Reviews tagging 'Grief'

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

58 reviews

m4rtt4's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Brilliant, this was so unlike anything I've read before and kept me on edge the whole time. Took off 0.5 stars for the sluggish pace but overall the codependency was very well written, and though I could see many similarities with The Secret History, I'm a hoe for stories like this and it's ALWAYS a good thing to start the book with a crime even though the rest of the book is mostly just vibes and no plot.

It also took me a while to get used to the audiobook narrator, but once I was hooked, you couldn't have convinced me it wasn't Paul himself talking to me. I definitely do recommend the audiobook experience, as this book is mostly vibes and fits so well in the darkening autumn atmosphere!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death, Suicide, Homophobia, Death of parent, Murder, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, Sexual content, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

ashlikes's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Homophobia

Moderate: Blood, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Antisemitism, Sexual content, Suicide, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Bullying, Sexual violence, Animal death, Sexism, Vomit, and War

dixiecarroll's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Grief, Gore, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Suicide attempt

aidareads's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Homophobia, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Antisemitism, Blood, Murder, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, and Drug use

cameronreads's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Homophobia, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Antisemitism, Grief, and Suicide

Minor: Classism and Fire/Fire injury

addyruth17's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Death, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Cursing, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

5aru's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Self harm

Moderate: Homophobia and Murder

torismazarine's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Antisemitism, Car accident, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual content, and War

fionamclary's review against another edition

4.5

This book is like if The Secret History and A Separate Peace had an even sadder, gayer baby.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Grief, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Chronic illness, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Drug use

Minor: Sexual content, War, Racism, Bullying, and Xenophobia

mathildemroy's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicide, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, and Emotional abuse