"Perfume" by Patrick Süskind
Title: Perfume
Author: Patrick Süskind
My Grade: A-
"Holy shit!" was my immediate reaction after finishing this book. Set in 18th-century France, the story follows the monstrous Jean-Baptiste Grenouille who from the very moment he's born gives everyone he encounters the creeps. Although it's not quite known to people why he effects them the way he does, it's because he has no scent. Oddly enough, he has an amazing sense of smell. The book goes on to give very vivid descriptions. You could really smell Paris... and it didn't smell pretty. He eventually becomes a perfumers apprentice where he becomes obsessed with creating the perfect perfume. And he wanders from town to town leaving a path of death wherever he goes in his quest to make that "perfect perfume". A shocking, fascinating novel with the most fucked-up endings ever.