Reviews with content warning for Vomit - If We Were Villains

Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

240 reviews

mikathereviewer's review against another edition

2.0

First of all we have plays, mention of poetry and of course acting.
Personally, the touch of a play while reading was really cool. We get dialogue only, acts and more. The last play I read was really fun so seeing one now again makes me remember that I didn't read them in a while.
The acting was relatable as I am or rather was an actor myself. That's also the reason I wanted to read this book. Not 'cause of the Shakespeare and other historical stuff but the acting.

Some parts were actually crazy/interesting to read about as the book didn't really had the 'it was boring/too slow' problem.
Some examples:
Scene I Act IX was so crazy. Like it felt like real betrayal but also not. And what did James even imagine? What was that aaaah.
The II. Act was so sad. Especially scene II, I feel so bad for James.

I also think that Oliver has some character depth (Especially in the III. Act as we get to know his family)

The whole drama was the only reason I was still indulged into reading this. It kept me reading.

Since I didn't read the book for the historical stuff I got a bit irriated by the fact that Shakespeare got mentioned often. And with often I mean very often. I get it that's the theme/topic for Year 4 and our protagonists also play historical figures, but honestly it could have been mentioned a bit less and more story instead. It got too much that I, at some point, skipped the Shakespeare parts.
Also the book isn't very original if over 50% of it is just Shakespeare.

Never have I ever as an actor reinterpreted/recited my lines as first of all no one would understand, except me and secondly that's usually a thing poets do and not actors. The kids in this story did this and it made me feel weird. Just use your official lines and learn them properly.

The characters were so weird sometimes and before someone tells me: Some theatre kids are actually weird. Yes SOME and that's no excuse to include only weird characters.

We never got an explanation why Richard was so mad at some point. Never. Why was he? That apparently didn't happen the years before so that must have triggered something, but we never get any explanation. The other character also have no depth and they all fell flat (except Oliver, as mentioned above)

Meredith was such a useless character who was only depictured as a wh0re the whole time.

They did use for real, without jokes, as sexual orientation 'sexually amphibious'

The ending was so predictable. It was right the person you would feel suspicious at first. The ending is nothing shocking.

31. July 2024

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hdkroon's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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catnapping's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

ketsia_1412's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative 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

4.0

Content Warnings

madalina0_0's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

Content Warnings

kend7aaa's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

eleasofia's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad

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

5.0

i absolutely loved this book.

regarding the plot, i liked that you can figure out what's going on from the clues that are dropped, but you're not 100% sure until the truth is revealed, so it is exciting, but you can also feel clever about having it figured out in the end. it offered the right amount of surprise and suspense for me personally. i thought it was very well-paced and i loved the structure, the book being devided into acts.

also, having a narrator that sees and describes themselves as very "plain" and then slowly finding out how much there is to them is always exciting. i liked oliver as the narrator/ the way the book is written because he is very descriptive and detailed, a great mix between facts, feelings, thoughts, descriptions, and dialogue. i liked how the other characters and their relationships were portrayed and described from his perspective. the story is very tightly connected to how the relationships and characters themselves develop and everything felt very natural. besides oliver, i really liked meredith and james.

i enjoyed the writing a lot. it was easy to read and very clear. i'm not a big Shakespeare lover, but with my basic knowledge i definitely understood enough to enjoy the dialogue and the scenes where they were acting. i'm sure i missed out on a ton of clever symbolism and hints and clues and whatever. i will most definitely re-read this book one day, and i might brush up on my Shakespeare knowledge before that. i think it might make it even more enjoyable.

i was hooked from the first page, and by the end of the book i was crying my eyes out. what more could i wish for? i will definitely be thinking of this for some time.

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