Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

59 reviews

fionamclary's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

This book is beautifully written, and the threads of plot and character are expertly entwined and spooled out. The queer love triangle (arguably square, or even pentagon) slowly takes center stage with all the satisfaction of any good tragedy.

I just wish that the book had explored earlier times more. It is a staple of this genre to show the Golden Days, before everything went wrong, even if there were always hints of darkness. (Think The Secret History, or Babel.) For the first part of the book I was distracted by wondering what the dynamic of the seven was before 4th year, if something changed and why, and if they had ever been more than seven, given that we are told that Dellecher regularly cuts students from the program every year. It made the beginning of the story feel rather abrupt and meager, although this issue became increasingly less prominent as the story progressed.

In summary, I am gay and sad and relieved that I stopped being a theater kid in high school.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Vomit, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Biphobia, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Brief depiction of a drug overdose

alexeysidoruk'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? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Eating disorder

goldaerin's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.0

Terminabile ma manca l'anima dei personaggi. Molto (troppo) derivativo 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, and Drug use

Moderate: Eating disorder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

stratospheric's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexism, and Sexual content

Minor: Sexual harassment

augustrogue's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

1.0

I was so hyped for this book and truly wanted to love it - unfortunately, while it had a few fleeting moments of some very lovely prose, it ended up feeling like a bit of a pretentious mess. Multiple, long scenes that were basically play-by-plays of Shakespearean stage productions. Inexplicable switches into script-style dialogue that disrupts the flow terribly: (not from the book, just an example)

Meredith: "Where did Alexander go?" 
Me: "I don’t know." 
Wren: "I'm worried about him." 

...and then switches back just as abruptly, like it forgot it wasn't a screenplay for a second. Scenes that end abruptly for poetic/dramatic effect and then don't adequately explain what happened next. And I wanted a lot *more* of a relationship dynamic that was only lightly explored in the last 10% or so of the book.

The thing is, I actually *like* Shakespeare, quite a bit. The course I took on his plays was one of my favorites in university, and I still have a Complete Works anthology on my bookshelf. But I don't know, this book just made me roll my eyes a lot. At least the author acknowledges that the characters talking to each other in rapid-fire Shakespeare quotes about mundane things like they're ye olde Gilmore Girls (my own analogy, not hers) *is* super pretentious, in her ending notes. This book is for someone, maybe, but for the most part, it's not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

hellhathnofury's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Homophobia and Violence

sealbrecht's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Medical content, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Eating disorder, Homophobia, and Vomit

cturn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Characters- 8
Atmosphere - 8
Writing - 8
Plot - 10
Intrigue - 10
Logic - 8
Enjoyment - 9
CAWPILE score - 8.7

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Sexual content and Murder

boaabie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

5.0

I haven’t had a book make me emotional in a long time, the ending ripped out my heart and gave me hope, stomped on the hope and breathed new life into it all at once. 
The writing is beautiful, I can only hope to have a small amount of skill this author has to create such beautifully tragic scenes they have

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Alcohol

thejessicat's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide