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Sydney

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Sydney is Currently Reading

Sydney is currently reading

Katabasis

by R.F. Kuang (Goodreads Author)

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Jan 08, 2026 02:43PM

Sydney is currently reading

The Blighted Stars (The Devoured Worlds, #1)

by Megan E. O'Keefe (Goodreads Author)

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Dec 12, 2025 04:04PM

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These Violent Delights

by Micah Nemerever (Goodreads Author)

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Reading for the 2nd time

read in April 2025

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Sydney said: " I did not want to finish this book, not because I didn't like it but because I didn't want it to end. I reread passages, I took pauses that were as long as I could bear, I read SO SLOWLY. Also bonus points for the audiobook being performed by Michael I did not want to finish this book, not because I didn't like it but because I didn't want it to end. I reread passages, I took pauses that were as long as I could bear, I read SO SLOWLY. Also bonus points for the audiobook being performed by Michael Crouch because I love his narration and he did Don't Let The Forest In's audiobook (if you liked this book that one has some similar themes.)

Paul and Julian's characters. Their dynamic. They surprised me over and over again in ways that made perfect sense.

The author's note at the end really captured what I saw in their relationship, "The most prevailing concern of These Violent Delights, of course, is the kind of toxic and identity-consuming romantic friendship that many queer people experience in their teens. While obsessive love is clearly not bound by gender or orientation, there is, I think, a dialectic of both wanting and wanting to be that is specific to same-gender relationships of this kind."Nemerever, Micah. These Violent Delights: A Novel (p. 462). (Function). Kindle Edition. (Also side note: the phrase "a dialectic of both wanting and wanting to be" goes hard.)

I loved their relationship, not because it was a 'good' relationship, but because it was a raw example of the intense, naïve queer relationship where feelings of jealously and self-loathing are inextricably intertwined with love and desire (and I think this is a bit different from most examples I've seen of this because neither of the characters are in denial about their sexuality which is usually A Thing). Nemerever does a great job of displaying how they try to emulate the other both because they think the other is better than himself and because they think they will be more desirable to the other that way. Many times the revulsion they feel towards the other's behavior and actions are really born of self-hatred. Being cruel to one another is both a way to hurt themselves and a way to protect themselves from the pain that being truly vulnerable with each other might bring.

I usually love a dual perspective, especially when its between characters who influence each other as much as these two did, but I was very happy with this book being solely Paul's POV. (view spoiler)

I can only imagine how devastating it would be to read this from Julian's POV after having gotten the whole story from Paul's. (view spoiler)

The ending of this was almost abrupt but also really impacted me (view spoiler)

If you were taking a shot for every time I used the word 'especially' in this review you should be at 5 shots. You're welcome. I also just realized I have 94 highlights from this book, I am so not normal about it holy shit. ...more "

Apr 21, 2025 05:49PM · see review