Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - These Violent Delights

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

22 reviews

peonydancer's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative 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

3.75

I think I might've enjoyed it more if it was a little sped up, and if

more crimes were committed than just the one murder that was already described at the start of the book

But still, the writing was lovely, and the description of a psychotic and totally unreliable narrator was wonderful. I did find the ending a little confusing at first, as

I wasn't sure if Julian was actually dead or not, or if Paul got institutionalized or not, and it was rather vague and confusing

but after a little while, I did understand the reference that Julian put in his letter.

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opossumom's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

5.0

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irissantos's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

Não fazia a mínima ideia do que esperar quando comecei a ler.
Gosto de ir com as expectativas em aberto, e costuma ser boa ideia.

Foi complicado engrenar na leitura porque a maior parte da narração gira à volta do desenvolvimento e paisagem psicológicos dos personagens e por vezes perdi noção do que estava a acontecer no mundo físico do enredo.

Assim que fiz o "aquecimento" consegui ler o resto num quarto do tempo que me levou a ler a primeira metade.

O foco deste livro é o que acontece quando um adolescente dá ouvidos e alimenta a sua fúria da adolescência, auxiliado por um parceiro narcisista e arrogante.

Juntos acreditam que podem tudo e que são mais astutos que todos. Enquanto isso a sua relação colapsa, é fragmentada e colada de novo, uma e outra vez, com promessas vazias e uma montanha russa tóxica de lovebombing e afastamentos repentinos.

Uma excelente obra de estreia deste autor.

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himboluvr's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

toxic gay people > they are terrible people and this book is fucked up but it’s beautiful and complicated and i want it tattooed on my eyeballs

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eeeeva's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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sam_pvmind's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

I can’t rate this book, idk what to think, but I can’t in good confidence give it a low or high rating. I had a love and hate relationship with it like the two main characters.

It was the most challenging reading experience I had AND I READ A LITTLE LIFE. This book is full of misery, toxicity, and hurt. It was draining me of all my joy and I guess that was the goal of this book to make me feel this way. That’s a sign of good writing however as well-written as it is I couldn’t get a grasp of what the characters were saying or the meaning behind their words, it felt like trying to catch smoke with my hands. The lack of clarity in this book made this read even more difficult and not an enjoyable reading experience.

Paul and Julian… Julian and Paul… there was nothing beautiful in their relationship only cold calculated love, and no warmth that could redeem all the toxicity and emotional abuse. Why were they attracted to each other in the first place? I guess I’ll never know.

I think I would have enjoyed this book better if it was written in the first person, maybe that would have made it less confusing for me.

I can see that this book has something special but it was not made for me.

Content Warnings

selenajournal's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

4.5

This book is a queer dark academic + Murder by Numbers. I very much read this and imagined Paul as Michael Pitt and Julian as Ryan Gosling. I understand that this book is derivative in ways and I still thoroughly enjoyed it and stayed up late reading it.

But he knows what it is to wonder what everyone else is doing differently in order to be happy; he knows what it is to skirt at the outermost edges of friendship -pg 3

Paul could only forgive himself for keeping a journal if he told himself he was documenting history. He wrote it for an audience, one who would only read it after the end of a life he'd made significant. -pg 33

"That's the way a person should be." Paul's certainty didn't waver, but the longe3r he spoke, the more his confidence did. "Nothing's imposed from the outside. You figure out on your own what's good and what isn't, and maybe that idea ends up being rigid, but that's better than not having anything at all. I don't care if anyone doesn't like it, even if it's you." -pg 39

"Whatever I do has to mean something." He hugged his knees and stared at them; it took all his nerve to raise his voice above a mumble. "I need to make something beautiful, something that lasts. I don't know what, but I have to, if I want my life to matter at all." -pg 40

"If you painted a masterpiece and then set it on fire, it still would have mattered. If you know you've made something beautiful, who cares how long it lasts? Apres toi, le deluge. -pg 41

The snap of cruelty didn't surprise him. He'd been expecting it all along. Everything about Julian was shaded with the threat of it - even his affection felt dangerous, as if it might curdle at any moment into derision. -pg 53

He could imagine nothing beyond this moment; there was no reason, no goal. He had been here all his life. -pg 80

When he imagined the moment of death, he never let himself flinch. He had to look straight into the emptiness until it felt real. That was the only way he could be certain he didn't want it. -pg 87

"There's this idea in psychoanalysis that I've always liked." Julian pulled himself closer and rested his head in the crook of Paul's arm. "It's that what we call 'love' is actually letting your identity fill in around the shape of the other person - you love someone by defining yourself against them. It says loss hurts because there's nothing holding that part of you in place anymore. But your outline still holds, and it keeps holding. The thing you shaped yourself into by loving them, you never stop being that. The marks are permanent, so the idea of the person you loved is permanent, too." -pg 92

What existed between them shouldn't share a reality with the world outside; it should be its own truth, self-contained and defined on its own terms, the same way that a dream was true. -pg 103

What a lonely, dreary thing it is to know the truth. What a relief it is that now neither of us has to be alone in knowing.

I hope you looked west while I was looking east, and that for a moment you met my eyes without knowing it. I know you never look away, even when your eyes are closed, but I'm never certain you can see what's really there. -pg 150

Look what they'd made together. Look what they'd done to break free. -pg 203

"Your mistake is in believing he has any further use for you. You have fallen for the sane lie he always uses -- that you're the only thing in the world he will still love once its novelty has worn off." -pg 210

It was a relief and a horror to be known so perfectly. -pg 285

All they were -- all they had ever been -- was a pair of sunflowers who each believed the other was the sun. -pg 378

Exasperation plumed through him like radiation. "That isn't the same thing as never lying. You lie to me all the time, you keep things from me so you can control what I know and get me to act the way you want. Hiding the truth is still lying, and you'd know that if it weren't so fucking convenient not to." -pg 407

I want to go far away, start over, pretend we can wake up from this. To stop hurting you, and to hurt you so badly the scars will never fade. Never to see you again. Never to see anything but you. -pg 415

It wasn't about control and never had been. It was as simple as Julian waking from a nightmare and reaching for his hand in the dark. -pg 446

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pamshenanigans's review

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emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“It’s that what we call ‘love’ is actually letting your identity fill in around the shape of the other person — you love someone by defining yourself against them. It says loss hurts because there’s nothing holding that part of you in place anymore. But your outline still holds, and it keeps holding. The thing you shaped yourself into by loving them, you never stop being that. The marks are permanent, so the idea of the person you loved is permanent, too.”

A jarring and disturbing story about two boys extremely attracted yet equally repulsed to/with each other. These Violent Delights dabbles on the horrible effects of a toxic and obsessive relationship between Paul and Julian, plus how this destructive relationship was also greatly affected by their homophobic families which led them to spiral out of control.

As I discover how deeply flawed Paul and Julian are, it’s also quite easy to understand the motivations behind their actions - how, intrinsically, they just want to belong somewhere with someone and navigate this cruel world together. Alas, the more I read the book, the more obvious it is that the relationship is doomed from the very beginning. It says a lot about the writing when you can really feel how delicate Paul and Julian’s relationship is and how it could snap at any second, at any page.

While I had a bit of expectation because of the thrilling and mysterious prologue, it was easy to adjust for me, and keep thinking that this isn’t the typical mystery/thriller book I usually pick up.

These Violent Delights is slow and can get a bit dragging, but you’ll definitely stay for the stunning and charged writing. The ending will also have you reeling! I had to reread the last few pages just to check if I understood it correctly. lol

Trigger/Content Warnings: violence, murder, homophobia, gaslighting, suicide, suicide ideation

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camsara99's review against another edition

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challenging 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

4.5

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wenruxian's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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