Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Todos somos villanos by M.L. Rio

91 reviews

rinku's review against another edition

dark medium-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

2.0

If We Were Villains makes me wonder once more if dark academia is maybe just not my genre. Just like with other books, the characters were so tiresome with their pretentiousness and overacting over small things. Additionally, the internalized misogyny annoyed me a lot, and I just don’t care for Shakespeare lol. 

I don’t have too much to say about the story since the book felt more character-driven to me, but I didn’t really like the little plot we had. The story follows Oliver, an acting student, who’s part of an acting class where new tensions between the students arise. The acting scenes were probably my favorite part of the novel. Richard was also a great antagonist since he was really creepy. 

But I had my problems with the writing itself. The cheap foreshadowing annoyed me just like the fact that some interesting things about the story are just told, like Oliver’s application. The pacing felt a bit off to since, for example, the premiere of the play happened a bit too fast. After the murder, it got more interesting, especially seeing how they tried to hide it. Sadly, it was quite predictable who the murderer was, just like it was predictable that

Oliver would sacrifice himself for James

. 

Another thing I noticed in every dark academia book yet is depicting an unhealthy relationship towards studying. Characters risk their (mental) health for their studies and teachers bullying students is justified to get them ahead. I don’t know, things like these always feels a bit neoliberal to me. 

One of the biggest problems I had with the story was with the characters. We’re introduced to a main cast of seven characters at the beginning and most of them are really flat or don’t even have any character trait, especially the women, making them feel interchangeable. For example, Alexander’s traits are that he’s gay and a drug addict. But there’s one trait they share: They’re really pretentious, I see where The Atlas Six got its inspiration from. Everyone’s overacting at the smallest things. I was furthermore annoyed how the characters drink and take drugs all the time just to show how edgy they are. 

Other reviewers said that before, but it’s unbelievable that this book is written by a woman since the female characters are written so badly. Meredith is always reduced to her looks, no matter the scene. Oliver is always staring at her, claiming that it’s some biological urge(??), that’s a really weird thing to say. Additionally, he says that “we all have called her a slut before”, which made me uncomfortable as well. I don’t know anything about her as a person, just like with the two other female characters of the group. In general, I noticed quite a lot of internalized misogyny, saying that women always gossip and stuff like his. Besides them, the other study fields are also depicted in such a cliché way that it feels like only the aesthetic and vibes matter. 

And how is this book tagged as “queer” and “lgbt”? The representation is atrocious with the only (canon?) queer character being promiscuous and threatening to rape his male friends as a joke, wtf. Without saying too much, the other reps felt just like queerbaiting to me if I’m honest because their “romance” (?) is going nowhere.  

If We Were Villains shows me again that Goodreads can’t be trusted lol. Neither the 4.2-star rating nor the queer tags are justified for this book. I guess I’ll have to read <i>The Secret History</i> one day to find out if at least the origins of dark academia are enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Suicide, Homophobia, Infidelity, Murder, and Sexual content

Minor: Eating disorder and Vomit

jelliestars's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Death, Physical abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Addiction, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Drug abuse, Grief, Infidelity, and Drug use

Minor: Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Cursing, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

marieeveparentroy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Drug use, Alcohol, Bullying, Drug abuse, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Suicide

katattack345's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

This book is by far one of the best books I have ever read. It is officially tied for my favourite book ever (a feat untouchable in over 10 years!) I want to devour every book M. L. Rio ever writes and I hope she never stops writing. 

This book is a masterpiece that had me on the edge of my seat never wanting to stop reading from start to finish. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Gore, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

Minor: Biphobia and Homophobia

gay

julee_melii's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Infidelity, Drug use, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, and Grief

Minor: Vomit and Suicide

anneroza's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Gore, Death, Violence, Alcohol, Body horror, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Sexual content, and Suicide

nicoleanthony's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Addiction, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Drug use, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicide, Gore, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Murder

helenadominick's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Holy… haven’t loved a book like this since The Secret History

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Violence, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Grief, Mental illness, Alcohol, Body horror, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Homophobia

_jasper_394's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-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

5.0

Beautifully harrowing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Murder, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Addiction

Minor: Eating disorder

carajewels's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

3.5

i have so many thoughts for this book, the first being SECRET HISTORY TEASE!! a tight knit group of twentysomethings a bit too immersed in academia and suddenly one of them dies and everyone is wondering what happens? yeahh i think ive seen this before! of course, books can take inspiration from others, and for what it’s worth this book didn’t feel like a complete copy of TSH, it felt more heavily inspired. i definitely think there were direct nods to TSH (greek students, bacchanalian parties), however the story clearly diverged from TSH numerous times.
 
personally, i couldn’t stand the tension between james and oliver. these bitches are so obviously in love!! and we have to wait the WHOLE BOOK for them to admit it??? and see them pretend to be straight in the meantime? why? i don’t get it it’s not like they’re homophobic, they’re clearly accepting of alexander. additionally, gwendolyn is supposedly this all-seeing figure that can psychologically rip them apart in her classes, yet she is painfully oblivious to the romance b/w james and oliver, which everyone else seems to have picked up on. it’s just very convenient that she never brought it up in front of them. 

i loved the constant, almost overbearing use of shakespeare! at first i didn’t want to read this book until i was more well-read on his works (i’ve only read R+J, hamlet, and macbeth) but the book was perfectly readable without that knowledge. however, i’d love to reread it after reading more of his works to understand more. i love that ML Rio has a masters in shakespeare studies, there were definitely references that she put it in that i didn’t understand.  

i’m conflicted about the characters. james and oliver were the ones i was paying keen attention to the entire time because i could tell from the first chapter they were in love. i couldn’t stand seeing oliver and meredith together, and meredith’s character i liked as she made me sad. i could see she is very lonely and felt the need to be with oliver because of that, but their romance were the worst pages of the books. wren i don’t really know that much about, she’s blonde and the best actress and in love with james? aside from her fainting i don’t think her character served many purposes. alexander and colborne were probably my favorites as they provided much needed comedic relief numerous times (idc that colborne was the cop investigating the crime that’s my king), and filippa was also a favorite of mine as she was so no-bullshit. i loved how in the end she finally spoke of her family, information she had always withheld until oliver was incarcerated. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Grief, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Violence, Suicide, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Outing

personally, i couldn’t stand the tension between james and oliver. these bitches are so obviously in love!! and we have to wait the WHOLE BOOK for them to admit it??? and see them pretend to be straight in the meantime? why? i don’t get it it’s not like they’re homophobic, they’re clearly accepting of alexander. additionally, gwendolyn is supposedly this all-seeing figure that can psychologically rip them apart in her classes, yet she is painfully oblivious to the romance b/w james and oliver, which everyone else seems to have picked up on. it’s just very convenient that she never brought it up in front of them.

i’m conflicted about the characters. james and oliver were the ones i was paying keen attention to the entire time because i could tell from the first chapter they were in love. i couldn’t stand seeing oliver and meredith together, and meredith’s character i liked as she made me sad. i could see she is very lonely and felt the need to be with oliver because of that, but their romance were the worst pages of the books. wren i don’t really know that much about, she’s blonde and the best actress and in love with james? aside from her fainting i don’t think her character served many purposes. alexander and colborne were probably my favorites as they provided much needed comedic relief numerous times (idc that colborne was the cop investigating the crime that’s my king), and filippa was also a favorite of mine as she was so no-bullshit. i loved how in the end she finally spoke of her family, information she had always withheld until oliver was incarcerated.