About These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever – A Dark Story of Obsession, Love, Power, and Violence
These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever is a dark psychological novel about two university students whose intense bond becomes dangerous. Set in Pittsburgh in the early 1970s, the story follows Paul, a shy and grieving young man who feels alone after the death of his father. At university, he meets Julian, a smart, rich, charming student who seems to understand him in a way no one else does. What begins as friendship soon grows into something deeper, more private, and far more destructive.
The book is about love, but not safe love. It is about obsession, control, fear, need, pride, grief, and the wish to be fully understood by another person. Paul wants Julian’s attention so badly that he begins to measure his own value through Julian. Julian, in turn, can be warm one moment and cruel the next. Their bond becomes a world of its own, and the more they close themselves off from other people, the more dangerous that world becomes.
When one friendship becomes your whole world
Paul enters university hoping life will somehow become easier. His father has died, his family does not fully understand him, and he feels unsure of who he is. He is clever and sensitive, but he also feels deeply insecure. He wants someone who can see the parts of him that other people miss.
Then he meets Julian.
Julian is confident, sharp, stylish, and hard to read. Paul sees him as an equal and also as someone he wants to impress. Around Julian, life feels brighter, faster, and more alive. Their talks feel more important than ordinary talk. Their private jokes feel more special than the outside world. Paul begins to believe that Julian may be the only person who truly understands him.
That feeling is powerful, but it is also the start of the danger.
The closer they become, the harder it is for Paul to know where friendship ends and dependence begins. He wants Julian’s approval. Julian learns how much power that approval gives him. Their bond becomes full of tests, hurt, jealousy, control, and fear.
A love story that refuses to feel safe
Readers looking for a simple romance should know that These Violent Delights is not that kind of book. The relationship at its center is queer, intimate, emotional, and deeply unhealthy.
Paul and Julian are drawn to each other because each seems to offer what the other lacks. Paul sees confidence and freedom in Julian. Julian sees devotion and intensity in Paul. Together, they feel separate from the ordinary people around them. They begin to believe that their connection is rare and that normal rules do not fully apply to them.
This is where the novel becomes both beautiful and frightening.
The book asks what happens when love is mixed with control. It asks whether being understood is always good. It asks how far a person may go to keep someone close. It also asks whether two people can make each other worse while still believing they are the only people who truly belong together.
Why readers compare it with dark academia
The university setting, intellectual conversations, ethics class, art, philosophy, and intense young characters give the book a dark academic feel. However, the story is less about school life and more about the minds of Paul and Julian.
The campus gives them a place where they can test ideas, challenge social rules, and build a private world. Their talks about right and wrong are not just school exercises. As the story grows darker, questions about morality begin to connect with real choices.
Readers who enjoy dark academia often like books about clever young people who believe they are different from everyone else. These Violent Delights fits that interest very well. It combines intellectual pride with desire, secrecy, class differences, grief, and danger.
At the same time, the book stays close to character. The real mystery is not a hidden clue. It is the question of how two people can move from intense friendship toward violence.
Paul is not easy to forget
Paul is one of the main reasons the novel feels so personal. He is not written as a simple hero. He can be tender, proud, cruel, frightened, needy, and clever, sometimes within the same scene.
His grief after his father’s death shapes the way he sees himself and his family. He feels apart from the people around him. Julian gives him a new center. That makes the relationship feel like rescue at first.
But when one person becomes your only source of meaning, the relationship can become dangerous.
Paul begins to accept things from Julian that hurt him because losing Julian seems worse. He also develops his own ways of controlling the bond. The result is not a simple story where one person is good and the other is bad. Both young men feed the obsession in different ways.
Julian is charming because he is hard to hold
Julian has the kind of confidence Paul wishes he had. He can be funny, clever, generous, and exciting. He can also become cold, cruel, and unpredictable.
That change keeps Paul off balance.
When Julian is warm, Paul feels chosen. When Julian pulls away, Paul feels desperate. This creates a cycle that becomes stronger as the novel continues. Paul wants to prove that he deserves Julian. Julian seems to enjoy being difficult to fully understand.
Readers who like complex, morally gray characters may find Julian fascinating because his charm and cruelty exist together. He is not simply a villain standing outside the relationship. He is part of a bond that both characters build, damage, and protect.
A thriller where the danger comes from inside
These Violent Delights has crime and violence, but its strongest suspense comes from emotion. The reader can feel that Paul and Julian are moving toward something terrible long before the final consequences arrive.
That knowledge creates tension.
You watch small choices become larger ones. You see private jokes become darker ideas. You see love become possession. You see fear turn into action.
The novel does not need constant action to create pressure. Much of the danger comes from conversation, silence, jealousy, and the way the characters think about each other.
This makes the book a strong choice for readers who enjoy psychological suspense more than simple action thrillers.
Who should read These Violent Delights?
This novel is best for adult readers who enjoy psychological fiction, LGBTQ+ fiction, dark academia, historical fiction, literary thrillers, and stories about obsession.
It may especially suit readers who like morally gray characters and relationships that are intense rather than healthy. It can also appeal to readers who enjoy slow emotional tension, elegant writing, and stories where character psychology matters more than fast action.
The book includes mature themes such as grief, emotional abuse, manipulation, violence, murder, homophobia, antisemitism, and unhealthy dependence. Readers who prefer light romance or gentle coming-of-age stories should know that this is a much darker experience.
For book clubs, the novel can create strong discussion around love, power, morality, class, identity, grief, and personal responsibility.
A premium copy made for long reading
Bookish Wonderland offers a premium printed copy for readers who want the physical book to feel good in the hand and stay useful over time.
-
Premium eye-soothing cream paper gives the pages a softer look and helps make long reading sessions more comfortable.
-
Crystal-clear print keeps every line sharp and easy to follow.
-
High-quality stitched and glue binding gives the book extra strength for repeated reading.
-
Durable construction makes it suitable for personal collections, rereading, lending, and shelf storage.
-
Nationwide delivery is available across Bangladesh.
-
Cash on Delivery is available across the country.
-
Delivery is available inside and outside Dhaka.
-
Fast or urgent delivery may be requested in Dhaka when available.
These features are especially useful for a long, immersive novel that many readers may want to spend several evenings with.
These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever price in Bangladesh
If you are checking the Book price in Bangladesh for These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever, Bookish Wonderland gives you a simple, easy way to order a premium printed copy without visiting many stores.
Customers can order from Dhaka or anywhere else in the country. Cash on Delivery makes payment simple, while nationwide delivery helps readers outside the capital get access to English fiction.
For readers in Dhaka, fast or urgent delivery may also be available when you want the book sooner.
Price matters, but so does the reading experience. A clear print, comfortable page color, and strong binding can make a big difference in a long novel. Bookish Wonderland brings those features together in one copy made for readers who want both story and physical quality.
Best Sellers Rank of This Book
-
#148,119 in Books
-
#19 in LGBTQ+ Thrillers
-
#38 in LGBTQ+ Historical Fiction (Books)
-
#42 in LGBTQ+ Coming of Age Fiction (Books)
For readers who want more than a simple romance
The attraction between Paul and Julian is central, but the novel is not built to make their relationship look healthy or easy. Their closeness can feel beautiful because they understand each other so deeply. It can also feel frightening because they begin to need that understanding too much.
This makes the book different from a normal love story.
It is about what happens when two people build their own world and slowly stop caring about the rules outside it. Their shared intelligence makes them feel special. Their pain makes them cling harder. Their pride makes it difficult to admit when something is wrong.
The result is intimate, tense, and often uncomfortable in the best way for readers who enjoy psychological fiction.
A strong choice for dark fiction lovers
If you enjoy books where atmosphere and character matter as much as plot, this one deserves attention. The 1970s Pittsburgh setting gives the story distance from modern life, while the themes still feel easy to understand today.
Grief can make people lonely. Loneliness can make attention feel powerful. Love can make people afraid of losing what they have. Fear can make people do things they once thought impossible.
Nemerever takes those simple human feelings and pushes them toward a dark end.
That is why the story can work for readers of literary fiction as well as thriller fans. It has crime, but it also spends time asking why the crime becomes possible.
Bring this dark obsession to your shelf
Order These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever from Bookish Wonderland if you want a novel that is beautiful, disturbing, romantic, cruel, and difficult to forget.
For readers comparing Book price in Bangladesh, this title offers more than a dark plot. It gives you a long psychological journey into two young minds that become increasingly closed around each other.
Bookish Wonderland makes it easy to bring that journey home with nationwide delivery and Cash on Delivery. Add your copy to the shelf, open the first page, and enter a friendship that starts with recognition, grows into obsession, and ends by asking how far two people will go to stay together.
If you require any customization or have any questions, please inbox us via FB or Insta.
| Primary Specification | |
| Author | Micah Nemerever |
| Narrator | Michael Crouch |
| Genre | Psychological Thriller, LGBTQ+ Fiction, Historical Fiction, Coming-of-Age, Literary Fiction |
| ISBN-13/ISSN | 978-0062963642 |
| ISBN-10 | 0062963643 |
| Publisher | Harper Perennial |
| Publishing Date | September 14, 2021 |
| Language | English |
| Reading Age | 18+ years |
| Format | Printed book |
| Physical Specification & Quality | |
| Paper Quality | Premium eye-soothing cream paper |
| Binding Quality | High quality stitched and glue binding (for longevity) |
| Print Quality | Crystal-clear print |
| Pages | 480 pages |
| Country | USA |
| Logistics Information | |
| Weight | 487g |
| Length | 8.5 inch |
| Width | 5.6 inch |
| Height | 1.08 inch |
