Reviews tagging 'Biphobia'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

47 reviews

cdt96's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

M.L Rio writes betrayal, loss, guilt and love excellently the characters are well rounded yet perfectly represent their given archetypes. Overall an excellent book 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Biphobia, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kitanda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Biphobia, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

tinyjude's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I am conflicted, to say the least. (Also this is a mess but it is 2 am, so my brain juice is at its limit)

Pretentious, dramatic and passionate theatre kids who bring to life shakespearean plays both in ans offstage, are a tangled mess of emotions and riddles while also being quite flat characters. I liked the writing, it was fitting for the theme and atmosphere. I loved some passages and use of the plays throughout the story to obscure and bring light to the characters' feelings. I enjoyed the drama and the story. I had my doubts about dark academia books but this one made it for me and now I know I yearn for more books with theatre actors as protagonists being unhinged and frustrating. I also liked the references to some motifs in Shakespeare's plays (ghosts, lies, blood, guilt, madness). As a Shakespeare enthusiastic, especially his tragedies and villains, I am content.

The parts that mostly bother me are for example, what exactly did send Alexander spiraling into overdose? Was it the guilt in all cases? Did Richard haunt them so bad as a ghost like in Macbeth? Did Wren knew all along it was James? I needed to see them descend into madness more.

At some point I truly thought I was being lied by the internet and my own biased analysis, which always searches for some homoerotic subtext, because HELL the moments between Oliver and James were sparse. Those weren't even crumbs, I was holding the ship with a thread and both eyes closed, going by instinct. So yeah, the slow-burn was way too much, as it didn't deliver the relief you would expect after so many "heteronormative looking" scenes (idk how to describe it bc the book had me doubting my bisexual suspicions and then rooting for a poly relationship between Oliver Meredith and James). (What do you mean a botherly kiss that is not quite brotherly? but yeah, only one brief kiss, nothing else, no more scenes between them that hint at their feelings before or after halloween. I am not even asking for a love confession or any grand gesture, but more subtle scenes between them, more tension... idk i went insane, i am in pain but i also apprecite how complicated their relationship is, as they were best friends, brothers, partners in crime, lovers, enemies...). Or more about the internal turmoil they had going on realizing they are queer, which we barely got because they didn't want to think about it... I wanted to see how they come to terms with their sexuality, the guilt and love they felt (this specially)!!!

I probably forget many things I want to say but frankly I have been reading 3h non-stop and cried at the ending, so cut me some slack.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

thesmutsister_emma's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

1.75

"You Refuse to Read Classic Literature."

Can we start with even if I never have to read or hear Shakespeare in or out of context ever again, it will still be too soon. Half of this book, I had no idea what the hell was happening because the main characters were speaking in Shakespeare quotes directly. I can hear the TikTok girl now... "You refuse to read classic literature. Not a question." You're damn right I do and this is why. I could not tell you what half the dialogue in this book was saying. No idea. Empty head, no thoughts.

Another large issue I had with this book was it was so damn predictable. I called the whole plot 50 pages in. The entire thing. Piece by piece. I'll send screenshots if you need them. And for me to call the entire plot without knowing what the hell half the characters were saying a solid 65% of the time is sad. I think the last book I hated this much was Ice Planet Barbarians and I despised that book.

Quite frankly, I feel like this book was not built for me and that I never should have even picked it up.

The Final Verdict
If you don't mind a predictable plot line and not being able to understand half of the conversations happening, have at it. I'm going to stick to my romance novels from here on out. (yes, I understand the hypocrisy. The difference is, a romance novel isn't supposed to keep you guessing, this was.)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Biphobia, Body horror, Bullying, and Blood

book_banter's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I loved the Shakespeare, and Rio obviously understands the feeling of being in a theatre program. I didn’t love the treatment of eating disorders, and some of the pacing. The rest is too spoilery. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Eating disorder, Suicide, and Vomit

badmom's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Biphobia, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Gaslighting

hsteggy's review against another edition

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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Biphobia, Eating disorder, Homophobia, and Suicide

isleoflinds's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Classism

G slur, pretentious

itsheyfay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Outing, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

cheydono's review against another edition

emotional mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced

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

5.0

<kinda spoiler? no plot but just what i thought of it> made me cry at the end. the characters are relatable, at least the some degree, and the ending absolutely killed me. they deserved better. made me want to act in a play tho 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Biphobia, Eating disorder, Suicide, and Murder