Scan barcode
A review by xengisa
These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever
2.0
gave it 2 stars because i don't think i enjoyed it. it's a good concept, needed a lot of trimming (yes, i get he's smart, but god) and the pace wasn't for me.
as a heads up i am writing this ramble with a lot of feelings.
that gordon ramsay meme comes to mind, where to julian (and audrey (queen.), and sullivan, and when paul's mom FINALLY did something) i'm like oh dear. oh dear. gorgeous. and to paul: you fucking donkey.
i thought it was a good concept. the prose is pretentious but it's because we're seeing paul's perspective, and aside from being pretentious imo he is also a narcissist, manipulative, impulsive, etc. yeah, i found him insufferable for the whole book, but i thought that his and julian's relationship was unfortunately very believable. while reading this made me rather sick, and i more or less predicted the plot twists (perhaps i am sick too) they were really. real and i mean, i was able to finish the book, and it's no lean book. it could have used a good trimming, though. the writing was wonderful at the beginning but it got repetitive over time.
excerpt from my notes:
paul: “it isn’t anything anyone else would understand”
audrey: “well, i’m sure you’re right. i’m sure no one else in all of human history could ever—”
AUDREY YOU ARE SO RIGHT
like i said, it's written from paul's perspective, even if it's first person, and even if we do get charlie's pov from the prologue (and a bit more). or at least i read it that way, so statements like "he wanted paul but didn't need him" are impositions from paul, rather than a solid truth from julian. things like "she never really saw the real him" are just perceptions on his part. we don't get the full picture, but even through those coloured lenses i felt for julian (and to some extent paul, but mostly it was exasperation) who was so broken, i think, that he, for fear of abandonment, poured to the point of emptiness his love into someone who could only love himself. paul kept demanding proof that julian loved him and well that's how all nonsense starts, and he's right that he only needs and needs and needs but self awareness is only the first step there are more to take <3
julian was so right whenever he called paul out. annotating "exactly bro" and "right" whenever julian pointed out that paul was sulking AGAIN or "being boring" or "is it because you want to feel superior, or do you just want something new to accuse me of when i'm not paying enough attention to you?". i will admit that some of paul's callouts were true too. it's just that i'm biased.
there were some cool things, for example the chess game julian brings up early in the book. there's something like a ruthless sacrifice of the queen piece, which locks the opponent into losing no matter how they play. julian keeps trying to figure where the things started falling apart, and at the very end of the book it's revealed that he believes that the starting move was where it all went wrong, in a way to sort of parallel their relationship. honestly i'm just glad julian got out of there though i don't think he'll ever be happy. i agree with mrs fromme though. the cliff's recurrence was cool too. the only issue with these two was that i could predict what was coming? i thought it was funny how paul spends half his time condemning moral laziness yet confesses he wants julian to essentially play that role of giving him orders and him just accepting it.
even though most of my annotations are from frustration i still think this book is quite something, especially since i have finished it in spite of my burgeoning frustration. i don't rate books in general but this would be tough to rate; i thought paul was a good protagonist choice but i wanted to shake him very. very hard as if to launch a soda bottle paul to mars. he's terribly unlikeable; i can't think of anyone off the top of my head that i'm more aversive to. but he's very real, and i think that's a feat from the author.
as a heads up i am writing this ramble with a lot of feelings.
that gordon ramsay meme comes to mind, where to julian (and audrey (queen.), and sullivan, and when paul's mom FINALLY did something) i'm like oh dear. oh dear. gorgeous. and to paul: you fucking donkey.
i thought it was a good concept. the prose is pretentious but it's because we're seeing paul's perspective, and aside from being pretentious imo he is also a narcissist, manipulative, impulsive, etc. yeah, i found him insufferable for the whole book, but i thought that his and julian's relationship was unfortunately very believable. while reading this made me rather sick, and i more or less predicted the plot twists (perhaps i am sick too) they were really. real and i mean, i was able to finish the book, and it's no lean book. it could have used a good trimming, though. the writing was wonderful at the beginning but it got repetitive over time.
excerpt from my notes:
paul: “it isn’t anything anyone else would understand”
audrey: “well, i’m sure you’re right. i’m sure no one else in all of human history could ever—”
AUDREY YOU ARE SO RIGHT
like i said, it's written from paul's perspective, even if it's first person, and even if we do get charlie's pov from the prologue (and a bit more). or at least i read it that way, so statements like "he wanted paul but didn't need him" are impositions from paul, rather than a solid truth from julian. things like "she never really saw the real him" are just perceptions on his part. we don't get the full picture, but even through those coloured lenses i felt for julian (and to some extent paul, but mostly it was exasperation) who was so broken, i think, that he, for fear of abandonment, poured to the point of emptiness his love into someone who could only love himself. paul kept demanding proof that julian loved him and well that's how all nonsense starts, and he's right that he only needs and needs and needs but self awareness is only the first step there are more to take <3
julian was so right whenever he called paul out. annotating "exactly bro" and "right" whenever julian pointed out that paul was sulking AGAIN or "being boring" or "is it because you want to feel superior, or do you just want something new to accuse me of when i'm not paying enough attention to you?". i will admit that some of paul's callouts were true too. it's just that i'm biased.
there were some cool things, for example the chess game julian brings up early in the book. there's something like a ruthless sacrifice of the queen piece, which locks the opponent into losing no matter how they play. julian keeps trying to figure where the things started falling apart, and at the very end of the book it's revealed that he believes that the starting move was where it all went wrong, in a way to sort of parallel their relationship. honestly i'm just glad julian got out of there though i don't think he'll ever be happy. i agree with mrs fromme though. the cliff's recurrence was cool too. the only issue with these two was that i could predict what was coming? i thought it was funny how paul spends half his time condemning moral laziness yet confesses he wants julian to essentially play that role of giving him orders and him just accepting it.
even though most of my annotations are from frustration i still think this book is quite something, especially since i have finished it in spite of my burgeoning frustration. i don't rate books in general but this would be tough to rate; i thought paul was a good protagonist choice but i wanted to shake him very. very hard as if to launch a soda bottle paul to mars. he's terribly unlikeable; i can't think of anyone off the top of my head that i'm more aversive to. but he's very real, and i think that's a feat from the author.