Reviews with content warning for Violence - These Violent Delights

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

120 reviews

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

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cameronreads's review against another edition

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4.0

I don’t quite know how to articulate my thoughts about this book. I can’t even really tell if I liked it, all I know is upon ending it I’ve been left in shock about the entire reading experience. Watching this incredibly toxic relationship progress and reading Paul’s completely unreliable narration felt like watching a train wreck I couldn’t tear my eyes away from. I do think it is excellently and cleverly told; the slow pacing works well for the story, the writing style matches it perfectly, and the unreliable narration that is slowly revealed as more and more unreliable is fantastic. There is something addicting about the relationship between Paul and Julian - they are truly awful together and only bring each other pain but you cannot help but feel so much towards them. I will be thinking about this book for a very long time.

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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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sdeer's review against another edition

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dark medium-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

4.75

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saramcaps's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.25

Extremely dark and fits right into the “obsessive relationships that end in violence” genre. Deliberately pretentious and overly lyrical—think The Secret History. But, this time the narrator is the instigator, not just a passive accomplice.

The two main characters border on psychopathy depending on your belief in the unreliable narrator’s version of events.

Paul, to me, is certainly a psychopath. The way he sees Julian as calculating and cold, I actually think applies to him. Whereas the grace and sympathetic persona he sets upon himself applies more to Julian, who I do not think is a psychopath. It’s a very interesting mirroring delusion between the two of them.

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addyruth17's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

4.25

Slowly enthralling, creeping like ivy growing up a brick wall. Many character moments and traits in the beginning that I felt saw right through me, which is scary by the end. Nemerever paints so well with words--I love the color scheme and I enjoy how uncomfortably visceral the senses were. There's a lot of build-up, so the pay-off is a bit disappointing to me; maybe one could argue that's part of the genius, leaving the reader suspended.

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5aru's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

While initially reminiscent of The Secret History, If We Were Villains, and other staples of (homoerotic) dark academia, These Violent Delights manages to tread its own ground nevertheless. With an ending that felt fitting yet rather underwhelming for the wild ride it takes you on throughout, the novel's poetic yet raw exploration of grief and all-encompassing loneliness still manages to hook you as the characters sink into passion, fear, and increasing despair. Suffice it to say, this really puts the dark in academia, so approach with caution.

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