Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - These Violent Delights

This one reminded me of a mix between The Secret History, the movies The Talented Mr. Ripley and Saltburn, and the show Dexter. We’re immersed into the heads of two killers in a voyeuristic way that somehow toes the line between revulsive claustrophobia and that feeling where you can’t hold back from looking at the scene of an accident when you drive by. Add in an toxic all-consuming budding first gay relationship between said killers and this had that similar feel to the relationship in Call Me By Your Name but with a more sinister twist. I’m both questioning why I put myself through the trauma of being inside Paul’s head while simultaneously having to acquiesce and acknowledge what great writing this was, especially for a debut novel.

It took me until about 30% in to get immersed in the story, but when I sank in I couldn’t look away. It’s often tough for me to stomach irredeemable main characters, but I think this one worked for me because you know from the start what they’re building up to do and the ending felt appropriate and reflective enough to give us a moral lesson.

What really made this stand out to me and appreciate it in it’s entirety was the Author’s Note. There I learned that the author aimed to touch on queer alienation, the post-Columbine societal reflection of the possible violence within all young men, and how all-consuming and toxic some early romantic friendships can be for queer people. This captures those elements so well it’s both beautiful and eerily macabre. The author, Micah Nemerever, is definitely going on my list of authors I instantly read when new works are published.

Content Warnings

ashlikes's review against another edition

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dark 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

5.0

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dizzzybrook's review against another edition

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dark 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

3.0

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aidareads's review

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

this was an interesting read for me. i found the premise engaging and i admit i had high expectations because of leo's (https://www.youtube.com/@TheBookLeo) review, but i still didn't seem to enjoy it as much as she did.
see, i think my main "problem" with this book is that i really, really wanted to absolutely love it. i was expecting a dark academia type of story - and don't get me wrong, they got the dark part very well. it was the academia part that i believe i've been missing.
also, while i do think julian and paul's toxic and obsessive relationship was quite well portrayed, i struggled to actually connect with them (and, by extension, with any character in the story). i did appreciate how they progressively get more and more unhinged, but they already started off as a bit insane. i didn't really empathize with neither of them, even if i did suffer for them when they did.
also, i don't know if paul is canonically neurodivergent, but he does exhibit MANY autistic traits, which i found curious.
overall, i did like the book, but i didn't love it, and i also didn't feel like it was a solid 4 stars. i also checked the trigger warnings for it and was still unpleasantly surprised when i noticed how graphic and frequent self-harm is in the story because it wasn't listed when i checked the tags, so please do take care and check those before reading this!

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cldurand's review

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dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

Content Warnings

eleasofia's review

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challenging dark emotional sad 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? Yes

5.0

the main focus of the book is the relationship between the two main characters, paul and julian, and I absolutely loved the way it was written. it was never too sweet but still genuine, intimate, and intense, and very naturally progressed from what felt like a somewhat normal level of meanness between teenage boys to obsessive, toxic, dysfunctional. there was still a good amount of plot, which was necessary to develop the characters and their relationship, but the plot is also the reason why I can probably never read this book again, at least not in full, no matter how much I loved it. I knew there was going to be violence and descriptions of it when I started reading it, but told from the perspective of one of the characters, it made me very uncomfortable to say the least. I know that it was supposed to make the reader feel that way, and it was fascinating in a way nevertheless, but not an experience I need twice. this book definitely isn't for everyone. also, as much I think the ending makes perfect sense, I cried my eyes out and hated it a little bit. still, I find I extremely fascinating to explore dark thoughts and things in fiction and this book did an extremely good job at that, so 100% recommended to people who are interested in that.

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niteskyi's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

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