Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Como Se Fôssemos Vilões by M.L. Rio

78 reviews

adyn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.5

This book is like if the breakfast club was made up of a bunch of pretentious (but loveable) Shakespearean theater nerds and also it was a murder mystery. 

Vibes were exquisite, made me want to read shakespeare, loved the characters, plot made sense without being predictable. The pacing was also great, I think this would be a good book to get out of a reading slump. Only reason it’s not 5 stars is bc I’m stingy with 5 stars and it didn’t have a deep personal impact on me lol

The ending
was a bit confusing, but it’s kind of impressive if a book can make me do research on Shakespearean plays after I finish it, right?

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caitlinteresa's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Mood: 🤨😑🙄

I usually love dark academia, but something about this was a miss for me. I didn't really care for any of the characters, sadly. They seemed very inconsistent and none of them made sense to me. 

One major point of contention for me with this book is that I feel the author was trying to do too much. We really didn't need several twists within the last forty pages.

ALSO... WHY DOESN'T THE DIGITAL VERSION ON KINDLE UNLIMITED HAVE PAGE NUMBERS?? 😤

I wish I had liked this book, but sadly I need to give it two stars-- I didn't care for it, but it has potential.

Format: ebook on Kindle. Free on Kindle Unlimited

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bleme's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0


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addythebookbat's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense

4.75


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alex1252's review against another edition

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

5.0


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kenalex15's review against another edition

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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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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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bbygirl21's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

I was really close to marking this book as a DNF because the Act I of this book was incredibly boring to me until the last two scenes/chapters of it. I hadn't wanted to pick up this book at all until about scene 11-12 of Act I. 

But I am so glad that I pushed through, because from Act II until the end had me hooked. I was feeling all the emotions with this book once things started to pick up more.

This was an incredible read over I got into it. I loved the characters, faults and all. Aside from Richard. I don't think I could ever like him, but I think that's kinda the point, your not meant to like him.

The epilogue of this book got me though. I was close to tears several times throughout this book, but the epilogue was what got me. It's such a bittersweet ending. I'd for sure recommend, but like I said the first act was incredibly boring and difficult to get through for me. But once you get through that the book is great.

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dearbhlanoonan's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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icedpinecones'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? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book is complex to rate as it has many high points and many lows. The good is seen in the story of James and Oliver, the prose being a mix of screenplay and standard book writing and the complexities of other characters such as Meredith. Where there's ups there's also downs, the main twist/motive for the villain is poorly executed and really makes the whole thing fall short. Characters such as Alexander and Wren are poorly explored, with things just stated then ignored. I enjoyed it for the most part, but the characters that fall more lackluster make the book fall short and lag behind.

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