Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

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

134 reviews

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

kit_kove's review against another edition

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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Alcohol

daniellereadslikealot_'s review against another edition

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

4.0

This was definitely the dark academia book I needed in my Tortured Poets Department Era. I loved how it was set up like a play with scenes instead of chapters and how the dialogue was like lines in a script. It was so easy to get swept up in this world of Shakespeare and friendship dynamics filled  with neuroses and competition. Oliver was a really compelling character who sees himself as a lesser talented actor among his friends who he views as more family. I felt like the pacing was pretty perfect. It was a medium burn, not moving too fast, but fast enough to keep you tense and curious to see what will become of these characters. I highly recommend this one for fans of a dark academia setting, Shakespeare, complicated friendship dynamics and tense storytelling. 

CW: violence, death, domestic abuse, drug use, drug overdose, suicide

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Alcohol

noella19's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

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

3.75

Satisfactory ending to a tense story. An interesting read for sure but not as impactful as I wanted.

Oliver’s lack of self awareness or the privileges he’s friends had from simply being in a different tax bracket (implied) is insane 

I’m not expecting them to be this incredibly unintelligent for people who agreed to conceal a death that didn’t need to be concealed. If they actually committed the crime I would feel better

James my love you deserved better but i fear you’ve been drowning for much longer than you realise. Alex was cold but he was right and Fillipa I’m so glad you came out of this unscathed.

 

Not a single functional brain cell is working between past Oliver and Merideth . Also knowing how their ended up in the prologue of some chapters made reading about them trying to have a relationship quite hard to swallow. But at least they’re together in the end.

 

I really don’t like you Oliver and your martyrdom was incredibly ridiculous and disrespectful honestly. 

For the writing style the writer is good. I can’t deny them that. The choice to really lean into the whole Shakespearean theme was an interesting choice that paid off most times than not. I would definitely love to read more of their work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Addiction

farrajohan's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide attempt

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

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Self harm, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Sexual harassment, Murder, and Homophobia

andremay's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Murder, Violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Drug use, and Drug abuse

jetromeo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Addiction

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

thequiltyreader's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

3.75

Compelling story and characters. I found the writing style a little verbose at times and must admit to skimming the Shakespeare quotes a few times which is the only reason it's been knocked down on review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Blood, Self harm, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Death, Murder, Eating disorder, Suicide, Sexual content, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Bullying, and Suicide attempt