Reviews tagging 'Grief'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

322 reviews

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

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

ancymon's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

pomijając ze postacie miały jedną cechę osobowości a zwłaszcza na początku to cała reszta super. przez większość książki byłam zirytowana ze nie wiem o co chodzi, ale myśle że to było założenie tej książki i bardzo mi sie podoba ze zakończenie jest otwarte i mogę żyć w delulu ze wszystko się im tam potem jakoś ułożyło 🤠

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

Minor: Suicide, Vomit, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Addiction

kirstenpod_'s review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Drug use, Grief, Toxic friendship, Death, Murder, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Blood, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Addiction, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, and Cursing

Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual content, and Vomit

sarasreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

When I first started this and they were all speaking to each other in prose I eye rolled so hard I wasn't sure if I was going to make it through the book lol, but oh man did I get me in the end. Thankfully they didn't speak like that the whole time. 

I didn't want to put this down. I had a whole Shakespeare phase when I was younger (if you knew me then you can definitely confirm) and even did a Shakespeare class in college. So it really ended up sucking me in. If you are familiar with the tragedies, it helps, and that would also help with peeling back the layers and similes of narrative structure, themes, archetypes etc. It feels like a book you could really sink your teeth into and deeply examine, if you wanted to.

I had theories and was totally right, which was satisfying, although the things I ended up being right about were pretty sad. It is, after all, a tragedy. But one I would definitely reread. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Domestic abuse

warlockdorian's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Murder, Mental illness, Vomit, Blood, Cursing, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

sl33pyh0ll0w's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Grief and Toxic relationship

vbaltazar07's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Perfect dark academia mystery with all the drama and emotions of being a theater kid

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Murder, Violence, Death, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Biphobia, and Blood

epohlig's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-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

5.0

I loved this book so much! I loved the mysterious aspect and especially how, in each scene, I always had enough information to know what was going on, but I was always fully aware that I didn’t have all the puzzle pieces, so even when it t seemed to make sense, there were always questions lurking in my head. 
Additionally, the writing style is beautiful, just with the words and phrasings. And I know it’s a bit of a controversial point to non-theatre people, but I personally loved all the Shakespeare references and quotes, especially the parallels between the characters and their roles (which accentuates a point Oliver makes that it can be hard for them to distinguish themselves after a time). To be honest,  I didn’t get some of the Shakespeare quotes (especially the last one which was definitely important, but maybe I was just too tired to work it out), but I loved the book regardless. :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Suicide

cheye13's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

As a theatre kid with a literature degree, this sure did Hit. I don't know what to say about this one that hasn't been said. It hits the mark with actors and acting classes, torture of academia, drama of a semi-forced family unit, Shakespearean magnitude. Using excerpts of Shakespeare as a literary device to set the tone and shape the story was impressively clever. The audio performance was magnificent.

I was enjoying everything as it was and then the final "twist" (kinda?) absolutely wrecked me. I'm not sure how I feel about the ending specifically, but the story as an overall piece of art is wonderful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Grief, and Bullying

Moderate: Gore, Suicide, Alcohol, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Blood, Eating disorder, Biphobia, Sexual content, and Vomit

a couple instances of drowning, near-drowning, attempted drowning.