Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

35 reviews

sleepypandaa's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Self harm, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

lottie_wolf's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Self harm, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Sexual harassment, Murder, and Homophobia

charliewarliee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book- This book is honestly one of the best pieces of literature I have consumed in my life. I adored this book, the tension it built so magnificently, the descriptions, the plays. I love how it builds everything up, but everything still goes so fast and smoothly. The layout of ‘Acts’ and ‘Scenes’ made my theatre loving heart cry out! This book needs so much more attention than it already has.

also i’m sorry but James and Oliver’s relationship was SO HEARTWARMING AND CUTE AHHHHHH!

the twist at the end actually made my jaw drop to the floor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Gore, Suicide, Drug use, Murder, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Violence, and Self harm

Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual harassment

thequiltyreader's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Compelling story and characters. I found the writing style a little verbose at times and must admit to skimming the Shakespeare quotes a few times which is the only reason it's been knocked down on review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Blood, Self harm, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Death, Murder, Eating disorder, Suicide, Sexual content, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Bullying, and Suicide attempt

anni_o's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

I liked it! I am not a Shakespear Fan and I did not know beforehand that this book was so committed to the bit. I did start to wonder if there were actual real life people who spoke like this...
Anyway! Overall the story was very compelling, and towards the end I was truly glued to the page. I do enjoy a good murder mystery! I also liked the resolution, though;
 

I would have liked to actually know what made Richard like, freak out like that so much. I would have loved to find out what made him escalate. Can't just have been Shakespear or smth. That boy needed therapy badly. I did like that it was a tragedy through and through. You saw it coming and until the end you have a hopeful lil spark going 'I'm sure they'll all be fine'. V nicely played. 

 
One star taken because the citations were really getting on my nerves by the end and I guess I'm really not enough of a theatre nerd for this. I did enjoy myself though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Physical abuse, Addiction, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Confinement, Gore, Suicide, Murder, Grief, and Vomit

A lot of Shakespear. Like a lot. Only read if you like, really love Shakespear. I'm serious.

shahad_086's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Grief, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Drug abuse, and Murder

theotheleo's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Murder, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Child death, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Eating disorder, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Self harm, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, and Domestic abuse

icedpinecones's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book is complex to rate as it has many high points and many lows. The good is seen in the story of James and Oliver, the prose being a mix of screenplay and standard book writing and the complexities of other characters such as Meredith. Where there's ups there's also downs, the main twist/motive for the villain is poorly executed and really makes the whole thing fall short. Characters such as Alexander and Wren are poorly explored, with things just stated then ignored. I enjoyed it for the most part, but the characters that fall more lackluster make the book fall short and lag behind.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Drug use, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Violence, Blood, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, and Vomit

bookboxbabe's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

tragic gays and lots of shakespeare

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Murder, Alcoholism, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Suicide, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Minor: Eating disorder

sizzlesteaks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Bullying, Biphobia, Addiction, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content