Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Teatr złoczyńców

I may not know a single thing about Shakespeare (barely know how to spell the name sjsjsj 💀💀), and also have little to no theatre-knowledge, but my god

This was not an easy read, neither with all the Shakespeare-an lingo nor emotional turmoil, and I think I can count the pages I felt ~calm~ reading one (1) hand.

I also set a new record with how many journal entries I made on Storygraph while reading this. A whole 96 of them, filled with all-caps screaming "WHERE THE HELL IS [REDACTED]" and/or awe at the way M.L. Rio used words to convey certain feelings or moments ✨️BEAUTIFULLY✨️. The way this was written and formatted made me have to put the book down at multiple times to just breathe (looking at you, pages 172-173), and the parallels to the plays put on by the characters in the story made me absolutely lose my mind. This was also my first thriller in a while (if I've ever even read a proper thriller like this before ???) and I was on edge the entire time up until the very last word on the very last page (not an exaggeration).

I bet this book hits even harder for Shakespearians and theatre people. I feel like I'm 🤏 this close to diving into it myself, but, considering how this story goes, maybe I shouldn't. Lol. 💀

Content Warnings

noahhh_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book is exactly what it says on the tin, for good and for bad. After a somewhat slow climb, it gets exponentially more engaging in its back half, but it never quite feels like the throes of its passion are earned. It does get close at the end there, though. The biggest hurdle I encountered as a reader in 2024 is that the particular white wealthy 2017-flavor of pretentiousness of the characters leads to some… ickiness. Read the content warnings, I beg.

Content Warnings

_hannahbo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book is for the Shakespearean Theatre Kids. The way I laughed and gasped and had my heart mangled in a truly, miraculous, theatrical way has me reeling. Might actually be my favorite book.

Content Warnings

reneeravenlake's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.5

Content Warnings

taryn_g's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

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