Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - A jeśli jesteśmy złoczyńcami

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A jeśli jesteśmy złoczyńcami by M.L. Rio

675 reviews

archiveofrasa's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.5

this is the first book I properly started to tab and analyse and boy it was so fun. I did read this right after The Secret History, but compared to others, I don't think I compared the two beyond the basic skeleton of the premise. they're both pretty different books, one more focused on critique and the other, this one, a much more personal tragedy.

I have to say, the last act, especially the last 50 pages, are definitely what made this book good. It was stuck at a 3.5 or something for me until everything started coming together and the tension got higher. I knew I had to reread it to gather all the foreshadowing and now I have a perfectly annotated copy of If We Were Villains that I'm obsessed with.

I know most people probably didn't do this, but I searched up most of the Shakespeare quotes. while I enjoyed analysing him when I did English Lit, it was very annoying reading these characters go back and forth in Shakespeare and having to google the lines, but there was so much foreshadowing in what they were saying! it's how I was able to guess the murderer pretty early on, but that made me enjoy the story more. this book is so well crafted, the English Lit lover inside me has ever right to be feral at the moment.

it's not a 5 star book because I do have minor critiques; everyone aside Oliver and James weren't fleshed out very well and I find the descriptions of Alexander mildly questionable. I'll get into a

Spoiler

Meredith was properly the most developed out of all the women, but even then I still don't get why people see something in Oliver and her over Oliver and James. it just feels like some people, even though the queer relationship was much more developed, preferred the m/f couple simply because they were m/f. the amount of times Oliver just referred to Meredith by her body, I don't think he'd be able to even tell me what else he liked about her 💀 I wanted more from everyone, including Richard because as soon as he died, we got nothing more from him.

for the characters, but Alexander, the only POC (he's half Latine), was often compared to animals and I just found that weird. just keep this in mind when reading.

I really don't know how to describe this book outside of the story itself. I can't say that this is a story about love or friendship or passion for Shakespeare, acting, school pressure, because it's all of that intertwined in ways I can't word. it feels like a disservice to describe it as any of those without the nuances, but that leads to spoilers 😭

also, if you're like me and are left restless after that ending, I read this fanfic immediately after and it cured me <3 I consider it canon now 🤷🏻‍♀️ https://archiveofourown.org/works/15406506

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skelleybean's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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erinamerritt's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

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mdwsn27's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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lexnicole's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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avciera7's review against another edition

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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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was almost not a five-star read because I could see the whodunnit coming from a mile away and there were parts where the pacing dragged or seemed to skip over things. But man, did it land the ending so hard. I think the "villain" being obvious is part of the tragedy. Does it have the same level of intricacy and mastery as Secret History? No. But I did find more readable and engaging could see myself rereading it sooner. Some characters are more fleshed out than others. This also just brought up so much for me in my own history of studying theatre and all the obsession, turmoil, & interpersonal emotional confusion that that environment causes. It is deeply Shakespearean and the way it weaves the text throughout is masterful. I loved this - there's something enigmatically engaging about it.

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