Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

6 reviews

lizzym126's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.25


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bootsmom3's review against another edition

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

3.0


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

5.0


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sarah_chapman's review against another edition

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

3.5


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recycled_personalities's review against another edition

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

4.25

I do recommend it. There’s one outdated term that used near the beginning of the book that stopped it from getting a higher score. But it’s a compelling mystery, with a side of tragic love.

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chemicalpoisons's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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

Actors are by nature volatile - alchemic creatures composed of incendiary elements, emotion, ego and envy. Heat them up, stir them together, and sometimes you get gold. Sometimes disaster.

[Small note: Do yourselves a favour and read this book under Erik Satie's Gnossienne No. 1, on repeat.]

Art imitates life... or is it the other way around? As seven theatrical students, who study Shakespeare's greatest plays and converse, almost obnoxiously, in his verses, will find out, it's a bit of both. All seems well at the Dellecher Classical Conservatory, an elite and prestigious school for arts, when Richard, Alexander, James, Oliver, Meredith, Filippa and Wren, our main cast, embark on their final year of studies, eager to take upon themselves the burden and woes of the characters they ensemble, and impress their teachers with their acting abilities. When tragedy strikes, however, Oliver will soon realise that the masks he thought had fallen were on the faces of his friends the entire time. Has the play spilled into real life? Or is it easier to hide yourself in a role when you are so afraid by your own reflection in the mirror, abhorred by what you'll see on the other end?

M.L. Rio has done a masterful job with this book, and that's evident by the time it took for me to finish it; three days. I couldn't let it down if I wanted to, and when my eyes started to sting at night from strain (and covid), believe me, I needed to. But Rio's prose, short chapters and immerse world leave you breathing for more. You almost know how the plot will unfold by the time Act II ends, but you still need to understand the motives, the drive of each character.

You can almost picture it yourself, how the cast starts to unravel at the seams, each with his or her own mechanism to cope in the face of adversity. For some, especially our protagonist Oliver, it's easier to fall into the shoes and drapes of the character they portray. What they don't take into consideration, however, is the danger many great actors face; how much you actually let your fictitious character seep into you. Where do you start and where do they end? For better or worse, William Shakespeare's landscape of tragic heroes and villains is bursting with faces to portray, tragedies to live through, and emotional weights to carry as if they were your own. For he writes everything in the extremes, emotionally, morally, from the acts of treason and the romance of star struck lovers to the swift justice of the perpetrators and the tragic ends of the innocent. So when Oliver, and the rest, start to degrade, in all aspects of their life, it's with a magnitude their favourite poet would certainly relish in.

I give this book four stars because I think the end (and the reasons behind some of the protagonists' actions) were a bit too superficial and, frankly, I felt they were overused in media nowadays. Plus, if you are not familiar with Shakespeare's plays, you will most likely find the numerous verses Rio has inserted into this book not only a tad grating, but also a bit nonsensical. Alas, they serve a purpose, for us to understand the parallels of each character to the play they act in, but I think she could have done with a bit less insertion of the direct dialogue.

Nonetheless, I do recommend this book for its wonderful prose, its astonishing examples of how fiction can escalate into life, and a plot that will leave you on the edge until you discover the pathos and ethos of the characters.

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