Reviews

If We Were Villains. Wenn aus Freunden Feinde werden by M.L. Rio

booksbethanysreading's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

caitevans7's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

whiterubys's review against another edition

5.0

“You can justify anything if you do it poetically enough.”

My favorite types of books are those that enrapture me so deeply that I am deaf to everything around me until I reach the last page, and I am thrilled to report this falls under that category.

If We Were Villains follows a group of seven extraordinarily talented Shakespearean actors, in their last year of university. The story is narrated by Oliver, perhaps the most unremarkable one of the group if you asked him. Tensions come to a rise throughout the group, and when one of the actors mysteriously dies, it is up to them to reassemble the pieces, or possibly become shattered all over again.

This book is a work of pure genius. Every single page has a purpose, and Rio does not waste a word on anything capricious. Admittedly, I figured out the murder mystery very early on, but that did not take away from the book in the slightest. I could sit down for hours and talk about Oliver as a narrator as well as the ending of the story (if anyone is free for coffee, seriously, tell me). I could ramble on for ages about the absolute brilliance of this book, and if you get any opportunity to pick it up, do it, and if you don't have an opportunity, make one.

charlotte_alt's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

dakota0509's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

bookgirl1861's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

bruhcheesee's review against another edition

fast-paced

2.0

yawn. empty characters, no emotions, tensions rise and fall in passing with seemingly no effect on anyone, weird character motivations, extremely obvious foreshadowing, overuse of the word spliff.

this book suffers from a kind of genre-costuming. author clearly dearly loves all the things that entail "dark academia", but comes from a world of hindsight that understands it only as a disected collection of bulletpoints to use to move shit along and be "aesthetically pleasing".

also suffers from a severe case of telling-and-not-showing: instead of getting the time to understand everyone's personalities, the author quite literally lists one-by-one what everyone's weaknesses and strengths are (like literally, actually, the author writes down word for word in succession how to understand these characters in the first act); devolves them into charicatures (merideth boobed boobily, alexander smoked a spliff and is a druggy, promiscious gay guy who will fuck anybody, etc, all stereotypes); and tells us how

homoerotic and insane the tension and chemistry is between oliver and james is

when we literally have seen zero interactions that communicate this.

like i couldnt really even fill in the top brackets where it asks if the characters are lovable, if the book is character driven or if there's character development in the first place, cause i can't tell. they seem literally as empty as they started, like when you used to play with dolls or whatever and you would make telenovela shit happen to them. the characters are just the plastic vehicle with which a story trying to be devestating and shocking is told.

in conclusion: yawn.

addieisreading's review against another edition

5.0

“Actors are by nature volatile—alchemical creatures composed of incendiary elements, emotion and ego and envy. Heat them up, stir them together, and sometimes you get gold. Sometimes disaster.”

Oliver Marks has been arrested for a crime he may (or may not) have committed.

The unexpected part of the story is that the detective in charge of the case knew of that possibility, but he couldn't prove it due to the lack of clues and proof to stand by his theory. After 10 years in prison, Oliver is finally inclined to tell him the whole story—as far as he takes the secret to his grave.

Some people might consider If We Were Villains a copy of The Secret Story for having this group of students in an elite environment, irresponsible adults, naive young people obsessed with literature and classics, characters flirting with queer agenda while trying to discover their own identity, a poor lad in the middle of rich people and the death of a member of this selected group of people who were, apparently, friends. This paragraph basically sums up most of dark academia aesthetic boards on Pinterest, to be honest.

I haven't finished TSH (yet) but as far as I could see, those books are not the same. M. L. Rio is more open with what she wants to say and criticize in the academic aesthetic and elite areas than Donna and the rich people aren't superficial enough to disdain others for not having material things (however, they're superficial enough to judge people based on their Shakespeare knowledge LOL). I'd fully recommend if you're into thriller, a bit of drama and gossip (maybe some gay people denying they're gay while obviously being gay but totally not gay) and philosophic thoughts on obsession, found family, caring for your friends more than then the ones related to you by blood, and people who would do anything to keep their loved ones out of trouble.

Anything. For real.

moons_123's review against another edition

emotional tense

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

4.5

ana_deskin's review against another edition

4.0

I just finished this book a couple minutes ago and I really don't know what to say not which rating to give it. In this moment, I am but speechless.