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zeitfensterr's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Eating disorder
iane_reads's review against another edition
- 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
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
scottsland_yard's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
SPOILER AHEAD!!
The ending really upset me and I don't think in the way the author intended. While it was very poetic and intense, creating a huge tension that just ramped up and up toward the last page, I feel like the ending didn't justify the means. While ostensibly a story about murder and passion and rage, it was also obviously a story about love and self discovery. I think having the main character be bi-sexual and technically in a relationship with both Meredith and James (in a way) was really smart story telling to showcase the difficulty he feels in trying to figure out who he is, not only as an actor, but as a lover. What I didn't appreciate (and it's not really Rio's fault so much as it's a tired and hurtful trope shares by many authors) is that the majority of stories that feature a gay couple require that they go through torturous and heart-wrenching levels of trauma in order to move the story along. As a gay man, reading the tension between Oliver and James over and over with little to now pay off didn't feel exciting, it felt like torture. I was being led along like a horse with a carrot, the promise of the possibility of Oliver and James professing their feelings for each other or ending up together, only to constantly be whipped with sex scenes with Meredith and violence with Richard. In the end, when you think Oliver might finally get yo be happy with James, we're slapped in the face with the blunt honesty of Phillipa letting us know that James killed himself after not being able to bare the weight of the guilt of killing Richard (in self defense, btw) and his lover taking the blame for it. So Oliver once again ends up with Meredith and I was left furious. And the last page does little to bandage those wounds.
I was left feeling empty, tense beyond belief, and with a heavy pit in my stomach. While the story was very good and the book was extremely well written, I am sick of this trope. I'm sick of gay characters being used as the martyrs in stories or being included only to drive the trauma train. (OH, also include the only canonically gay character overdosing and almost dying too)
I yearn for stories of gay couples/characters that include all the tense will-they-won't-they that straight romances have, but for once, I'd like them to actually end up together. I've learned this is not the book for that.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
icedpinecones's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
vinciiaane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Oh my days that was shocking. I needed to take a good moment to breath before reading the rest of the book because the things that happened in there were just so unexpected and astonishing. Read it.
Richard is a bastard. Period. He deserved it and he pushed James to do it sooooo it’s definitely Richard’s fault and only his.
Meredith slapping Oliver at the end was kinda funny but unexpected but funny.
I love Oliver he was too good for that friend group. He deserved James at the end; he deserved to live happily with him but his death just broke me. After the ten years he spent in jail he could have rested, finally, but it was just taken from him.
Everything that happened to James was not his fault at all. He was responsible for nothing and paid one of the highest price of them all. I love James so much, he deserved so much more.
The end though ?? Is he really alive or am I just too dumb to understand it ??
This book made me laugh, got me shocked and made me nearly cry. I love it.
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol
li_reading's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Eating disorder, Racism, and Rape
jacobandthefrogs's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Theatre troupe of 7 turns to a shatter 6 when one of them is dead after the opening night of their first show of the year.
The characters in this book took me as a reader by storm, with terrible decisions but realistic voices. If someone spoke to me any of their dialogue in real life I would tinge on the feeling of unsafeness and insanity around them, because their voices are dipped and coated in that old English of Shakespeare in at least 25% of their words on paper. I knew this book would highlight many of Shakespeare’s plays given the synopsis but the depth and thought given to how they are interpreted really adds a much deeper level to how I appreciated the novel.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Biphobia and Homophobia
bethsbookshelf's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
The writing is absolutely magnificent. I was swooning, laughing and screaming all throughout this book. There are so many beautiful quotes, such rich and lovely descriptions, fantastic and funny dialogue, and a brilliant structure (split into 5 acts and multiple scenes). At first I was comparing this book to The Secret History (which I hated) but it's actually nothing like it. This book is written in a much more accessible way; the characters are a bit more relatable; and you don't feel like an idiot if you don't understand the references. Plus, the plot is a little bit more exciting.
The world building was great, too. I loved the setting of Dellecher, the competitiveness of it, the grandness of the castle, the mystery of the lake, and of course, the dark academia vibes. It was such an immersive book and I really did feel like I was there!
I actually loved the characters a lot, too. A few reviews I saw criticised the characters and said they were hard to distinguish between and boring. They quoted a lot. But I liked it. I liked that they had this role within their troupe that was reflected both on stage and off. I would have liked to see a lot more of them acting offstage and how they lied to each other about stuff, but I did really like them and found them all interesting which is a lot to say when there are basically seven main characters!
But let's get into the stuff I didn't like so much.
First, I did enjoy certain plot points in this book, particularly the main plot points. However, it felt like there were SO MANY filler scenes where nothing happened!! I always felt like I was waiting 50-60 pages for the NEXT plot point to happen. There was a lot of "I'll tell you later" from characters and the author, and then the reader was put through another few scenes of the students acting or being elusive, which I didn't really enjoy. It sort of felt like there were 10 cliffhangers throughout the book and by the time the next big event happened, you'd already forgotten about the last cliffhanger.
Which sort of leaders into my issue with pace. The pacing of this was all over the place. I could sit down and sometimes read 60-70 pages and not even have noticed; other times I struggled to read even 10 pages. It was a weird one in that regard. I sometimes felt the author repeated a lot of the same scenes when I'd have liked to see more action/plot moving forward. I would have loved more scenes with Oliver's family, him and James, and James and Meridith. But instead, we just got lots of tea drinking scenes and boring auditons.
Another issue I had was how the characters reacted to the mental health aspects. There is a lot of PTSD, trauma and eating disorder references throughout and it's never really dealt with sensitively. I thought it could have been, while also making sure that these aspects furthered the plot or muddied the investigation.
Speaking of the investigation, and the cops randomly showing up, I didn't feel that was fleshed out that much. I don't know. I just expected a little bit more originality and suspense with the last quarter of the book as everything was revealed.
That being said, I did enjoy the last few pages after Oliver got out of jail. There are some really good theories about the Pericles references which, DUDE, I'm shook. The author really went for it with those references!
This would be such a fun book to analyse and close read in a literature degree! But overall, I did enjoy my reading experience and definitely recommend this book. I can see why people love it, but I can also see why people hate it lol.
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
li_reading's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Minor: Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment