Reviews tagging 'Grief'

If We Were Villains. Wenn aus Freunden Feinde werden by M.L. Rio

388 reviews

piper_'s review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Grief

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit and Addiction

reading_bunny'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

My Ratings:
Writing: 5/5
Characters: 3/5
Plot: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

Favourite quote:

"You can justify anything of you do it poetically enough"
- Oliver Marks

Review/my thoughts:
This book took me a long time to read, partially because I went through and looked up every quote they mentioned, but also because the book was dense, the writing wasnt too hard to read through it was just a dense book.

I really enjoyed the story, and I thought it was paced nicely, only revealing informationto the reader as the characters learn about them which lends to the bizzying and disorienting feeling of the narrative.

The characters were all stellar, and Oliver's unreliability as a narrator was at times a little frustrating because I would have loved to learn a little more about the others but Oliver is fairly dismissive of a few if them for whatever his reasons. 

The relationship between

Oliver and James

was frustratingly beautiful to watch in all its agonizing glory as they danced around eachother and their feelings only realising too late that thwyr feelings were not only romantic but also requited.

Overall, this is not a book that I would re-read but it is one that I would recommend to someone who is very into Shakespeare and/or cannparse it well enough to understand the meaning of the prose, as well as those who are into the Dark academia aesthetic since this book is not only a corner stone of the genre/aesthetic but also because this is a lot like the secret history in its core expects 

In the end, an enjoyable experience and I'm glad I gave this book a chance and the time it deserved 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Murder, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Body shaming, Murder, Blood, Addiction, Death, and Sexism

Minor: Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

erin_x's review against another edition

mysterious sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide

gondorgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Drug abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Alcohol, Death, Murder, Blood, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Violence

elliebasta's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

Minor: Suicide

nhelregel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Listened to the audiobook for this one - the only thing with that was that at the beginning it was hard keeping so many primary characters straight. Happily they fall into archetypes (that the play, and then be extension who they are off-stage) so I had everyone down fairly quickly. Overall: this was very interesting and moody and despite there being several mysteries I didn't really feel the need to solve them (because of the frame narrative you know you'll get some answers anyways). At first I felt like one of the major plot points was unearned - it seemed unrealistic that so many people would all agree on a mind-boggling decision. However over the course of the book I felt like it became more earned, sort of? The teasing out of everyone's secrets and the dynamics between the characters were the most interesting and well-written parts, to me. The ending was... annoying in some ways. But overall I very much enjoyed the book, and would recommend! (Sorry if this review is vague - trying not to spoil anything)!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Toxic relationship, Murder, Grief, Physical abuse, Bullying, Violence, Addiction, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide, Mental illness, Sexual content, Blood, Eating disorder, Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, Biphobia, and Drug abuse

errie's review against another edition

mysterious tense

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Alcohol, Bullying, Grief, Mental illness, Drug abuse, and Drug use

sleepypandaa'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? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Self harm, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

lc_27's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Gore

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Sexual content

sophie8's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

A reread for me, and one of my favourite books. I absolutely love it, and would reccomend it to anyone who likes to read, no background Shakespeare knowledge needed. It's so easy to get into, the dynamics are addictive, it will make you laugh, break your heart, and on the second read through you can truly appreciate the equisite foreshadowing and literary parallels. The prose is beautiful, while still being perfectly readable, and the characters make speaking in Shakespeare quotes actually seem fun, witty and amusing. Could read it back to back no problem!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Gore, Alcohol, and Drug abuse

Minor: Violence, Suicide, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Grief

The only bit I'd call 'gore' is when they find *you know who's* dead body, but it's pretty graphic! Also, Meredith is slut shamed several times, which I've listed as sexism.