Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

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

45 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

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

meaghanslibrary's review against another edition

reflective 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

4.0

The ending is kind of WTF. I recommend listening to this because it’s written like a play. 

The writing really created this universe of the school and I felt like I was there. I think I would have an even greater appreciation if I studied this in school and drew all the parallels to Shakespeare.

I’m still confused why they killed Richard, I’m not really understanding the motivation.

This was definitely an intriguing and fairly quick listen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Alcohol, Murder, Death, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Blood, Addiction, and Toxic friendship

alyxandrathegr8's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

Spoilers-Fine but not for me. If you liked “the secret history” you’ll like this. They are essentially the same. Notable differences are a lack of incest and instead of being obsessed with the Greeks, these kids are the obsessed with Shakespeare. Both books include incredibly absent parents or parents that don’t give the kids what they think they deserve, the person you love being in love with someone else (that person also being your friend) main characters being elite in some way, substance abuse, suicide, and an“accidental death”/murder. This book
However is set in a more realistic world with more realistic situations than in the secret history.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Alcohol, and Body shaming

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Suicide

dom_brlw's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

This is a hard book to read. The amount of content warnings alone is a sign of it. It can be so dark at times and the characters are so twisted. This book shouldn’t be read when you are in a bad state of mind, it might make it worse. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Dementia, Death, Grief, Murder, Blood, Mental illness, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, and Vomit

galena19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This book reminds me of the play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder, Drug use, Body shaming, Bullying, and Blood

Minor: Vomit, Sexual content, and Homophobia

arbramirez's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Bullying, Grief, Murder, Body shaming, Blood, and Body horror

scottsland_yard's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was really good! The writing was very poetic and the inclusion of many Shakespeare quotes was accurate to the characters as well as a great way to really draw the reader into the world. A bit difficult to get the nuance of the Shakespeare quotes chosen if you aren't well-versed in shakespearean theater though. I'm sure there were references I missed. 

SPOILER AHEAD!! 



The ending really upset me and I don't think in the way the author intended. While it was very poetic and intense, creating a huge tension that just ramped up and up toward the last page, I feel like the ending didn't justify the means. While ostensibly a story about murder and passion and rage, it was also obviously a story about love and self discovery. I think having the main character be bi-sexual and technically in a relationship with both Meredith and James (in a way) was really smart story telling to showcase the difficulty he feels in trying to figure out who he is, not only as an actor, but as a lover. What I didn't appreciate (and it's not really Rio's fault so much as it's a tired and hurtful trope shares by many authors) is that the majority of stories that feature a gay couple require that they go through torturous and heart-wrenching levels of trauma in order to move the story along. As a gay man, reading the tension between Oliver and James over and over with little to now pay off didn't feel exciting, it felt like torture. I was being led along like a horse with a carrot, the promise of the possibility of Oliver and James professing their feelings for each other or ending up together, only to constantly be whipped with sex scenes with Meredith and violence with Richard. In the end, when you think Oliver might finally get yo be happy with James, we're slapped in the face with the blunt honesty of Phillipa letting us know that James killed himself after not being able to bare the weight of the guilt of killing Richard (in self defense, btw) and his lover taking the blame for it. So Oliver once again ends up with Meredith and I was left furious. And the last page does little to bandage those wounds. 

I was left feeling empty, tense beyond belief, and with a heavy pit in my stomach. While the story was very good and the book was extremely well written, I am sick of this trope. I'm sick of gay characters being used as the martyrs in stories or being included only to drive the trauma train. (OH, also include the only canonically gay character overdosing and almost dying too) 

I yearn for stories of gay couples/characters that include all the tense will-they-won't-they that straight romances have, but for once, I'd like them to actually end up together. I've learned this is not the book for that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Domestic abuse, Death, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Hate crime, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Violence, Grief, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Drug use, Cursing, Bullying, Addiction, Medical content, Torture, Suicide, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Sexism, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcoholism

lexnicole's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Body shaming, Addiction, Death, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

star_oats's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

1.0

Wasted my time with this book. I had to slog through the endless sexism and slutshaming only for none of them to have any semblance of character depth and development and for the plot twist and ending to be so underwhelming. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Cursing, Eating disorder, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Toxic friendship