Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

202 reviews

lizzym126's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Bullying, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Suicide, Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Death

Moderate: Vomit, Sexual content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

kat_figs's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I had mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I thought the first 100 pages were excellently plotted and paced, and I loved the complicated relationship between Oliver and James. I completely related to Oliver’s yearning and repression of his sexuality, and thought it was well-handled. On the other hand, I feel the book lacks strong characterization of Richard as well as some of the main group of friends. He came across as such a cartoon villain—I found it hard to believe that he hadn’t acted at all in this way over the 4 years, that it was such a heel turn. He felt cartoonishly evil at times, to the point where the characters’ actions seem less shocking. I also think this book falls apart in Acts 3-5 and becomes a bit messy and drawn out. I would’ve loved more focus on Oliver and James, less on the day to day minutiae of the school and the other characters. 

I’ve seen this book compared to The Secret History, and it is similar structurally. But I think where The Secret History succeeds more is by latching into the moral ambiguity of the characters, the senselessness of their murder, and by keeping the tight pacing in the second half.

I also have one final thought which is that the way Meredith is described is really dehumanizing. I understand that it’s part of her character’s struggle to be constantly objectified and feel like people only value her for her looks. But I didn’t like how that was constantly reinforced by Oliver salivating over her every two pages. I couldn’t tell if it was intentional on the part of the author to show that his feelings for her weren’t deep, or to show that his real affection was with James, and I wish it had been clearer if that’s the angle she was going for.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Physical abuse

mimpart's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My favorite book of the year so far. Incredible suspense, fantastic characters, really amazing plot development and twists in the pacing, love the ending. I kept getting mad at myself for not finishing the story to see how it ends. A must-read for the poetic at heart, the Bard enthusiasts and the dark academics

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Blood, Cursing, Death, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Confinement, Gore, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

shahad_086's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Grief, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Drug abuse, and Murder

addythebookbat's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Grief

aenor's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicide, Misogyny, Vomit, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and Violence

julells's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is frustrating, gut-wrenching and absolutely heartbreaking.
I hated it.
Go read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Toxic friendship, Grief, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Sexism, Bullying, Classism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, and Sexual content

kenalex15's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

The book is a little slow to start, but picks up when the mystery starts. Had to pause a lot to look up Shakespeare quotes and plays but overall didn't take away from my understanding. I wish the main friendship was talked about a little more but it was still good. Don't know if I love or hate the ending.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Blood

arbramirez's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Bullying, Grief, Murder, Body shaming, Blood, and Body horror

gussurireads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.0

Pretensioso, com uma prosa terrível cheia de más comparações (uma bengala da autora que não consegui ignorar) e uma personagem principal cujo ponto de vista é por vezes irritante, por outras misógino - portanto, irritantemente misógino?

Passo a citar uma das frases que mais me chocou,  p. 139 Ato II, "Felizmente, não estava excessivamente maquilhada e continuava a parecer humana." Isto é a observação da personagem principal (um homem) sobre uma das suas melhores amigas, com quem ele se envolve romanticamente, e que apenas a vê como um objeto de desejo, enquanto o seu amor verdadeiro é outro homem. Será pedir muito que autoras mulheres não odeiem outras mulheres nos seus livros?

Relativamente ao enredo e o motivo pelo qual segui a recomendação de leitura (proveniente de uma das minhas booktubers favoritas, nem acredito na desilusão): o mistério do assassinato torna-se relativamente óbvio no início do Ato III. O livro é composto por 5 atos e estava a custar-me continuar a leitura desde o primeiro ato. Tornou-se mais interessante conforme a tensão foi aumentando, mas creio que grande parte do combustível que alimentou está leitura foi a minha própria teimosia em ver a minha teoria sobre o assassino confirmada (e foi confirmada!).

O plot twist no epílogo que todos falaram foi... Ok. Não sou muito fã deste tipo de epílogos e creio que não beneficiou em nada a narrativa, sendo que o mais interessante de "Como Se Fôssemos Vilões" é mesmo toda a tensão e drama criado em torno do ambiente obsessivo em que estes jovens vivem. Fora isso, resta apenas uma prosa pobre e personagens estereotipados, com pouca profundidade. 

Recomendo a leitura se estiverem presos numa cabine sem internet e este for o único livro entre uma coleção de livros da Coleen Hoover.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Drug use, Alcoholism, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Sexism

Minor: Suicide