minha "alma gêmea". Não quero parecer pudica, mas há modos muito melhores de se praticar ménages ou sadomasoquismo ou qualquer outra prática ou tara sexual sem ser arrastada pelo turbilhão de acontecimentos e ser tratada como uma posta de carne ou uma roupa usada.
Não creio que Melissa estivesse querendo realmente preencher o vazio em seu coração e sua vida através do sexo. Mas talvez ela tivesse tendo um princípio de ninfomania e depressão, pois em todo livro raras vezes ela descreveu que tivesse sentido algum tipo de prazer ou satisfação, que não fosse além do doentio, e que ela se sentisse muito mal com isto depois. Os pais dela também não ajudam muito. Pois de todas as vezes que a garota saia no meio da tarde e só voltava de madrugada, destruída, eles não pareciam estranhar ou suspeitar de algo acontecendo com a filha.
Panarello é uma jovem muito bonita, pelas fotos, que hoje em dia escreve livros eróticos na Itália. Não sei se ela ainda pratica estas orgias de forma doentia ou se ela quietou o facho e encontrou seu homem ideal. Mas espero que sim. Ela realmente não precisa disto.

resenha originalmente publicada em: www.estranhomundinhoinsano.blogspot.com (less)

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Jan 03, 2012 Eilla rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I can't remember when I read this but it's not the most memorable book ever. Read this in 2 languages and in both languages, the book read as sad and depressing. This book is categorized as erotic but it isn't as erotic as you think. The book is about the writer, Melissa P, an Italian lady who experienced sex at a very young age and described the hidden sexual life of the Italians. She lost her virginity to a boy in some abandone house or something. One might see her as a slut but to her, it see...more

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Jul 27, 2009 okyrhoe rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bookcrossing, x-rated, italy

Halfway through this 'diary' I remembered a wonderful book I'd read many years ago, Jens Bjorneboe's "Without a Stitch". In many ways this narrative follows the same outline - a teenager's foray into the 'adult' world, recounted as an odyssey of awakening.
I don't know if it's the fault of a poor translation, or whether Melissa's prose is over the top at times. There are moments when her words don't convince the reader of their authenticity. Sometimes she sounds too 'literary' for her age. For e...more

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