Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Das verborgene Spiel

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Das verborgene Spiel by M.L. Rio

312 reviews

alicelalicon's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

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carefulfearanddeaddevotion'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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

These little assholes were sooo annoying omg. God, I get you're Shakespeare acting students but damnnn I could really have done without every other line of dialogue being a Shakespeare quote. Same goes for the author. This is my only complaint about the writing, but it's a very large complaint. And, ok, I get it "Rebecca, you picked up a book about Shakespeare students, what did you expect?" but I am still allowed to complain. And complain I will. I rolled my eyes so much I feared they would get stuck like that. Otherwise, I think the characters and their relationships had a lot of potential, but I just wished the author would go deeper. Like yea there's this homoerotic best friendship between

James and Oliver

, but you're telling me more than showing me. Same with

Meredith and Oliver

, like I didn't really buy that. And also that whole "Oliver, you're so good" thing, sure he wasn't a terrible person, but I couldn't really see what they were talking about. Like, yes, we come into this group 4 years into their friendship, so I get that there's history, but it's the author's job to convey that and it fell a bit short.

I guessed the killer immediately. Clocked that shit right away.

"I'm not drinking tonight" *throwing up in the bathroom 3 hours later* "yea I just drank too much" am I some sort of idiot??? James, my darling, I do hope you're still alive but c'mon. Also, fuck! how tragic. Bro, if I was Oliver and I went to jail to save my friend and then he killed himself because the guilt was too much, I'd jump off a cliff fr.

IMO, this book had a fair bit of overall unrealized potential, even though it was enjoyable.

Hm. I think I don't rate books harshly enough.

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anni_o's review against another edition

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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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lizzym126'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? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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mimpart's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

My favorite book of the year so far. Incredible suspense, fantastic characters, really amazing plot development and twists in the pacing, love the ending. I kept getting mad at myself for not finishing the story to see how it ends. A must-read for the poetic at heart, the Bard enthusiasts and the dark academics

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littlegretty's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.5

M.L. Rio has done a rare and marvelous thing crafting her own Shakespearean play from a cast of characters just as varied and mysterious as those they portray.

I had just as much fun reading between the lines of the plays referenced at any given point as I did to fighting to solve the mystery. If you have ever loved a Shakespeare character and want the chance to fall in love with 7 new ones, this book must make it onto your list.

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