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true14216's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know why but I had some reason I thought that I would not like any of these stories since they would be about villains but I was totally wrong. For most of these stories I really enjoyed them, who knew stories about villains could be so intriguing.
The stories were almost something I've never read before like hearing Death's side of things in Death Knell, or how fairies take girls not to hurt them but to protect in Marigold, or even having a superpower to kill people in Julian Breaks Every Rule. I liked learning the ways of how some people were turned bad and had no one that wanted to help them. From these stories it's easy to see how anyone could turn to villainy.
The stories were almost something I've never read before like hearing Death's side of things in Death Knell, or how fairies take girls not to hurt them but to protect in Marigold, or even having a superpower to kill people in Julian Breaks Every Rule. I liked learning the ways of how some people were turned bad and had no one that wanted to help them. From these stories it's easy to see how anyone could turn to villainy.
sa_ra1014's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed this book so much! I didn’t expect to fly through it as fast as I did but once I got started on a story, I just couldn’t stop.
Almost every story in here was done so well and honestly, I wouldn’t mind having some of them turned into an entire novel.
That said, there were a few misses for me (but I think the only reason I can even call them ‘misses’ is because the level of storytelling in this anthology was just phenomenal).
The blood of Imuriv and Julian breaks every rule were kinda ‘meh’ for me. They didn’t pack as much as a punch as the other stories and the Blood of Imuriv specifically mostly just went over my head. I didn’t feel connected to the characters or really understand how the world in which they lived in worked. (I feel like they could’ve started off the book with a stronger story - because I’m not sure I’d have continued reading if I’d been judging the anthology based off just that first story)
On the flip side, I absolutely LOVED the Sea Witch, Beautiful Venom, Death Knell (Sera was also a close to the top fave). The characters in each story were so vastly different but all so well crafted and the last page of each tale left me with so many questions and quite a few were directed towards myself which is EXACTLY what I’d want from an anthology that explores the concept of villainy and the line between good and evil.
Beautiful Venom is particular was amazing. It took an age old tale and told it in a way that brought out elements of the story that highlighted flaws in both ancient and modern society. I could seriously rant about this story all day but I’m going to leave it at that. It was just *chefs kiss*.
On to my thoughts on the commentaries provided by the booktubers/book bloggers in the anthology.
Being a lover and long time watcher of book tube myself, I really enjoyed seeing all the familiar faces scattered here and there throughout the book.
But I have to say, at times these additions unfortunately took away from the story for me?
To be fair, this only happened...twice I believe?
Actually scratch that.
The only time it somewhat significantly took away from my enjoyment of one of the stories was in the case of Nicola Yoon’s ‘Sera’ (this may be why it didn’t make my top faves list).
Don’t get me wrong, I think this story was BRILLIANT. It was haunting and morally grey and made me really re-examine my definition for what a villain is which was all great BUT.....
But then, I got to the little addition by Steph Sinclair and Kat Kennedy and it just totally took away from the depth and power of the story of Sera.
And I understand that the humor is to perhaps lighten the tone of the anthology a little and maybe add some of the bloggers/booktubers personalities to the book but damn, this commentary just took all the seriousness and deep discussion of morality and good and evil that was in the story and just threw it down the drain.
The commentary didn’t add any extra layers to the story, barely explored any themes discussed in it, no analysis, no nothing. It just seemed like a chapter from a cheap, how to book and it was such a weird shift from the seriousness of ‘Sera’ that it just totally threw me off.
And I’m not at all against humor in the commentaries. So many of the other influencers involved in this anthology used humor as a part of their additions to the book but you know what they also did?
Analyzed and added their actual thoughts about the story to their commentaries.
I think the best example of this would be ‘Evil Revealed’ by Regan Perusse (written about Marigold) - there was a lot of silly phrasing and humor in her commentary but she discusses the story and everything it stands for so well in it that you leave her commentary feeling as though you’ve enhanced your understanding of the the story. At least that’s what it felt like to me. It felt like discussing/ analyzing a story with a friend after buddy reading it (granted, I couldn’t answer back but you know what I mean). That was a commentary done right.
You know what else was a commentary done right?
Jesse George’s ‘Dear Death’. This was beautiful and heartbreaking and filled with real, raw emotion that I’m sure a lot of us can relate to. And it intertwined with Victoria Schwab’s story beautifully. I think Jesse’s understanding of ‘Death’ both as a character in the story and as a real and frankly quite scary aspect of our lives really shines through in his addition to the book. The way he’d written it, I could almost see myself having written that letter/whatever you’d call it. It was heart wrenching and stunning.
Okay so that concludes my thoughts on this anthology, I think?
I don’t usually write reviews so my apologies if this seemed a tad scattered.
(Despite some of my issues with little bits of the book, I absolutely loved this anthology - one of the best I’ve ever read. And some of these stories will probably live in my heart for a long long time. Hence 5 stars. I would actually give it a 4.5 but I can’t figure out how to do that on goodreads. I actually don’t know if that’s even possible?)
Almost every story in here was done so well and honestly, I wouldn’t mind having some of them turned into an entire novel.
That said, there were a few misses for me (but I think the only reason I can even call them ‘misses’ is because the level of storytelling in this anthology was just phenomenal).
The blood of Imuriv and Julian breaks every rule were kinda ‘meh’ for me. They didn’t pack as much as a punch as the other stories and the Blood of Imuriv specifically mostly just went over my head. I didn’t feel connected to the characters or really understand how the world in which they lived in worked. (I feel like they could’ve started off the book with a stronger story - because I’m not sure I’d have continued reading if I’d been judging the anthology based off just that first story)
On the flip side, I absolutely LOVED the Sea Witch, Beautiful Venom, Death Knell (Sera was also a close to the top fave). The characters in each story were so vastly different but all so well crafted and the last page of each tale left me with so many questions and quite a few were directed towards myself which is EXACTLY what I’d want from an anthology that explores the concept of villainy and the line between good and evil.
Beautiful Venom is particular was amazing. It took an age old tale and told it in a way that brought out elements of the story that highlighted flaws in both ancient and modern society. I could seriously rant about this story all day but I’m going to leave it at that. It was just *chefs kiss*.
On to my thoughts on the commentaries provided by the booktubers/book bloggers in the anthology.
Being a lover and long time watcher of book tube myself, I really enjoyed seeing all the familiar faces scattered here and there throughout the book.
But I have to say, at times these additions unfortunately took away from the story for me?
To be fair, this only happened...twice I believe?
Actually scratch that.
The only time it somewhat significantly took away from my enjoyment of one of the stories was in the case of Nicola Yoon’s ‘Sera’ (this may be why it didn’t make my top faves list).
Don’t get me wrong, I think this story was BRILLIANT. It was haunting and morally grey and made me really re-examine my definition for what a villain is which was all great BUT.....
But then, I got to the little addition by Steph Sinclair and Kat Kennedy and it just totally took away from the depth and power of the story of Sera.
And I understand that the humor is to perhaps lighten the tone of the anthology a little and maybe add some of the bloggers/booktubers personalities to the book but damn, this commentary just took all the seriousness and deep discussion of morality and good and evil that was in the story and just threw it down the drain.
The commentary didn’t add any extra layers to the story, barely explored any themes discussed in it, no analysis, no nothing. It just seemed like a chapter from a cheap, how to book and it was such a weird shift from the seriousness of ‘Sera’ that it just totally threw me off.
And I’m not at all against humor in the commentaries. So many of the other influencers involved in this anthology used humor as a part of their additions to the book but you know what they also did?
Analyzed and added their actual thoughts about the story to their commentaries.
I think the best example of this would be ‘Evil Revealed’ by Regan Perusse (written about Marigold) - there was a lot of silly phrasing and humor in her commentary but she discusses the story and everything it stands for so well in it that you leave her commentary feeling as though you’ve enhanced your understanding of the the story. At least that’s what it felt like to me. It felt like discussing/ analyzing a story with a friend after buddy reading it (granted, I couldn’t answer back but you know what I mean). That was a commentary done right.
You know what else was a commentary done right?
Jesse George’s ‘Dear Death’. This was beautiful and heartbreaking and filled with real, raw emotion that I’m sure a lot of us can relate to. And it intertwined with Victoria Schwab’s story beautifully. I think Jesse’s understanding of ‘Death’ both as a character in the story and as a real and frankly quite scary aspect of our lives really shines through in his addition to the book. The way he’d written it, I could almost see myself having written that letter/whatever you’d call it. It was heart wrenching and stunning.
Okay so that concludes my thoughts on this anthology, I think?
I don’t usually write reviews so my apologies if this seemed a tad scattered.
(Despite some of my issues with little bits of the book, I absolutely loved this anthology - one of the best I’ve ever read. And some of these stories will probably live in my heart for a long long time. Hence 5 stars. I would actually give it a 4.5 but I can’t figure out how to do that on goodreads. I actually don’t know if that’s even possible?)
r_said's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
wisteriamoon's review against another edition
5.0
This was the first anthology on my TBR, back before I even knew what an anthology was, and I'm so glad that I finally got around to reading it. Nothing says "fall" to me quite like a cozy collection of short stories about villains. And I loved the study of villainy in this book, and how every author interpreted it so differently. There were shocking twists and stories of tragedy, and tales that unsettled me, and ones that were empowering, with everything in between. I loved diving deep into villainy and all of its aspects, how it is handled in media. I wished that there had been a bit more diversity, with maybe a few more disabled authors talking about how that relates to villainy in literature and how we can rise above stereotypes, and there were a few stories that didn't quite hit for me, but overall, this is an anthology full of amazing stories from some of my favorite authors-Marissa Meyer, Soman Chainani and Victoria Schwab to name a few-and truly was fascinating and tragic and beautiful.
quoting_ravens's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 maybe.
The breakdown:
-The Blood of Imuriv- ⭐️
A short story is simply not enough time to lay the groundwork for this tale. Lots of exposition-y dialogue.
-The Evil vaccine- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hilarious!
-Jack-⭐️⭐️
-Giants and Tyrants-⭐️
-Gwen and Art and Lance-⭐️
-The Bad Girl Hall of Fame-⭐️⭐️⭐️
-Shirley & Jim-⭐️
-Dear Sasha, The 411 for Villains-⭐️
-The Blessing of Little Wants-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
-Will the Real Villain Please Stand Up?-⭐️
-The Sea Witch-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
-Villain or Hero? You Decide-⭐️⭐️⭐️
-Beautiful Venom-⭐️
-Without the Evil in the World, How Do We See the Good?-⭐️
-Death Knell-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fabulous! Victoria Schwab is the the saving grace (lol) if this book.
-Dear Death-⭐️⭐️
-Marigold-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really enjoyed the concept and the writing was great but the story kinda fell apart towards the end.
-Evil Revealed-⭐️⭐️⭐️
-You, You, It’s All About You-⭐️⭐️
The mask-hand thing was so gross and inconvenient, I couldn’t get passed it. Also, was there any point to the whole apartment fight?
-Behind the Villain’s Mask-⭐️
-Julian Breaks Every Rule-DNF
Main character was unbearably pretentious, I could not deal.
-Julian Powell: teen psycho extraordinaire-Skimmed. There isn’t much of a point in reading the review without reading the story.
-Indigo and Shade-⭐️
I’m choking on all this pretentious masculinity.
-Glamorized Recovery: Expectations vs Reality-⭐️⭐️
-Sera-⭐️⭐️⭐️
-The Bad Girls Guide to Villainy-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The breakdown:
-The Blood of Imuriv- ⭐️
A short story is simply not enough time to lay the groundwork for this tale. Lots of exposition-y dialogue.
-The Evil vaccine- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hilarious!
-Jack-⭐️⭐️
-Giants and Tyrants-⭐️
-Gwen and Art and Lance-⭐️
-The Bad Girl Hall of Fame-⭐️⭐️⭐️
-Shirley & Jim-⭐️
-Dear Sasha, The 411 for Villains-⭐️
-The Blessing of Little Wants-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
-Will the Real Villain Please Stand Up?-⭐️
-The Sea Witch-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
-Villain or Hero? You Decide-⭐️⭐️⭐️
-Beautiful Venom-⭐️
-Without the Evil in the World, How Do We See the Good?-⭐️
-Death Knell-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fabulous! Victoria Schwab is the the saving grace (lol) if this book.
-Dear Death-⭐️⭐️
-Marigold-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really enjoyed the concept and the writing was great but the story kinda fell apart towards the end.
-Evil Revealed-⭐️⭐️⭐️
-You, You, It’s All About You-⭐️⭐️
The mask-hand thing was so gross and inconvenient, I couldn’t get passed it. Also, was there any point to the whole apartment fight?
-Behind the Villain’s Mask-⭐️
-Julian Breaks Every Rule-DNF
Main character was unbearably pretentious, I could not deal.
-Julian Powell: teen psycho extraordinaire-Skimmed. There isn’t much of a point in reading the review without reading the story.
-Indigo and Shade-⭐️
I’m choking on all this pretentious masculinity.
-Glamorized Recovery: Expectations vs Reality-⭐️⭐️
-Sera-⭐️⭐️⭐️
-The Bad Girls Guide to Villainy-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
secretdearest's review against another edition
3.0
Came out average.
The two stories that stood out to me were the one of the mermaid and the one of the Beast.
Liked it, did not love it.
I don't like masochism, AKA the villain.
Read this, because I'm open to another POV.
Skipped 3 stories, because no matter how hard I tried they just didn't do it for me.
The two stories that stood out to me were the one of the mermaid and the one of the Beast.
Liked it, did not love it.
I don't like masochism, AKA the villain.
Read this, because I'm open to another POV.
Skipped 3 stories, because no matter how hard I tried they just didn't do it for me.
worldsunlikeourown's review against another edition
3.0
I usually don't read books that are collections of unrelated stories because I prefer one continuous plot line, but seeing so many of my favourite authors listed, I simply had to give this a try. It is just so hard to rate books like these! Some stories I absolutely loved, others didn't make much sense and some were just...no. An interesting read, but a lot of it felt like fillers. Because You Love to Hate Me is a collection of stories about villains, and what made them become villains. To go into the stories I liked:
The Blood of Imuriv, Renee Ahdieh's story, was extremely unique. It's a pity that it's just a short story, because I would read a full length novel on this kind of plot.
Shirley and Jim (Susan Dennard) narrates the story of a young James Moriarty where both Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are female (Shirley and Jean). An interesting version of familiar characters.
Beautiful Venom (Cindy Pon) was a complete surprise. An Asian retelling of the Medusa tale, this is definitely a must read in this book.
Death Knell (Victoria Schwab) is beautifully written and so meaningful. Briefly put, it is about how one cannot outrun death - not the evil kind of villain, but a more deep and thoughtful tale.
The Blood of Imuriv, Renee Ahdieh's story, was extremely unique. It's a pity that it's just a short story, because I would read a full length novel on this kind of plot.
Shirley and Jim (Susan Dennard) narrates the story of a young James Moriarty where both Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are female (Shirley and Jean). An interesting version of familiar characters.
Beautiful Venom (Cindy Pon) was a complete surprise. An Asian retelling of the Medusa tale, this is definitely a must read in this book.
Death Knell (Victoria Schwab) is beautifully written and so meaningful. Briefly put, it is about how one cannot outrun death - not the evil kind of villain, but a more deep and thoughtful tale.