Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

65 reviews

oakairi's review against another edition

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

5.0


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rainydayswithbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

Omg...A masterpiece! The story unfolds in an incredibly special way, poetically and emotionally. An all-round successful work that is special in so many ways. The writing style is unique and ingenious, as it incorporates Shakespeare's quotes and yet tells a completely new story. The quotes, plays and characters from Shakespeare are always closely intertwined with the main characters and the actual story. The division of the book into the 5 acts and scenes give the impression of a script, which is reinforced by the partially inserted stage directions. At the beginning, you get the atmosphere of seven motivated students who are passionate about their art. I would have loved to have been part of the group of friends myself, watching one of the improvised plays or reading books by the fireplace with the group in the castle library... Dark academia vibes at their finest! But then everything changes and becomes more and more dark, sinister and mysterious. You no longer really trust anyone and can't predict the ending. I find it amazing how the author allows the characters to merge more and more with the characters they play on stage. As a reader, you realise how much you can lose yourself in art, but also the dangers this harbours. You quickly lose sight of reality. I liked Oliver's words that as an actor you feel all emotions twice - your own from real life and the fictional feelings of the characters. The two merge together, making it much more intense. You can also see this in the group's friendship: every relationship is always characterised by a charged intensity. Hate, love, mistrust, betrayal, solidarity, hero, victim- always close together, constantly changing. Filippa was the most consistent member of the group, although we can assume that this is more of a mask than an actual strong character. Oliver once said to her that she was the pillar of the friendgroup and had to stay strong and not doubt. If she had given up, everything might have fallen apart sooner or turned out very differently. Ironically, this is one of the best proofs of her extraordinary acting ability, although she is always the one who is least expected to play the big roles. A literary tragedy by a contemporary author who we will hopefully be reading a lot more of in the future!

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astridaw's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.0

Intriguing, tense plotline with superinteresting character and friendship dynamics. I wasn't super shocked by the ending but still liked it a lot, but found that there were still some unanswered plot holes that could have been developed more (and made the story even more interesting).

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julells's review against another edition

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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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gussurireads's review against another edition

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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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yzer2468's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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scottsland_yard's review against another edition

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

4.0

This book was really good! The writing was very poetic and the inclusion of many Shakespeare quotes was accurate to the characters as well as a great way to really draw the reader into the world. A bit difficult to get the nuance of the Shakespeare quotes chosen if you aren't well-versed in shakespearean theater though. I'm sure there were references I missed. 

SPOILER AHEAD!! 



The ending really upset me and I don't think in the way the author intended. While it was very poetic and intense, creating a huge tension that just ramped up and up toward the last page, I feel like the ending didn't justify the means. While ostensibly a story about murder and passion and rage, it was also obviously a story about love and self discovery. I think having the main character be bi-sexual and technically in a relationship with both Meredith and James (in a way) was really smart story telling to showcase the difficulty he feels in trying to figure out who he is, not only as an actor, but as a lover. What I didn't appreciate (and it's not really Rio's fault so much as it's a tired and hurtful trope shares by many authors) is that the majority of stories that feature a gay couple require that they go through torturous and heart-wrenching levels of trauma in order to move the story along. As a gay man, reading the tension between Oliver and James over and over with little to now pay off didn't feel exciting, it felt like torture. I was being led along like a horse with a carrot, the promise of the possibility of Oliver and James professing their feelings for each other or ending up together, only to constantly be whipped with sex scenes with Meredith and violence with Richard. In the end, when you think Oliver might finally get yo be happy with James, we're slapped in the face with the blunt honesty of Phillipa letting us know that James killed himself after not being able to bare the weight of the guilt of killing Richard (in self defense, btw) and his lover taking the blame for it. So Oliver once again ends up with Meredith and I was left furious. And the last page does little to bandage those wounds. 

I was left feeling empty, tense beyond belief, and with a heavy pit in my stomach. While the story was very good and the book was extremely well written, I am sick of this trope. I'm sick of gay characters being used as the martyrs in stories or being included only to drive the trauma train. (OH, also include the only canonically gay character overdosing and almost dying too) 

I yearn for stories of gay couples/characters that include all the tense will-they-won't-they that straight romances have, but for once, I'd like them to actually end up together. I've learned this is not the book for that. 

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booksandcat's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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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caseyreads998's review against another edition

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tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

it's not bad but the secret history&saltburn do it far better

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mellowreading's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Give me dark, tragic, gay academia and I’ll give anything 5 stars. The ending. I don’t know how to feel 😭 also making Fillipa date the Professor was so random and unnecessary. 

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