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frogknitting's review against another edition
1.5
I've decided that this book is significantly better if you imagine that everything that happens is caused by black mold in their dorm. They continued to say, "What's wrong with you?" It's the mold!
I really, really wanted to try to give this book a chance, but from the beginning I couldn't stop thinking about The Secret History. This is like the Kidz Bop version of it: a book that takes the basic structure of it but lacks the depth. It was entirely too long and yet it didn't have nearly the amount of time to go into what it needed to to succeed.
Though Richard isn't necessarily a carbon copy of Bunny, he takes his worst elements (as well as Henry's worst traits) and makes that his personality. No redeeming qualities, whereas I think Bunny had some? (I'm going to be honest, it's been a LONG time since I read TSH) At least, he was a lot better fleshed out. All of the characters in this were wholly one-dimensional, just being introduced at the beginning by name (all seven of them, by the way, so you have to fully know these people as well asRichard Oliver knows them). It feels like a draft, a book that could've been decent if it had only been fleshed out significantly more and deviated from its inspiration. As it is, it has characters that are mere caricatures of the TSH characters. Characters do things in this book because they're supposed to, not because it would be in line with anything we've seen of them thus far (and with SEVEN characters, we haven't seen much....) Oliver and James's personalities radically change throughout the book, from two guys who are just trying to get an education and feel connected to their classmates to a guy who's weirdly obsessed with Meredith and a man who's going absolutely insane with guilt, but not in the way that he would have, if we follow his character arc. It might also be the black mold.
I genuinely want to write this review without consistently mentioning The Secret History, but I feel it's impossible. The draw of it is that it takes real moral questions and grapples with them, not letting plot rule it, but rather, letting the characters' musings take over. I know that's a personal preference of mine, but this was very much a show not tell book, where you simply were told what was happening and had to go with it. They're all going insane and upset because they don't rescue their dying friend — his head is caving in, he wouldn't have survived anyway! Yes, James killed him, but that's not the real moral dilemma here. Speaking of which, it was incredibly, unspeakably predictable. I thought maybe James would be killed by Richard, who would then be killed by Oliver, but no. It happened exactly as you'd think it would.
The other characters: I have gripes with them because of how poorly written they are. Yes, it's the memory of a man ten years later, and yes, they're definitely not supposed to be good people, but there was really no need for a lot of it. A lot of people have mentioned Alexander, the only openly queer character (besides James and Oliver, if you'd count them), consistently makes rape jokes and they're brushed aside. No, the author shouldn't punish their characters for not acting 100% morally, but idk, I just feel like maybe she should have just cut this out. It really doesn't add anything, except for her predatory view of queer men. The women are also very flat — tons of slut shaming, the woman who's there solely to serve everyone else, etc. etc., and the thing is that I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with that through (I keep typing Richard) Oliver's point of view if it was only refuted in reality. She tries to write an unreliable narrator without contradicting or casting doubt on what he says. The sisters were a real issue for me as well. His sister's eating disorder was used as a plot device just for him to have to clean and get tons of clues. It was underdeveloped and thrown in there for convenience. If you really, really wanted it to work better, he could've had that job the entire time (I know that's also a TSH rip off, Richard being poorer than the others and having to work, but we're well past that) and it would've fit in a bit more naturally.
There's just a lot in this book, and none of it is developed particularly well. The consistent Shakespeare quotes were annoying, I agree, although I think near the beginning they were used more sparingly and better. It seemed scrambled together, meaning to meet a deadline, and there were no explanations for many of their actions beyond 1. plot convenience or 2. black mold. 1.5 stars because, as much as I've complained, the prose in the first half wasn't horrible and seemed pretty standard for YA, making it not a complete burden to get through.
I really, really wanted to try to give this book a chance, but from the beginning I couldn't stop thinking about The Secret History. This is like the Kidz Bop version of it: a book that takes the basic structure of it but lacks the depth. It was entirely too long and yet it didn't have nearly the amount of time to go into what it needed to to succeed.
Though Richard isn't necessarily a carbon copy of Bunny, he takes his worst elements (as well as Henry's worst traits) and makes that his personality. No redeeming qualities, whereas I think Bunny had some? (I'm going to be honest, it's been a LONG time since I read TSH) At least, he was a lot better fleshed out. All of the characters in this were wholly one-dimensional, just being introduced at the beginning by name (all seven of them, by the way, so you have to fully know these people as well as
I genuinely want to write this review without consistently mentioning The Secret History, but I feel it's impossible. The draw of it is that it takes real moral questions and grapples with them, not letting plot rule it, but rather, letting the characters' musings take over. I know that's a personal preference of mine, but this was very much a show not tell book, where you simply were told what was happening and had to go with it.
The other characters: I have gripes with them because of how poorly written they are. Yes, it's the memory of a man ten years later, and yes, they're definitely not supposed to be good people, but there was really no need for a lot of it.
There's just a lot in this book, and none of it is developed particularly well. The consistent Shakespeare quotes were annoying, I agree, although I think near the beginning they were used more sparingly and better. It seemed scrambled together, meaning to meet a deadline, and there were no explanations for many of their actions beyond 1. plot convenience or 2. black mold. 1.5 stars because, as much as I've complained, the prose in the first half wasn't horrible and seemed pretty standard for YA, making it not a complete burden to get through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Alcoholism, Drug use, Sexism, and Addiction
Moderate: Eating disorder
emilo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Toxic friendship
mar's review against another edition
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jesus christ. fucking theatre kids, man
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, and Death
Moderate: Homophobia, Blood, Drug abuse, Sexism, Addiction, Body shaming, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Sexual content, Racism, Transphobia, Racial slurs, Suicide, and Eating disorder
indigoreadingcollective's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
For the love of god do not get broken up with during the last hundred pages of this book and then keep reading. I can assure you that the book will do enough damage on its own, but if you do both you may end up like me. Sobbing at midnight over people in a pretentious school begging a god you do not believe in to at least give them a happy ending if you do not get your own.
No real spoiler as far as plot goes, as much as a spoiler to the way this book made me feel. Because holy shit will I never recover. People who say Song of Achilles is the saddest book they’ve read need to read this because I thought that was sad but oh my god.
This review is basically incomprehensible but neither am I and neither is the book at times because you’re crying to hard to read the words. Please read this book.
I may be scaring you away with this but it’s truly one of the most well written books I read, it was engaging and I was hooked all of the time. I had family things happening and while I couldn’t read it quickly I spent some time devoted to thinking about it every single day even if I couldn’t read. It takes up entirely too much brain space. Shout out M.L. Rio.
No real spoiler as far as plot goes, as much as a spoiler to the way this book made me feel. Because holy shit will I never recover. People who say Song of Achilles is the saddest book they’ve read need to read this because I thought that was sad but oh my god.
This review is basically incomprehensible but neither am I and neither is the book at times because you’re crying to hard to read the words. Please read this book.
I may be scaring you away with this but it’s truly one of the most well written books I read, it was engaging and I was hooked all of the time. I had family things happening and while I couldn’t read it quickly I spent some time devoted to thinking about it every single day even if I couldn’t read. It takes up entirely too much brain space. Shout out M.L. Rio.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Violence, Murder, Drug use, Grief, Physical abuse, and Suicide
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexism, and Panic attacks/disorders
sunrise's review against another edition
why is nobody talking about the racism and sexism is this book?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Sexism
marjoleinvanderspoel's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
5.0
Objectively this might not be a five star book, but for me it was. It was engrossing from the start and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It does not have the same critical lens or character depth as the secret history, which it is often compared to, but I love Shakespeare and the fact that the story was basically modeled on his tragedies just really worked for me. An absolute page turner!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Alcohol, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexism
Minor: Blood and Vomit
_piercingwords_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
A really intense read that got me out of a reading slump.
The story feels very real, on an emotional rather than logical level. The structure is a nice touch and fitting for the Shakespeare centered story. There's a lot to be analysed, a lot of foreshadowing and parallels to the plays alluded to in the book;
definitely a book you need to read in depth to really be able to appreciate the thought put into it, I will have to read it again, more thoroughly and with the knowledge of everything happening.
In the end, it is a love story, in a twisted, untraditional way.
It left me with a few questions unanswered but I couldn't put it down, the tension high until the last page and I do recommend it, especially to Shakespeare lovers.
The story feels very real, on an emotional rather than logical level. The structure is a nice touch and fitting for the Shakespeare centered story. There's a lot to be analysed, a lot of foreshadowing and parallels to the plays alluded to in the book;
definitely a book you need to read in depth to really be able to appreciate the thought put into it, I will have to read it again, more thoroughly and with the knowledge of everything happening.
In the end, it is a love story, in a twisted, untraditional way.
It left me with a few questions unanswered but I couldn't put it down, the tension high until the last page and I do recommend it, especially to Shakespeare lovers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Alcohol, Eating disorder, Vomit, Outing, Bullying, Body shaming, Misogyny, Grief, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexism, and Addiction
snowydaze's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book was pitched to me as a dark academia meets Shakespeare novel. Although it hits both of these points, I found the characters to be very one-dimensional and the women to be overly sexualized for most of the novel. The plot, was run of the mill, with relationships between characters that seemed to be lacking of any depth besides some weird love triangles.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Drug use, Grief, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Murder, and Physical abuse
isleoflinds's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Biphobia, Blood, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Suicide
Moderate: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Addiction, Body shaming, Classism, and Infidelity
G slur, pretentiousaastedorgli's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a for specially interested people, if you have no interest for shakespear, that is litterally the whole book. You’ll get enoguht if you have an interest for ancient rome (specifically Julius Ceasar). If you search up quotes you’ll get a better reading experience
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, and Death
Moderate: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Drug use, and Addiction
Minor: Homophobia, Sexism, and Outing