Reviews with content warning for Eating disorder - Als wij schurken waren

Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Als wij schurken waren by M.L. Rio

549 reviews

gia0203's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

AAAA!!! I feel like I’ve been reading books so critically and seriously lately and somehow this book made me feel like I was 15 again, devouring a novel whole and feeling every single moment of it. I have the sudden urge to read all of Shakespeare’s plays and start speaking in verse. What a treat. And the yearning at the heart of the story… It’s subtly teased and then it hits you at last and it’s wonderful. I love codependent, homoerotic friendships in fiction.

This book is not very original. It borrows a lot from existing dark academia, obviously The Secret History being the main one. I do think though that the writing style makes up for its originality. It’s so lively and fun! And the characters too are so interesting and so sympathetic. A new favourite of mine for sure. I loved the twist at the end and the rising hysteria and ugh. Stunning.

On another note… the male characters in this book are very complex and well developed and the female characters are very wooden, particularly Meredith. She faces a lot of misogyny and her character revolves so much around the men in her life. Just something to think about in terms of female representation, especially when written as “competition” in relation to queer men.

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fuqing_god's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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alittlegreenbean's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

3.5

a bit too similar to a secret history, unfortunately. most of the characters felt almost cookie cutter in similarity. however i did enjoy the new topic of theatre and shakespeare, it was very dramatic and fun with lots of foreshadowing which is exactly what i love in dark academia books. the second half of the book felt more unique and the ending was heartbreaking!!

the gasp i gasped when we found out james was alive😭 desperate to know if oliver decided to abandon meredith yet again or go find his first lover ugh i was rooting for james x oliver the entire book

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torij2000's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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mazzoccatoadele's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

throughout the whole book oliver is like "i'm fighting demons" and the demons are just bisexuality only for him to have no chemistry with either of his love interests

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kit_kove's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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nikenacs's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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annakh16's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was a fast, easy and intriguing read.

The crime/thriller aspect and the unlikeable characters (I thought) were a bit out of my reading comfort zone and it turns out that I was right those things are not my favourite, so quality aside, this partly informed my personal rating. It sure was fascinating though and I especially enjoyed the book‘s take on the intense (cult-like, as Oliver would have it) nature of Dellecher school and how it impacts the obsessive emotions of its students. There was less focus on the mystery as such, but because it made space for those kind of elaborations, I only half minded.

A lot of the Shakespeare quotes and references flew right over my head, which is a shame cause there are a lot of them. You can enjoy the book without knowing much Shakespeare or being very good at understanding him - I did - but for me, the quotes that hit, they hit hard, so I assume it adds a lot to the story.

The major plot point -

the characters deciding to just leave Richard for dead

- felt somewhat unearned, partly because the key events leading up to this had happened in the space of only a few months. The more you get to know the characters, the more their decision makes sense (from their pov), but I still thought it was extreme and hence somewhat unbelievable.

Re the other major plot point -

James and Oliver: this really only developed for me in the second half of the book. I really want to go back now and see if I was just incredibly oblivious for the first half of the book. But it means the final twist of Oliver actually being in prison for James, and them potentially getting together again at the very end (?), was an interesting surprise

The writing was vivid. There were some great lines (they won’t make much sense without context but I‘ll hide them just in case):

“There is no comfort like complicity“. ; “He was handsome the way you think of the devil as handsome - forbiddingly so.“ ; “Eighteen and vulnerable, I‘d felt for the first time the extraordinary dread of wanting something desperately and watching it slip through my fingers.“ ; “But that is how a tragedy like ours or King Lear breaks your heart - by making you believe that the ending might still be happy, until the very last minute.“

(among others).

Ultimately, it‘s a story I won’t forget for a while and it makes me excited to explore more dark academia, though books less focused on crime maybe.

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nhelregel's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Listened to the audiobook for this one - the only thing with that was that at the beginning it was hard keeping so many primary characters straight. Happily they fall into archetypes (that the play, and then be extension who they are off-stage) so I had everyone down fairly quickly. Overall: this was very interesting and moody and despite there being several mysteries I didn't really feel the need to solve them (because of the frame narrative you know you'll get some answers anyways). At first I felt like one of the major plot points was unearned - it seemed unrealistic that so many people would all agree on a mind-boggling decision. However over the course of the book I felt like it became more earned, sort of? The teasing out of everyone's secrets and the dynamics between the characters were the most interesting and well-written parts, to me. The ending was... annoying in some ways. But overall I very much enjoyed the book, and would recommend! (Sorry if this review is vague - trying not to spoil anything)!

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carmineslamp's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am shivering in my boots. Quaking.

THAT ENDING OMG.

The whole story is a fucking slip-and-slide of barely managed (on my part) tension and enjoyment, a sick and almost sadistic urge persuading me to reflect myself in the faces of "awful" people. I ong did the same with Victor and had a mental breakdown but oh when I do it to these people i am a tortured artist. Perchance.

We all know Oliver goes to James and they have gay sex. This is the true epilog.

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