Jean Farel invites family, friends and colleagues to his decoration ceremony by the president, at the Élysée, in the summer of 2016.

Shortly after waking up at his father's apartment, Alexandre is confronted with police who have been ordered to carry out a search, on a complaint of rape.

Alexandre chooses his court-appointed lawyer, Maître Arthur Célérier, over the famous and talented Bruno Cancel, provided by his father.

A letter from Brock Turner's father to the court, a petition against the judge, as well as the text published online by BuzzFeed of the victim's impact statement drew national and international media attention.

[4] Karine Tuil claims to have discussed the case with lawyers, before attending rape trials at the cour d'assises in Paris.

[9] Valérie de Swetschin characterised the book as "an X-ray of our time", which she deemed simultaneously disturbing, fascinating and essential.

[10] In Libération, Victor Belin, president of the jury of the 2019 Prix Goncourt des lycéens, characterised Les Choses humaines as an "outstanding work that seems essential to read in our time".

[11] In the France Inter radio programme Le Masque et la Plume, literary critics Olivia de Lamberterie and Jean-Claude Raspiengeas described the novel as "intelligent" and praised its topical and revelatory qualities.

Many critics criticised Karine Tuil for having seized the newsworthiness of the #MeToo movement and drew from it a dull novel, without any revelations in its story.

Florian Zeller, a juror, explained that the novel seduced the jury because it examines a contemporary subject with courage and talent.

Another juror, Gilles Martin-Chauffier, said, "Les Choses humaines, like Bruno de Cessole's book, deciphers our world: the authors put their fingers on the wounds of our society".

[16] The next day, 14 November, the novel also received the Prix Goncourt des lycéens, winning in the first round by seven votes against five to Mur Méditerranée by Haitian writer Louis-Philippe Dalembert.