A review by avciera7
These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

This book is such an amazing depiction of toxic codependency and the way it interacts with queer suppression. It understands that when people are driven together by layers of otherness, having connection can become more important than health, self-preservation, morals, & everything in between. It is also brutally honest in how it frames self-loathing and the ways that self-loathing creates its own narratives and justifications. The characters are deeply unlikeable, but in a painfully recognizable and intimate way. Also, this book has one of the best closing lines I've ever read. 

What gets in the way of this book being truly phenomenal are two things - 1. The middle of the book DRAGS terribly. There are lot of similar scenes that slow the tension when I think they are meant to add to it. 2. A lot of time is spent describing how Paul is interpreting Julian (sentences like "he said this in a way that seemed almost like this, but I knew it was really that"). Yes, this adds to putting us into Paul's viewpoint and his unreliable narration, but it was really repetitive and at times seemed too astute to be the character, rather than the author, explaining. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings