Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

19 reviews

faitherslibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Suicide, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Death, Violence, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Murder, Self harm, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Racial slurs

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

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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

sunrise's review against another edition

why is nobody talking about the racism and sexism is this book?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Sexism

nymnphi's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

not sure why the author thought two racial slurs in the first 25 pages would be a good move, especially when they weren't necessary? that left a bad taste in my mouth for the entire length of the novel. the characters are well-written; they feel like real people with real problems. richard, however, felt a little too over-the-top and unrealistic. i get the bombastic personality, but i felt his slow decline into blind rage was far too quick, especially since there had been no real problems until the events of the novel. other than those quarrels, i understand why it's so popular.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Homophobia and Vomit

Minor: Racial slurs and Suicide

charlotteregan's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

GOOD. GRACIOUS.

Everything about this book was so poetic.

“Well, that’s misleading. Shakespeare is real, but his characters live in a world of real extremes. They swing from ecstasy to anguish, love to hate, wonder to terror. It’s not melodrama, though, they’re not exaggerating. Every moment is crucial.”

I AM TERRIFIED, AMAZED, AMUSED, CONFUSED, AND BAFFLED.

I am not supposed to be over-analyzing a book but WHAT THE FUCK.

I have not read any of Shakespeare’s works but this book was soooo GRIPPING. I WANT IT SHOVED DOWN MY THROAT AS HARD AS POSSIBLE. PLEASE.

The jealousy, the assholes, the cruel ending, the murder, the characters GOODNESS EVERYTHING MADE ME WANNA THROW MYSELF.  

“You can justify anything if you do it poetically enough.”

YES ! YES ! YES !

5 STARS.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicide, and Transphobia

brokenbodybitch's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Confinement, Drug use, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Sexism, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Vomit, Suicide, Biphobia, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Rape, Transphobia, and Infidelity

Slut shaming. Overdose (non-graphic, non-POV character). Date rape/assault "jokes"; various bigoted comments and similes (one use of the G slur, "sex change" joke, descriptions such as "like a slave trader at auction" and "savage tribal drum beat"). Weird handling of EDs and addiction.

rockwithyou's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I think I knew how this book ended somewhere around half way of reading it. That didn't take anything away from the experience, though. Maybe the opposite, it was clear to me then that how things were going to go down, and I could not stop reading. Reading was like staring at a car wreck waiting to happen and you know it's coming, but you can't look away. 
It's an interesting book, I didn't like the characters, they all seem like pretentious kids but my dislike didn't matter, it felt more like a feature of the book itself, not just my opinion. 
I also thought the writing was very good, the book was paced perfectly, I didn't get bored once, there was nothing that didn't need to be there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

A slur to romani is mentioned once (g slur).

humanmosquito's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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

Rio creates a perfect atmosphere of obsession, ambition and visceral disgust that serves perfectly as a backdrop for the story.
This book is tense and unforgettable, and one of the reads that is bound to stay with you long after you finish it. You are forcefully pulled down into the world of 20-year-old Oliver with so much force you start to lose yourself into the story.
I found the quirky structure extremely complimentary to the story and the story itself gripping and completely submerging. 

I di have issues with the book, in fact there’s several instances of racist language that’s completely unnecessary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Homophobia and Racial slurs