Reviews tagging 'Blood'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

493 reviews

lauramcc7's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

emjen16's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

I honestly don't know how to rate this book. I liked the theatrical structure/nature and all the Shakespearean nods. I had a really hard time liking the characters, and at the same time, I had a hard time disliking them. Half the plot felt extraneous, but I couldn't tell you what to take out. In other words, I'm a bit perplexed after reading this...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Eating disorder and Fire/Fire injury

vael's review against another edition

emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

haleybooks0318's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

wwsimon93'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

nneka23's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

I don’t even know where to begin with this. What a masterpiece! From the structure to the writing style and the narrator’s POV, this book was such a fun read. I love how [even though I don’t know much about Shakespeare and don’t really have an interest in his work] If We Were Villains kept me on the edge of my seat and made me want to keep reading. I’ve honestly never imagined a college or performing arts school that is specifically dedicated to Shakespeare - what a pleasantly niche idea. Is it all ridiculously pretentious? Absolutely. But that’s honestly what makes it so enjoyable. The whole time I was reading, I felt the drama of it all, and I truly enjoyed it. It was a fun ride but what pushed this book into the 4 star range for me was the ending. It felt like everything started happening at an intensified speed and yet it kept me guessing all the way to the last page. This was so incredibly well done. Exactly what I look for in a thriller. It’s clear that The Secret History influenced If We Were Villains but honestly I much prefer M.L. Rio’s approach. So glad I read this as part of my dark academia theme for the month! This is an absolute must for anyone who likes thrillers, dark academia, or literary fiction. 💯

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Murder

zeitfensterr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

DAS ENDE???? DAS FUCKING ENDE??? ich hasse offene enden, aber holy shit SJUhdshzhdhxhxhbsncucuffeahUdhshud??? Ich will einen Band 2 😔

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

I should’ve DNFd it. None of it felt believable. Hated every character. The whole act of devotion was wasted.  And everyone, including Colborne was complicit. Also, given Shakespeare is the one often credited with creating the concept of racism, and he having been terribly sexist, I deplore him. So there was nothing about this book that appealed to me. Really should’ve DNFd it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

iane_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, and Medical content

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Transphobia, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

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