Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

17 reviews

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

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.75

This book is exactly what it says on the tin, for good and for bad. After a somewhat slow climb, it gets exponentially more engaging in its back half, but it never quite feels like the throes of its passion are earned. It does get close at the end there, though. The biggest hurdle I encountered as a reader in 2024 is that the particular white wealthy 2017-flavor of pretentiousness of the characters leads to some… ickiness. Read the content warnings, I beg.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder

Minor: Transphobia

adyn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This book is like if the breakfast club was made up of a bunch of pretentious (but loveable) Shakespearean theater nerds and also it was a murder mystery. 

Vibes were exquisite, made me want to read shakespeare, loved the characters, plot made sense without being predictable. The pacing was also great, I think this would be a good book to get out of a reading slump. Only reason it’s not 5 stars is bc I’m stingy with 5 stars and it didn’t have a deep personal impact on me lol

The ending

was a bit confusing, but it’s kind of impressive if a book can make me do research on Shakespearean plays after I finish it, right?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Transphobia

bookishenby's review against another edition

2.5

the homophobic and transphobic comments ruined an otherwise ok book for me. there weren’t a lot of those specific comments, but for a book released in 2017 it was disappointing, even if it was set in the late 90’s. along with some other poor choices in writing (a Romani slur, and some unfortunate comments about eating disorders, to mention a couple) this just ended up being very disappointing after hearing so many people rave about it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Transphobia, and Violence

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Racial slurs and Transphobia

mar's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

jesus christ. fucking theatre kids, man

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Blood

Minor: Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, and Transphobia

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense

2.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

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

charlotteregan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

GOOD. GRACIOUS.

Everything about this book was so poetic.

“Well, that’s misleading. Shakespeare is real, but his characters live in a world of real extremes. They swing from ecstasy to anguish, love to hate, wonder to terror. It’s not melodrama, though, they’re not exaggerating. Every moment is crucial.”

I AM TERRIFIED, AMAZED, AMUSED, CONFUSED, AND BAFFLED.

I am not supposed to be over-analyzing a book but WHAT THE FUCK.

I have not read any of Shakespeare’s works but this book was soooo GRIPPING. I WANT IT SHOVED DOWN MY THROAT AS HARD AS POSSIBLE. PLEASE.

The jealousy, the assholes, the cruel ending, the murder, the characters GOODNESS EVERYTHING MADE ME WANNA THROW MYSELF.  

“You can justify anything if you do it poetically enough.”

YES ! YES ! YES !

5 STARS.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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Content Warnings

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

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

milkyboos's review against another edition

dark 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Murder

Minor: Transphobia