Reviews with content warning for Death - If We Were Villains

Reviews tagging 'Death'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

904 reviews

aj9moon's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense 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

4.0

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weirdassfanta's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Ouch.

Ok, so I know people say this is a rip off the secret history, but I don’t care at this point. I’m also glad I read this before the secret history, so I can appreciate this book for what it is. I’ve been an emotional wreck every time I chose to pick up this book, and I fear I will be every time I think of it as well. I don’t think I can stand to hear criticism on this book and I wish I could rate it more than 5 stars. From the first page, I could tell it was going to be a book I devoured, and I ranted about it to my mom every time I put the book down. The tension between the characters had me in a choke hold, and I didn’t see the end coming.

James is alive and they lived happily ever after guys, they have to or else I will continue crying for days.

I am ready to show up at the author’s house and demand even just one more page after that cliffhanger? kind of?? This book is one of my favorites and I will cherish it deeply. If you want to read this, I suggest reading this before the secret history if you want to enjoy it for what it is by itself. It hurt but that’s how you seem to know it’s a good book. I suggest you read it if you’re looking for some mentally ill young adults in school trying to choose if they want to kill or kiss each other.

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padawan17's review against another edition

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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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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jasmine8's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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salty_mermaid's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

Something wicked this way comes…

SAVAGE

This the story of 7 devoted theatre students and what happens when the world of Shakespeare gets too real - with devastating consequences.

This so appealed to my thespian soul…This tale tore out my heart and put it through the meat grinder. My eyes were glued to the page and I felt as crazed as Lady Macbeth herself getting through this. I cannot believe Rio doesn’t have any other books. This debut brilliantly wove together the world of theatre into a university setting.

Drama, murder mystery, romance, dark academia, and comedy all in one! How fitting since they solely perform Shakespeare.

By exposing vulnerabilities early on, Rio crafted intricately complex 3D characters. Each one was multi-faceted and layered.

I loved the comparisons between the liberal arts students: language, philosophy, dance, music.

Also I loved how Rio occasionally interspersed script dialogue format between the characters just like in real scripts:

Me: “How has she been looking at me?”
James: “Like she’s a shark and you’re an oblivious fur seal.”
Me: “Why is that the word everyone’s using to describe me lately?”
James: “Who else called you a fur seal?”
Me: “Not that. Never mind.”

I think it definitely helps if you know a little bit about Shakespeare's plays and characters because you can get a better idea of who the actors are by who they are casted as. I was familiar with Midsummer Night's Dream but had to brush up on Macbeth and get acquainted with Julius Caesar.

How could we explain that standing on a stage and speaking someone else’s words as if they are your own is less an act of bravery than a desperate lunge at mutual understanding? An attempt to forge that tenuous link between speaker and listener and communicate something, anything, of substance.

I connected with the actors’ plight. There is a lot of foreshadowing, which added to the excitement. I'll admit I am not one to easily guess a whodunnit and sometimes when it’s obvious to others, I still don’t get it…but maybe I'm getting better...I was able to predict the murderer early on but definitely had my doubts throughout. I’d say it is not easily obvious except for one foreshadowing line that caught my attention. Ah, the mystery. In the end, the Tragic Hero and Villian are not who you thought they’d be.

There are many triggers: death, gore, suicide, domestic violence.

Absolutely loved this. I will be re-reading this when my heart finally heals for sure.

Actors are by nature volatile—alchemic creatures composed of incendiary elements, emotion and ego and envy. Heat them up, stir them together, and sometimes you get gold. Sometimes disaster.

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shay_talksbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious

Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

Read for the cjtalks book club pick for August (although this book has been high on my to read pile for a while!)

Set at a performing arts college, that solely studies and performs Shakespeare's works, we follow a group of drama students as they enter their final year of study. One of the main actors is found dead, and the mystery of how and why is narrated by their fellow actor Oliver (no spoilers, the death is on like page 5 or something)

This was a mystery filled with twists, turns and reveals. It was chocked full of Shakespeare quotes and re-enactments of the plays (my favourite was 'watching' the Macbeth scenes come alive), but I wouldn't say you would have to know his works to enjoy or understand what's happening. The whole book was very dark academia, and filled with tension and atmosphere...and I loved it!!

ML Rio came out swinging with this debut novel, and I can't wait to read what they write next!!

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