Reviews

If We Were Villains, by M.L. Rio

karleeduehn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

lechalm's review against another edition

4.0

If you enjoy Shakespeare and/or the theater plus a little murder mystery, this book is for you. I was the only one of my 5 friends in book club that REALLY enjoyed this book. Some liked it, but glossed over the Shakespeare quotes. Some were very meh about it. I personally loved the Shakespeare references. A few times, I looked up the different plays and characters mentioned to get a feeling for the internal struggle the specific character in the book was feeling.

I wouldn't say I'm an expert on Shakespeare, but I do enjoy his plays. However, not having read them all, I didn't know all the characters that were referenced. For those who don't know Shakespeare as well, googling some of the general plots or characters may be helpful.

Can you enjoy this book without knowledge of Shakespeare tragedies? Yes, but not as fully. Knowing some basics of a few (Caesar, Macbeth, King Lear, Hamlet) will give you a better understanding of the plot and character development.

thunderdome's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

shelvesofsamantha's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

kzarz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

katydid8811's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

zoewillott's review against another edition

idk i read the secret history right before this and this just read like euphoria to me lol

etak_c's review

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

ducky's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

bonjourkatie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75