A sex addict always hoping but never able to fill the void inside her, Adèle jeopardizes her marriage with Richard, her job, her finances, and her relationship with her son for quick and often debasing rendezvous with strangers. Adèle is also vain, judgemental, manipulative, dramatic, and often cruel.

Although the description intimates the book might have elements of a psychological thriller, in truth, the slim volume is a psychological study of a woman who cannot step back from the edge of self-destruction. Because Adèle was so unlikable, it undercut the impact of her addiction which was difficult to parse from her personality. Her ambivalent feelings toward motherhood were also interesting, but those, too, became overshadowed by her unlikeability. When she puts herself in danger and when she engages in riskier behavior, perhaps hoping to get found out, it is difficult to empathize with her.

When a character is so flawed, it seems readers always want to know why. In Adèle’s case, Slimani seems to blame a combination of her mother’s flippant cruelty as a child combined with an encounter with The Unbearable Lightness of Being at an impressionable age, but these factors to me don’t seem to justify the extremes of her behavior. While I am satisfied that at times, some behavior is inexplicable, I am less content that Slimani finds these two factors sufficient justification in the context of the book’s logic for Adèle’s behavior.

Towards the end of the book, the novel introduces Richard’s perspective demonstrating his culpability in their unhealthy dance of mutual dependence. It was a strange and to me jarring shift, and the book ended on an ambiguous and unsatisfying note.

Adèle confronts an addiction not often discussed and illuminates the perilous spiral in which addicts circle. Adèle’s experiences are vivid and visceral. Unfortunately, as a character, Adèle doesn’t spark much sympathy.

Adèle by Leila Slimani is about a sex-addicted woman in Paris who also dons the titles of "mother" and "wife."

This book was a whirlwind! There were parts of it I really enjoyed, and but other parts were just so "meh." The writing and pacing were fine, but the story execution floundered. 

Adèle is not a sympathetic character. I never felt attached to her, because her redeeming qualities were so few and far between. Yes, sex addiction is a real thing and should be treated seriously, but she was a bit of a psychopath. She seemed completely apathetic to how her actions affected others. Her husband, Richard, felt like a means to an end: a rock, an anchor, a security blanket. And her son, Lucien, felt like a chore. It was so hard to like Adèle!

While I didn't love Adèle as a character, I did enjoy the exploration of sex-addiction. For Adèle, it was all consuming. Her life 100% revolved around her addiction. Her entire character is identified by this one trait. I found it fascinating, and at times, horrifying. I've read a memoir by a sex-addicted woman, and I think the picture painted was fairly accurate in Adèle. Though again, Adèle's utter lack of compassion was hard to swallow.

I didn't enjoy the ending. I'm not even sure what happened, honestly. I would have appreciated some further explanation, something additional to bring the book to a close. The way it ended, I didn't get a good sense of closure.

If you've already read books by Leila Slimani and like her writing style, then go ahead and give Adèle a read. For everyone else, know that the book is short and easily consumed in a single sitting. If it's not your style, at least it's a breeze to get through!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing the Kindle version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was just ok. This is the story of Adele' who is bored with her normal life and becomes addicted to sex with people other than her husband, Very predictable!!!

Read in prepub. Due out January 2019. I am a sucker for French novels in translation. There is just something about the language and the sensibility that strongly appeals to me. Slimani, whose The Perfect Nanny was one of my favorites this year, tells the story of Adele, bored and stuck in a passive marriage who engages in risky extramarital sex as her life unravels by her own hand.

It's short and compelling and although sex is the driving force of the narrative, it is not a story about sex so much as a story about fulfillment.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book fall somewhere in the middle. Adele is a sex addict in Paris. From the summary, I expected so much more. It's Paris! So classic and romantic. Yet this book brought nothing of the city or the people to light. It was mediocre at best. Adele never came alive. Her way of life doesn't affect anyone around her and especially herself. It was a one note book. I expected so much more especially after reading her last book.

First line: Adele has been good.

Summary: Adele has the perfect life. She has a career as a journalist, her husband is a surgeon and a young son. However, she feels unfulfilled. In order to try to fill the void in her life she has random sexual relations with strangers. When her secret comes out, she must face the consequences of her actions.

Highlights: Slimani’s writing is very good. I liked the flow of the novel and that she gets straight to the point. Plus, there are lots of dirty bits but this is not a bodice ripper or erotica. It mainly deals with the female psyche and the need to feel desired.

Lowlights: This book was very deep. There is a lot of meaning but not a lot happens. I was looking more for a thriller but this was a person study. I really did not like Adele or any of the characters really.

FYI: Slimani’s book The Perfect Nanny was wonderful!

A fast and fun read, though a bit dry at times for a book about sex addiction! Wanted more from the ended, but it was a fascinating character study.

I wanted so badly to love this book, but ultimately I just did not. I thought overall it was a bit strange in how it was written and to me it just lacked so much in the beginning, it was hard to even continue reading it. I was really excited, because I heard such amazing things about The Perfect Nanny, but this one was way less than perfect for me.
Will definitely use in a daily challenge and let the members of Chapter Chatter Pub know about its upcoming release.

I read The Perfect Nanny wanting more - more from that book itself, but also more from the author. And she delivered with Adele. The book Adele is a dark, disturbing, satisfying. The character Adele cannot be satisfied. She is self-destructive and her needs cannot be met. Wife to Richard, mother to Lucien, and journalist. But Adele has a secret life. Her need for anonymous sex and attention from men transforms to her need to be abused by men. To control her desires seems to anesthetize her existence; it is hard to know what to what for Adele.
This book is graphic at times, and not everyone will enjoy it. If you liked Perfect Nanny but wanted to love it, read this book.

Wow! I saw this recently on NetGalley and was intrigued, but Adèle has truly blown me away. This quick read tells about a woman, wife, and mother Adele that for numerous reasons is unsatisfied in her life with her husband Richard, their son Lucien, and her career as a journalist. Whether getting a sitter for her son for a few hours while her physician husband is working, using her friend Lauren as a cover-up, or on business trips around the world - Adele is addicted to sex and more often than not, with men she doesn't know. As if watching a drug addict with a craving, the reader witnesses Adele's physical and emotional longing for sex, as well as, how it slowly starts to destroy her. 

Let me begin by saying that often, I struggle with translations of novels and was a bit reluctant when I realized that this was the English translation of a French novel. However, whoever was responsible for this translation did an incredible job and I wish I could find their name to give them proper credit. Leila Slimani's writing is exquisite, beautiful, emotional, raw, erotic, and heart-breaking all at once. Despite some of the very blunt and graphic parts of this novel, it felt as if I were lying back and relaxing while someone read to me. I can't even find the words to describe the beauty of her writing.

Now, as for Adele herself, I found myself going back and forth between hating her, feeling sympathy for her, and cheering her on in hopes of her finding some sort of inner peace and happiness. Through flashbacks from her childhood, the readers learn about events, observations, etc. that may have influenced Adele and her addiction to the cold and detached sex she craved. But I feel as if it was a combined cycle of events, as well as, some clear mental illness. Richard is kind to her and provides well for their family, but they just never connect. She loves her three-year-old son Lucien, but goes back and forth between craving and resenting him. For the majority of the novel, we hear Adele's point of view that is at times both fascinating and horrifying, but the one thing that is clear is that she craves the unknown, risk, and being touched. 

When the book seamlessly shifts into more of Richard's point of view, I was confused, frustrated, and often sympathetic - yet I still don't have a clear picture of how he truly felt about Adele. Without giving spoilers, several things change after Richard learns about his wife and her obsession with being unfaithful, but it was unclear whether he loved her, if she loved him, or if it became a game of control and submission. 

Adele is not a mystery, romance, suspense, or any other clear genre. If you are a reader that needs a clear and definite resolution, then this may not be the novel for you. Despite the outstanding writing, language, and imagery I actually considered giving up on this novel very early on because I decided that I wasn't interested in reading about a habitual cheater. However, I have never been so glad to carry on and commit to anything that I have read. This is a novel that I will think about for quite some time. I'll wonder what became of Richard and Adele's marriage and family. I'll wonder about a very odd scene with Adele when her father passes away. I'll wonder what combination of life experiences causes someone to need the things she did and behave the way she did. But as far as writing, originality, language, and depth - this is the best novel I've read in a very long time. 

*Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Books for this ARC. I was absolutely thrilled to receive this. I fell hard and fast for The Perfect Nanny and devoured it in one sitting. Nearly the same with this, only it took two sittings because life gets in the way sometimes. I loved it, it was like reading a long poem that dripped like honey. It was a unique and disguised love story of the likes I've never read. This was not a thriller or a mystery, but it was riveting. It was sensual in the way that makes your pupils dilate and your heart hammer, without being vulgar. The best word I can think to describe this, even after all these words, is still: poetic. It was crisp and just perfect. No filler, no messing around, straight to the point with an ending that left you balancing right on the edge. It was wonderful.

I feel like this book was written well, it just wasn't for me. The "erotic" part of the book was a bit off-putting for me, even though I read the synopsis and had the expectation of the subject matter. I felt like it was uncomfortable for me to read because of the underlying mental issues of the main character that were so evident in her behavior and her desperation for a different life that she achieves by lying to the people around her. I think fans of racier literature will enjoy this, it just didn't strike a chord with me.

Adele seems to have a great life. She is married to a surgeon; they have a healthy young son. She's a successful journalist. She has everything she ever wanted. But she's grown bored with her job and distant from her husband. She loves her son, but hates that he is keeping her tied to a life she no longer wants.

She seems to spiral out of control .. what she wants, what she needs is to have intimate relationships. She lies to her husband, she lies to her boss, she lies to her friends about where she goes .. and with whom. Her days are filled with thoughts of other men and what they will do and where they will go.

But eventually, that's not enough either.

This is a dark, depressing look at one woman's attempt to feel that she is worthy and the addictive nature of those attempts. Warning: Very explicit language and intimate moments. If you are a fan of erotica, you will most likely really like this book. I am not a fan, as most of the book was way too descriptive without a lot of substance. I didn't particularly like Adele or her husband. She seems to be on a different planet while he plods along and plans their life according to what he wants.

Many thanks to the author / Penguin Group / Netgalley for the digital copy of ADELE. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

It's been a long time since a book has left me bereft of words. For reasons unknown to me, I was immediately drawn to this book from the moment I read the synopsis and as soon as I downloaded it I abandoned the book I was previously reading, hell, I abandoned my life, and found myself immersed in this book, finishing it in one sitting.

Adèle is, seemingly, the contented wife of a surgeon, raising a son that she adores while excelling at her job as a journalist. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, could be farther from the truth.

I don't know what I was expecting when I started this book but, whatever it was, I didn't get it and THANK YOU TO THE BOOK GODS! This is not a mystery, nor a thriller, and it is certainly not erotic fiction. This story is dark, like dark dark, like suffocatingly dark, featuring the taboo subject of sex addiction.

Following Adèle on her downward spiral into the enslavement of her need for sex with strangers is not unlike that of any other addiction, I could have easily been reading a book about a heroin addict. It's not the sexual release Adèle seeks but the thrill, the high from the adrenalin, the danger and the pain that she feels and, as the reader, it is terrifying.

"Men rescued her from her childhood. They dragged her from the mud of adolescence and she traded childish passivity for the lasciviousness of a geisha."

Leila Slimani is an incredible writer with a style all her own. With this book she has managed to build a morose, tension-filled masterpiece filled with nuances that add incredible depth to an already deep subject. I imagine some readers will be disappointed with the ending but for me it was nothing short of sublime, genius storytelling, leaving me raw with emotion. Not every story should be wrapped up and presented to the reader with a big red bow.


I was provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

I’ve read a lot of books with unlikeable female narrators who are lousy wives and mothers and don’t know what to do with themselves - Adele is all that plus French. I never could quite believe that she was a real person and not just at an idea of Woman Unsatisfied; you have to be able to root for a woman like this for the book to work 100%. It never really come off the ground. Three existentiale stars.