Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

29 reviews

charliewarliee's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book- This book is honestly one of the best pieces of literature I have consumed in my life. I adored this book, the tension it built so magnificently, the descriptions, the plays. I love how it builds everything up, but everything still goes so fast and smoothly. The layout of ‘Acts’ and ‘Scenes’ made my theatre loving heart cry out! This book needs so much more attention than it already has.

also i’m sorry but James and Oliver’s relationship was SO HEARTWARMING AND CUTE AHHHHHH!


the twist at the end actually made my jaw drop to the floor.

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thequiltyreader's review against another edition

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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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theotheleo's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25


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scottsland_yard's review against another edition

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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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bbygirl21's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

I was really close to marking this book as a DNF because the Act I of this book was incredibly boring to me until the last two scenes/chapters of it. I hadn't wanted to pick up this book at all until about scene 11-12 of Act I. 

But I am so glad that I pushed through, because from Act II until the end had me hooked. I was feeling all the emotions with this book once things started to pick up more.

This was an incredible read over I got into it. I loved the characters, faults and all. Aside from Richard. I don't think I could ever like him, but I think that's kinda the point, your not meant to like him.

The epilogue of this book got me though. I was close to tears several times throughout this book, but the epilogue was what got me. It's such a bittersweet ending. I'd for sure recommend, but like I said the first act was incredibly boring and difficult to get through for me. But once you get through that the book is great.

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booksemmahasread's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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mijtje's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Amazing book. It gets under your skin and stays there forever.

Even though I couldn’t help comparing this book to The Secret History by Donna Tartt at first, it managed to soak me away from that. It has a similar story, but there is a lot more symbolism to be found here. I think this is the kind of book you can reread a thousand times and still discover new things.

Sometimes I felt a little left out as someone who knows absolutely nothing about Shakespeare. It wasn’t too much of a bother, but I did feel like I missed essential parts of information throughout the story. If you’re a Shakespeare fan, that will add another layer to this book. In my mind, this book is as much a homage to Shakespeare as anything else.

Finally, with tragedies like this, I am always scared the ending will leave me empty and sad, which I don’t like. The ending to this book, however, is perfect. Hard to pull off, so I tip my hat to M.L. Rio.


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quinn24's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? Yes

3.25

I had fun reading it, but i don’t think I took from it what was supposed to be taken, I am not a Shakespeare fan so that may be it. I did think it was rather obvious but then maybe it was supposed to be?  I’m not sure it wasn’t clear to me whether it was meant to be obvious to the reader or not. I also didn’t like the little ending switch-up. But I did enjoy myself.

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cdt96's review against another edition

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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

4.0

M.L Rio writes betrayal, loss, guilt and love excellently the characters are well rounded yet perfectly represent their given archetypes. Overall an excellent book 

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annie_m_12's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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