Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

164 reviews

anni_o's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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

3.5

I liked it! I am not a Shakespear Fan and I did not know beforehand that this book was so committed to the bit. I did start to wonder if there were actual real life people who spoke like this...
Anyway! Overall the story was very compelling, and towards the end I was truly glued to the page. I do enjoy a good murder mystery! I also liked the resolution, though;
 

I would have liked to actually know what made Richard like, freak out like that so much. I would have loved to find out what made him escalate. Can't just have been Shakespear or smth. That boy needed therapy badly. I did like that it was a tragedy through and through. You saw it coming and until the end you have a hopeful lil spark going 'I'm sure they'll all be fine'. V nicely played. 

 
One star taken because the citations were really getting on my nerves by the end and I guess I'm really not enough of a theatre nerd for this. I did enjoy myself though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Physical abuse, Addiction, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Confinement, Gore, Suicide, Murder, Grief, and Vomit

A lot of Shakespear. Like a lot. Only read if you like, really love Shakespear. I'm serious.

mimpart's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

My favorite book of the year so far. Incredible suspense, fantastic characters, really amazing plot development and twists in the pacing, love the ending. I kept getting mad at myself for not finishing the story to see how it ends. A must-read for the poetic at heart, the Bard enthusiasts and the dark academics

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Blood, Cursing, Death, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Confinement, Gore, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

theresa_timber's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, Drug use, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Mental illness, and Vomit

theotheleo's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Murder, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Child death, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Eating disorder, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Self harm, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, and Domestic abuse

withlivjones's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Holy hell this book destroyed me. The story had me absolutely hooked and I loved how the complex relationships between such strong and ambitious characters were written. I can’t think of many other books that have made me happy to feel so much dread and sadness while reading. Believe the hype, people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Mental illness, and Suicide

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

saracha22's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

Longer than it need to be, and I found the Shakespearean pidgin dialogue pretentious and hard to read. But I did like the ending, it felt fitting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Alcohol

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Death, Alcohol, Addiction, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Blood, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Grief

luckyyz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Mental illness, Alcohol, Addiction, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia and Eating disorder

mamatrauma's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Death, Cursing, and Mental illness

julells's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book is frustrating, gut-wrenching and absolutely heartbreaking.
I hated it.
Go read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Toxic friendship, Grief, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Sexism, Bullying, Classism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, and Sexual content