Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

41 reviews

bbygirl21's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I was really close to marking this book as a DNF because the Act I of this book was incredibly boring to me until the last two scenes/chapters of it. I hadn't wanted to pick up this book at all until about scene 11-12 of Act I. 

But I am so glad that I pushed through, because from Act II until the end had me hooked. I was feeling all the emotions with this book once things started to pick up more.

This was an incredible read over I got into it. I loved the characters, faults and all. Aside from Richard. I don't think I could ever like him, but I think that's kinda the point, your not meant to like him.

The epilogue of this book got me though. I was close to tears several times throughout this book, but the epilogue was what got me. It's such a bittersweet ending. I'd for sure recommend, but like I said the first act was incredibly boring and difficult to get through for me. But once you get through that the book is great.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Eating disorder, Suicide, Vomit, and Medical content

lottieingham's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Infidelity, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Eating disorder and Vomit

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. 

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

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

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

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: Violence and Murder

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

Minor: Blood

aquariusvintage's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Suicide, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

peonydancer's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I was a little disappointed by the book, in that I had rather big expectations of it. I did, however, love the intertextuality of Shakespeare's works and the book. But I reckon it's a little far-fetched to call this a 'gay romance' - more than that, it's 'toxic entanglement'. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

nicoleanthony's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Vomit, and Abandonment

Minor: Confinement, Eating disorder, and Homophobia

kazli's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.25

A bit predictable, the ending made it worth it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism