Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

16 reviews

rinku's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

If We Were Villains makes me wonder once more if dark academia is maybe just not my genre. Just like with other books, the characters were so tiresome with their pretentiousness and overacting over small things. Additionally, the internalized misogyny annoyed me a lot, and I just don’t care for Shakespeare lol. 

I don’t have too much to say about the story since the book felt more character-driven to me, but I didn’t really like the little plot we had. The story follows Oliver, an acting student, who’s part of an acting class where new tensions between the students arise. The acting scenes were probably my favorite part of the novel. Richard was also a great antagonist since he was really creepy. 

But I had my problems with the writing itself. The cheap foreshadowing annoyed me just like the fact that some interesting things about the story are just told, like Oliver’s application. The pacing felt a bit off to since, for example, the premiere of the play happened a bit too fast. After the murder, it got more interesting, especially seeing how they tried to hide it. Sadly, it was quite predictable who the murderer was, just like it was predictable that

Spoiler

Oliver would sacrifice himself for James

. 

Another thing I noticed in every dark academia book yet is depicting an unhealthy relationship towards studying. Characters risk their (mental) health for their studies and teachers bullying students is justified to get them ahead. I don’t know, things like these always feels a bit neoliberal to me. 

One of the biggest problems I had with the story was with the characters. We’re introduced to a main cast of seven characters at the beginning and most of them are really flat or don’t even have any character trait, especially the women, making them feel interchangeable. For example, Alexander’s traits are that he’s gay and a drug addict. But there’s one trait they share: They’re really pretentious, I see where The Atlas Six got its inspiration from. Everyone’s overacting at the smallest things. I was furthermore annoyed how the characters drink and take drugs all the time just to show how edgy they are. 

Other reviewers said that before, but it’s unbelievable that this book is written by a woman since the female characters are written so badly. Meredith is always reduced to her looks, no matter the scene. Oliver is always staring at her, claiming that it’s some biological urge(??), that’s a really weird thing to say. Additionally, he says that “we all have called her a slut before”, which made me uncomfortable as well. I don’t know anything about her as a person, just like with the two other female characters of the group. In general, I noticed quite a lot of internalized misogyny, saying that women always gossip and stuff like his. Besides them, the other study fields are also depicted in such a cliché way that it feels like only the aesthetic and vibes matter. 

And how is this book tagged as “queer” and “lgbt”? The representation is atrocious with the only (canon?) queer character being promiscuous and threatening to rape his male friends as a joke, wtf. Without saying too much, the other reps felt just like queerbaiting to me if I’m honest because their “romance” (?) is going nowhere.  

If We Were Villains shows me again that Goodreads can’t be trusted lol. Neither the 4.2-star rating nor the queer tags are justified for this book. I guess I’ll have to read <i>The Secret History</i> one day to find out if at least the origins of dark academia are enjoyable. 

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Suicide, Homophobia, Infidelity, Murder, and Sexual content

Minor: Eating disorder and Vomit

haleymk's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Addiction, Blood, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Sexism, and Suicide

Minor: Confinement

lizsurber'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

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Vomit, and Cursing

Minor: Eating disorder, Confinement, and Homophobia

nikolemrtnz'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.

---

Content Warnings

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

meggiemine's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

1.5

This whole book was frustrating and ambiguous, but my god that ending was infuriating.  I'm still seething.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, Blood, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Suicide

Minor: Sexual content, Eating disorder, Confinement, and Vomit

rebecca142's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Violence, Alcohol, and Drug use

Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Cursing, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Eating disorder, and Grief

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Transphobia, and Cancer

Further warning for a student/teacher relationship - never framed as a bad thing as far as I can tell.

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

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

li_reading's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I would go as far as saying that M. L. Rio's If We Were Villains is a masterpiece. 

With characters you cannot help but love, while driving you to hair-pulling frustration, Rio weaves the line of morality wonderfully. As the characters are drawn into the world of Shakespeare, you are drawn into theirs. 

Just when you think you have it figured out, Rio pulls the rug out from under you, time and time again, ending with a finale that will leave you in a daze. 

The intricacies of language Rio uses tell the reader exactly what is going to happen, while still maintaining tension, is genius. Upon re-reading the book you will find yourself laughing out loud at how boldly she spelled it all out. 

If We Were Villains is a book you can sink your teeth into, and I intend to, many times over.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Body horror, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Classism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Drug use, Mental illness, Addiction, Suicide, and Physical abuse

Minor: Confinement, Animal death, Racism, Rape, and Eating disorder

my_forest_library's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Death

Moderate: Eating disorder, Violence, Confinement, Toxic friendship, and Alcoholism

Minor: Homophobia