Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

23 reviews

paulawind's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

What the fuck was this book. Do I so severely lack media literacy skills or intercultural reference skills that most of this book left me thoroughly confused? Paul being a severely unreliable narrator also wasn’t helping to judge the actions and motivations behind them of any character but Pablo. In the end

we find out that Julian genuinely loved Pablo with his whole heart, all cruelty was just Paul’s interpretation, Julian desperately wanted Pablo to love him, even orchestrating murder with him

. Having said that I still don’t understand the motivations of characters by the end. They seemed to be taking 180 every chapter, are they in love, are they not, is Paul just self-loathing or is he actually criminally insane? Getting inside his head made me feel dirty. But then again this is a book, according to the author, about queer isolation and how we are still perceived as “the other”, which is only layered with other marginalisations. And I can see it in the book but there are still so many other points and themes the novel is touching on that leave me confused and they didn’t seemed to be resolved by the end. Or, as I said in the beginning, I just didn’t get it and the metaphors and symbolism was actually really straightforward and I’m just stupid. Which would be very valid, I think ever since exiting academia I am using brain cells at the exponential pace 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Eating disorder, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Violence, Murder, Self harm, Alcohol, Blood, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Classism, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

ford_defect's review

challenging dark 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

4.0

This book felt like it was written by someone who probably used true crime Tumblr in the early to mid 2010s, jotted down an idea (or maybe started writing it) for one of their problematic OTPs, went to college and learned how to write, and then turned what was initially a fanfic into a literary thriller. As someone who was pretty active on Tumblr in the early to mid 2010s, I did enjoy reading this because of that familiar feeling it gave me.

Like a guy beating up another guy, but intimately??? Saying "I hate you so much" after having passionate sex????? I lived for that kind of thing.

Though, generally I'm more of a plot guy, and the plot isn't very structured (but it really doesn't have to be). This story wasn't boring as a whole, but the prose was dense and boring for me at times. I don't fault the author for it. I think it's that this type of book (character-led--and unlikable characters at that) isn't really my thing, but I have rated it higher than other books that weren't really my thing. And unlike other books that aren't my thing, I am considering getting a copy to re-read sometime in the far future.  

4/5 stars

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, Violence, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia, Grief, Antisemitism, Body shaming, and Bullying

Minor: Classism and War

pastelbread's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Outing, Self harm, and Murder

Minor: Car accident and Panic attacks/disorders

moz_art's review

dark emotional 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Homophobia

dixiecarroll's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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 stunning, but dense. It’s the secret history, but a little more violent and a lot more gay. I ate it up and it made me feel so many uncomfortable things… and made me question what we’re all capable of. Unreal. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Grief, Gore, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Suicide attempt

torismazarine's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Antisemitism, Car accident, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual content, and War

fionamclary's review

4.5

This book is like if The Secret History and A Separate Peace had an even sadder, gayer baby.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Grief, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Chronic illness, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Drug use

Minor: Sexual content, War, Racism, Bullying, and Xenophobia

_meganno's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Homophobia

karlo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Alcohol, Stalking, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

ellieeeeeee's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

julian and paul's relationship felt like what maurice and clive's relationship would've been if they hadn't broken up and also lived in america
i LIVEEEEE for these obsessive unhealthy relationships 
gorgeous writing i loved micahs ability to tell you a conversation happened and what was said without directly writing it out line by line 
god that ending 🥲🥲🥲🥲

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Murder