Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

34 reviews

ford_defect's review against another edition

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

4.0

This book felt like it was written by someone who probably used true crime Tumblr in the early to mid 2010s, jotted down an idea (or maybe started writing it) for one of their problematic OTPs, went to college and learned how to write, and then turned what was initially a fanfic into a literary thriller. As someone who was pretty active on Tumblr in the early to mid 2010s, I did enjoy reading this because of that familiar feeling it gave me.
Like a guy beating up another guy, but intimately??? Saying "I hate you so much" after having passionate sex????? I lived for that kind of thing.


Though, generally I'm more of a plot guy, and the plot isn't very structured (but it really doesn't have to be). This story wasn't boring as a whole, but the prose was dense and boring for me at times. I don't fault the author for it. I think it's that this type of book (character-led--and unlikable characters at that) isn't really my thing, but I have rated it higher than other books that weren't really my thing. And unlike other books that aren't my thing, I am considering getting a copy to re-read sometime in the far future.  

4/5 stars

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chuckyinspace's review

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

4.0


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trulydevious's review against another edition

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sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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reallyrosalie's review against another edition

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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
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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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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dixiecarroll's review against another edition

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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. 

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

4.0


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_meganno's review against another edition

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dark sad 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

4.0


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