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ashleysbookthoughts 's review for:
These Violent Delights
by Micah Nemerever
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever (not to be confused with the book of the same title released around the same time by Chloe Gong, which I read and reviewed last April), is a fascinating look at an obsessive, toxic relationship between two young men (boys really) that quickly descends into violence.
Nemerever does a great job of depicting the obsession between these two characters, the cruelty, gaslighting, and emotional turmoil they put each other through, made more intense by external pressures of family expectations and homophobia. He also writes so that the reader is never quite sure which boy is in control of the relationship; it all feels quite tenuous. There are shades of Crime and Punishment here: committing a crime to prove you can, the guilt that follows, which are interesting and tense.
My main issue with the book is that it’s too long. I think Nemerever could have accomplished the same level of inspection and discomfort in a tighter narrative. There were so many scenes with characters families that seemed excessive relative to their usefulness in providing context. For that reason, I sometimes struggled to pick up the book. And while I ultimately enjoyed it, as unsettling as the subject is, I never thought about it at all when I wasn’t reading it.
Still, this is a strong debut and I’m interested to see what Nemerever does next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Violence, Antisemitism, Murder