Reviews with content warning for Death - Love & Virtue

Do you like reading complex, intimate, witty, intelligent stories about consent and power and morality and the cultures of the colleges at The University of Sydney? Read this regardless of your answer.

It's also surreal to read about usyd, but about MY usyd, and about where in feminist space-time the campus was when I was there. Also wild to read a book set in the suburb I live in.

I really need to emphasise just how nuanced and precise and cutting and bright this book is, though. An absolute must read, 10/10 for me.

Content Warnings

sophh's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

I absolutely loved reading this book. I pretty much read it all in a day during my summer holiday. I think the reason I loved it so much is because of how much of the protagonist's experience I could relate to.
The novel follows Michaela's transition into tertiary education in Sydney. She quickly realises that her college is filled with teenagers who want to spend all their time drinking, doing drugs and having sex. It is not unsurprising that this leads to quite a toxic culture within the residential college.
Michaela navigates her way through friendships, romantic relationships, assault and loss.
I really liked the focus on philosophy in this novel. It was easily integrated because Michaela was studying it. I find conversations about what it means to be a good or bad person fascinating, and I thought the way it related to Michaela's experience made it all the more impactful.
My sister started reading this and she said she found it all somewhat pretentious and hard to read. While I can see where she is coming from I really liked reading it and I feel like it was a great exploration into a time of life where our sense of self and understanding of the world is very fragile and malleable.

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lillicoulson's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this was incredible to read as a first year uni student. i love the australian representation and the discussion of classism in our society, especially our most prestigious universities. discussions of life and death and morality frame an introspective narrative about adolescence and independence.

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tartar94's review against another edition

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dark reflective 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? It's complicated

3.0

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ju1iet's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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okaye's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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thenovelbookshelf's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.5

“There are no facts, only interpretations.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

Many of those who will read Love & Virtue may find it is a feminist story, others may find it a story on ethics, morals, others may read L&V and look back on their 1st year of uni with fondness.

I found this a very easy book to read, parts of it were predictable and cliche. Unfortunately, I found L&V a story of shallow, insecure, selfish, immature entitled characters, who seemed to have never transitioned from high school into the more serious decision-making person you become in uni.

While the storyline is going on, you do start to think what is ethical, right, wrong, and when is it time to stand up and say something, especially as a female. I do applaud the book as it tackles a confronting theme, and that it creates multiple discussion points for men, women, adults and young adults alike.

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iamivypark's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Love and Virtue is a debut novel by Sydney author Diana Reid written in lockdown. Michaela Burns, our protagonist, is a scholarship recipient to a residential college at a prestigious university in Sydney. She studies philosophy among other things and befriends another young woman at the college called Eve.

Over the course of the novel, Michaela questions morality, friendships, class & institutional privilege. Reid tackled some really complex questions - most notably commentary around consent - which gave readers a lot to mull over and examine more closely.

The friendship between Michaela and Eve is complex with a toxic dynamic of competition & manipulation. I can’t think of another book I’ve read recently that explored female friendship in this way! It sat in compelling juxtaposition to Michaela’s other relationships in the book.

What I really loved was the interweaving of philosophy into the campus experiences and the plots unpredictability. I don’t want to spoil anything but I thought the book was rather smart in terms of the different ways it explored consent.

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