Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - If We Were Villains. Wenn aus Freunden Feinde werden

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

If We Were Villains. Wenn aus Freunden Feinde werden by M.L. Rio

193 reviews

bookish_5280's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Absolutely amazing read! I am Secret History obsessed, and so this was the perfect book. The aesthetic was immaculate, the imagery was incredibly detailed and beautiful (although awful and obsessive and violent). I loved the writing style, and the incorporation of Shakespeare quotes was fantastic--and this is coming from someone who is certainly NOT a big fan of Shakespeare. Every play fit perfectly into the narrative, from Lear to Romeo and Juliet to, of course, Caesar. There were so many scenes that broke me, so many that made me reflect--and THAT ENDING. OH MY GOD. I don't think I will heal from that for a long time.

James+Oliver forever <3

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em_gauts's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

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mollydorward's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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skillyillian's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

this isn't my usual bag but i really enjoyed it. perfect dark academia, rainy autumn, murder at a fancy, secluded college book. i think i would have enjoyed it more if i knew literally anything beyond the very very basics of shakespeare, as the characters spend probably a quarter of their dialogue speaking exclusively in shakespeare quotes or references i didn't understand. that being said, it doesn't ruin the book by any means if you don't fully get every easter egg. the author had some kind of degree involving shakespeare iirc? and you can tell she is extremely knowledgeable about all of his works, it's incredibly well done.

the plot felt a little predictable at times? but i was reading for the spooky dark academia vibes and not the most complicated murder mystery plot in the whole world. i've heard people say they didn't really love the ending or how open it was, but i liked it and thought it was pretty clear what happened.

Spoiler

i wish they had just admitted to being in love sooner. i hate that it took until richard said his garbage homophobic shit for oliver to be like "ah, yes, well. maybe we are in love" like please, be so fuckin for real right now. the lack of communication right there would have saved so much trouble.

anyway what a good spooky read. the vibes were immaculate, the mystery was fun, the characters felt like they had their own personalities and goals. the writing style was really unique, especially in that the dialogue between characters speaking back and forth didn't use dialogue tags but sometimes was just written like a script would be. my favorite line was probably "Me: [sneezes]" lmfao.

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