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This book is a masterpiece that had me on the edge of my seat never wanting to stop reading from start to finish.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Biphobia, Cursing, Drug use, Sexual content, Vomit, Murder
Graphic: Death, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Biphobia, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Biphobia, Bullying, Gore, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Vomit, Alcohol
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content
Minor: Biphobia, Blood
Graphic: Addiction, Biphobia, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder
Minor: Biphobia, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Pretentious, dramatic and passionate theatre kids who bring to life shakespearean plays both in ans offstage, are a tangled mess of emotions and riddles while also being quite flat characters. I liked the writing, it was fitting for the theme and atmosphere. I loved some passages and use of the plays throughout the story to obscure and bring light to the characters' feelings. I enjoyed the drama and the story. I had my doubts about dark academia books but this one made it for me and now I know I yearn for more books with theatre actors as protagonists being unhinged and frustrating. I also liked the references to some motifs in Shakespeare's plays (ghosts, lies, blood, guilt, madness). As a Shakespeare enthusiastic, especially his tragedies and villains, I am content.
The parts that mostly bother me are for example, what exactly did send Alexander spiraling into overdose? Was it the guilt in all cases? Did Richard haunt them so bad as a ghost like in Macbeth? Did Wren knew all along it was James? I needed to see them descend into madness more.
At some point I truly thought I was being lied by the internet and my own biased analysis, which always searches for some homoerotic subtext, because HELL the moments between Oliver and James were sparse. Those weren't even crumbs, I was holding the ship with a thread and both eyes closed, going by instinct. So yeah, the slow-burn was way too much, as it didn't deliver the relief you would expect after so many "heteronormative looking" scenes (idk how to describe it bc the book had me doubting my bisexual suspicions and then rooting for a poly relationship between Oliver Meredith and James). (What do you mean a botherly kiss that is not quite brotherly? but yeah, only one brief kiss, nothing else, no more scenes between them that hint at their feelings before or after halloween. I am not even asking for a love confession or any grand gesture, but more subtle scenes between them, more tension... idk i went insane, i am in pain but i also apprecite how complicated their relationship is, as they were best friends, brothers, partners in crime, lovers, enemies...). Or more about the internal turmoil they had going on realizing they are queer, which we barely got because they didn't want to think about it... I wanted to see how they come to terms with their sexuality, the guilt and love they felt (this specially)!!!
I probably forget many things I want to say but frankly I have been reading 3h non-stop and cried at the ending, so cut me some slack.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Classism
Can we start with even if I never have to read or hear Shakespeare in or out of context ever again, it will still be too soon. Half of this book, I had no idea what the hell was happening because the main characters were speaking in Shakespeare quotes directly. I can hear the TikTok girl now... "You refuse to read classic literature. Not a question." You're damn right I do and this is why. I could not tell you what half the dialogue in this book was saying. No idea. Empty head, no thoughts.
Another large issue I had with this book was it was so damn predictable. I called the whole plot 50 pages in. The entire thing. Piece by piece. I'll send screenshots if you need them. And for me to call the entire plot without knowing what the hell half the characters were saying a solid 65% of the time is sad. I think the last book I hated this much was Ice Planet Barbarians and I despised that book.
Quite frankly, I feel like this book was not built for me and that I never should have even picked it up.
The Final Verdict
If you don't mind a predictable plot line and not being able to understand half of the conversations happening, have at it. I'm going to stick to my romance novels from here on out. (yes, I understand the hypocrisy. The difference is, a romance novel isn't supposed to keep you guessing, this was.)
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder
Minor: Biphobia, Body horror, Bullying, Blood
Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Moderate: Eating disorder, Suicide, Vomit