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The difference between my feelings towards "If We Were Villains" and "The Secret History" is completely opposite
When I read "If We Were Villains" I cry at how tragic the story is and when I read "The Secret History" I scream:
WHAT THE FUCK RICHARD, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY REDISTRIBUTION OF MATTER, HENRY?
WHAT IS CHARLES DOING SLEEPING IN A FUCKING SNAIL?
COCAINE IN PARKING LOT OF BURGER KING? EXCUSE ME WHAT?
The tragedy of TSH is the characters, I find IWWV more compelling in that department since the characters are more likeable. But the story and writing of TSH is so good! Both have their different charms and I appreciate both of them.
Ps: I think Oscar Wilde would have enjoyed both immensely if he could have read them.
Every scene between James and Oliver is either romantic or angsty (sometimes both). It makes me feel butterflies and wanting to rip my eyes out at the same time.
Idc what happened in the end, James and Oliver lived happily ever after in their cottagecore home with their books and cats.
(I am delusional for them)
Oliver: there's someone I like, since years and I finally want to confess....
James: I love you too
Oliver: what?
James: you said you were confessing
Oliver: I was talking about confessing to Meredith
James: oh...okay *stares at Meredith* I hate you sooooo much, bitch.
I always found that scene hilarious where James comes in middle of the night to Oliver's house to stay for vacation and they decide to share a bed (not sus at all) and in the morning Oliver's sisters are making fun of him when they found the boys sleeping together by asking, "Who's your boyfriend Oliver?" and Oliver is pissed off and embarssed by that but James does not give a fuck about being called Oliver's boyfriend and just says "I'm James. Lovely to meet you both" as if actually addressing himself as Oliver's boyfriend.
James giving Oliver a "not so brotherly kiss": YES GO!!!!! I AM SO HAPPY! FINALLY! MY SHIP HAS SAILED!
Charles giving Camilla a "not so brotherly kiss": ........WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BOOK
You know you are invested in a book when you feel jealousy with the main character, when you have a breakdown when they do, when you get anxious when they are, when you feel the love for their love interest as much as they do, when you cry for them and smile with them and then the book ends and you feel an empty void as if life had stopped.
Reading IWWV was such a journey. While I did enjoy TSH, it never broke me like IWWV did. The book is shorter than TSH but has more impact than the prior. The style, the writing, the characters and the story is so vastly different yet same as TSH. The thing about it is, I can read TSH as many times as I want, get new theories and discover more details. But I couldn't read IWWV even ounce after the first read, because all I could feel was pain.
I quit reading If We Were Villians when I thought James and Oliver are doomed to not be together. I have tried to complete the last few pages but I can't. I had never rooted for a couple more than I did for them. I even got jealous with them when they were both with different people. I have spoiled as well as guessed what happens in the end (the Shakespeare format spolied more than it should have) and I don't think I could EVER finish the book. Few books break my heart, but this one surely did.