Reviews with content warning for Blood - Le Maître des illusions

This book has intrigued me since I was a child, wandering by libraries at every chance I got and it did not fail me. I think this book is fantastic, the characters are flawed but that's how they are supposed to be: shallow, naive, without clear morals. They are following a world (the ancient time) that does not exist anymore and they are living in a sort of parallel world, where the Greek and Latin and their cultures are in the center and no real consequences matter. That is also because most of the characters are extremely rich and, in today's world, they are treated in a totally different way in respect to normal people. We can see how the characters at first were described as legends in the eyes of the protagonist and, going on with reading, we notice how they are deeply flawed. A great example is that of the teacher: he was fairly famous and encountered many celebrities during his life, at first in the book there were descriptions of the professor made by these characters that were totally positive and, in the end, when the real nature of Julian is revealed, there are two descriptions that really incapsulate his character. I loved that the book was very slow paced, however I thought the chapters were sometimes extremely long, even tho I understand the intent of the author.

Content Warnings

edwardian_girl_next_door's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

2.0

Content Warnings

selfdeprikate's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

giulidrago's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

"Non c’è nulla di sbagliato nell’amore per la bellezza ma se non è sposata a qualcosa di più profondo è sempre superficiale."

Dio di Illusioni è crudele, freddo, tragico, misterioso, infelice, marcio, ingannevole e delirante.
Dio di Illusioni contiene la febbre, la noia, il senso di colpa, il desiderio di essere qualcosa di più, la morte, la letteratura e l'aspirazione al proibito.
Dio di Illusioni ti devasta e ti rovina, sbriciola con un sorriso ogni parvenza benevola, ti incanta e ti pugnala nel giro della stessa frase.
Dio di Illusioni è il sangue che imbratta il marmo delle statue.
Dio di Illusioni è doloroso da leggere.
Dio di Illusioni è un capolavoro che non potrò mai rimuovere dai libri che mi hanno segnato la vita.

Content Warnings

larenlit's review against another edition

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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

5.0

Content Warnings

happyknitter2020's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional relaxing 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? It's complicated

5.0

Stunning...read the 30th Anniversary Hardback publication. How have I not read this before. Dark academia, damaged souls brought togethe, absolutely fantastic story.

Content Warnings

pmejia's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

karinaymejia's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

3.25

great for people who dont like too many things going on, thriller, and classics.

i feel like the title is a bit dramatic for the story. it makes sense of course, but i feel like there should have been another title used for it.

this book is slow and may feel boring at times. it's interesting to see how the story progresses. i am personally not a huge fan of this style. i sort of liked the read. i wanted a more dramatic story, but thats my cup of tea.

i like the time period where this is in because I get to read what it feels like during this time.

i find it unsettling about the characters that Richard encounters and becomes friends with. I think Charles and Henry make me the most unsettling, especially near the end.

overall i had a bit of higher expectations because of the popularity. i understand the mixed reviews now!

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