Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

90 reviews

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.

ina_pages's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

As a theater student myself I thought I’d relate heavily to the characters in this book. I didn’t really. Despite understanding how great Shakespeare was, I hated studying him. But whether you hate Shakespeare or love him it’s hard to disagree that he was a great artist of his time, especially when he inspires brilliant works like this.

I learned from school that Shakespeare was at the forefront of the English Renaissance. His command and understanding of human emotions and behavior is, in my opinion, one of his greatest assets and what made his works so enticing to watch/read. M.L. Rio clearly carried this over into her work as Oliver’s thoughts and emotions are so clear and easy to follow (at least, it was for me). 

I think everyone should read this book at least once in their life. It’s a beautiful exploration of love and tragedy that would have even Shakespeare fighting back tears.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Grief, Physical abuse, Cursing, Death, and Addiction

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Eating disorder and Suicide