mags’s Reviews > These Violent Delights > Status Update

okay at a new place (part 3), and i’m in some ways relieved that julian got away from his family, but i know for a fact there’s either a betrayal waiting, or worse — a loss. the whole “we can’t be together unless something catastrophic happens” idea is continuing to keep my nerves frayed while reading. truly an embodiment of “one step forward, three steps back.”

i’m genuinely at a loss.. paul is insane but julian was dead wrong for not telling paul what he was walking into.. somehow i am like “it can’t get worse…” but i know it absolutely will

in an impasse.. i genuinely (at the moment, subject to change) feel for julian, because though his own stuff is yet to be revealed, i feel like he fakes his arrogance because he truly wants to connect with paul.. and paul.. well. he’s a mess!

i’m actually at a loss.. the forest scene.. i need a psychologist to read it and get back to me on what the hell actually is going on between them and their psyches because …???!!!

okay at the point where the souls are first separated…. this must’ve been the same tension and anxiety people felt before ww2 was declared idk

in my re-read, i’m realizing how somewhat sweet (in his own odd way) julian is to paul during his moments of need.. but just like always when reading this book i can’t ever relax into their romance because it’s too on edge

beginning chapter six… so far i’ve accumulated and notated all the small moments in which paul is building this animosity & reverence towards julian, which would seem like they would clash… but they intertwine in a twisted way honestly. this book is the ultimate “waiting for the other shoe to drop” sort of plot pacing.

finished the second chapter… some key notations i found myself catching would be the pinpoints dropped here and there throughout the story about horror vs fascination, and how intrinsic these can be to each other. their dynamic is starting out soft, and it’s written in a way that doesn’t quite expose the nastiness.. just yet. 🗝️

re-reading this after more than two years.. got through the prologue & first chapter and i am once again struck by the prose and selective foreshadowing of the plot. i don’t fully remember what happened, so i’m eager to get the opportunity to experience this book again, since it went down as one of my all time favorites! 🗝️

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