Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

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

477 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug use, and Violence

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Sexual content

em_gauts's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Violence, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcohol, and Murder

skillyillian's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Addiction, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicide, Cursing, Violence, Drug use, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

skelleybean's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug use, Mental illness, Death, Murder, Alcohol, Cursing, Grief, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Gaslighting, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Violence

extru's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I know it's realy similar to The Secret History, but I prefer this book 10 times more! I liked Donna's Tart writing better but still M. L. Rio's plot is just 👨‍🍳💋.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

erinamerritt's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Gore

mdwsn27's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Death, Blood, Body horror, Alcohol, and Addiction

Minor: Blood

mellowreading's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Give me dark, tragic, gay academia and I’ll give anything 5 stars. The ending. I don’t know how to feel 😭 also making Fillipa date the Professor was so random and unnecessary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Drug use, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia

lexnicole's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Body shaming, Addiction, Death, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

ella7211's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Drug abuse, and Alcohol