Reviews tagging 'Gore'

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

13 reviews

paulawind's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.0

What the fuck was this book. Do I so severely lack media literacy skills or intercultural reference skills that most of this book left me thoroughly confused? Paul being a severely unreliable narrator also wasn’t helping to judge the actions and motivations behind them of any character but Pablo. In the end
we find out that Julian genuinely loved Pablo with his whole heart, all cruelty was just Paul’s interpretation, Julian desperately wanted Pablo to love him, even orchestrating murder with him
. Having said that I still don’t understand the motivations of characters by the end. They seemed to be taking 180 every chapter, are they in love, are they not, is Paul just self-loathing or is he actually criminally insane? Getting inside his head made me feel dirty. But then again this is a book, according to the author, about queer isolation and how we are still perceived as “the other”, which is only layered with other marginalisations. And I can see it in the book but there are still so many other points and themes the novel is touching on that leave me confused and they didn’t seemed to be resolved by the end. Or, as I said in the beginning, I just didn’t get it and the metaphors and symbolism was actually really straightforward and I’m just stupid. Which would be very valid, I think ever since exiting academia I am using brain cells at the exponential pace 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ickkayleeb's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lisaalessandra's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

2.0

This book is deeply disturbing. The content actually made me sick. I started reading this book because it was being compared to “The Secret History”. But if that is why you are considering reading it, please don’t. I decided to give 2 stars instead of 1 because it was well written. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

dixiecarroll's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

5.0

This is stunning, but dense. It’s the secret history, but a little more violent and a lot more gay. I ate it up and it made me feel so many uncomfortable things… and made me question what we’re all capable of. Unreal. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

niccolowilliam's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow. Damn.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

laurensharpe's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

thesawyerbean's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

5.0

They wanted each other in the way of flesh wanting to knit itself together over a wound.

This was an absolutely phenomenal read. The prose was some of the most stunning and insidiously beautiful I have read, both suffocating you and endearing you to read on. The dark obsessive romance between the two college students, Paul and Julian, was intoxicating and dizzying from the beginning — blossoming and then rotting, gorgeously. This debut from Nemerever was unsettling, tense and compulsively readable: an utter delight.

Paul’s eyes landed on the mirror—its ruthless portrait of two suicides tethered together at the throat.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

iridaceae's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

dhwani's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mezzano's review

Go to review page

challenging dark tense slow-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

2.0

These Violent Delights is a beautifully written debut novel which also happens to be a book I thoroughly disliked reading. Paul and Julian have their tender and loving moments which make the tragedy believable, but the setting and writing comes across as overly pretentious and showy. Before any real crime or violence took place in the novel, I already disliked the characters. Their mistakes and the late-book drama felt stale as I found it impossible to feel any sympathy of Julian OR Paul. By creating a world rich with imagery and prestige, the leads become less desirable as protagonists.

 Considering this is a debut novel the book is written masterfully, but if a character-driven novel has characters who are hard to love, the story will be difficult to finish.  Some good notes in this book which do land well is the corruptive power of money and influence. Paul is dragged into Julian's world of power and charisma, and learns that a posh world is the opposite of an honest one. Unlike other reviews, I did enjoy certain aspects of the ending of the book, such as when Paul needs to face the reality of his past actions alone.  At its highest points, These Violent Delights is intoxicating, but the hangover the highs leads isn't worth the effort. The drama could have been easily prevented with characters that had an ounce more common sense or empathy.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings