Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - If We Were Villains

Reading this book traps you in a spiral, coiling tighter and tighter until its inevitable end. The tension builds and builds and builds and builds and snaps in the most gloriously messy Shakespearean way. I actually wish I knew more about Shakespeare after reading this book. I feel like I missed references. Not just in the direct quotes, but in the roles the characters play, in the narrative structure, in relationships, in the ending. I suspect this book, as good as it is as a first read, will fare better for me as a reread.

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adyn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is like if the breakfast club was made up of a bunch of pretentious (but loveable) Shakespearean theater nerds and also it was a murder mystery.

Vibes were exquisite, made me want to read shakespeare, loved the characters, plot made sense without being predictable. The pacing was also great, I think this would be a good book to get out of a reading slump. Only reason it’s not 5 stars is bc I’m stingy with 5 stars and it didn’t have a deep personal impact on me lol

The ending

was a bit confusing, but it’s kind of impressive if a book can make me do research on Shakespearean plays after I finish it, right?

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thequiltyreader's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

Compelling story and characters. I found the writing style a little verbose at times and must admit to skimming the Shakespeare quotes a few times which is the only reason it's been knocked down on review.

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alaskanfae's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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carefulfearanddeaddevotion's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

These little assholes were sooo annoying omg. God, I get you're Shakespeare acting students but damnnn I could really have done without every other line of dialogue being a Shakespeare quote. Same goes for the author. This is my only complaint about the writing, but it's a very large complaint. And, ok, I get it "Rebecca, you picked up a book about Shakespeare students, what did you expect?" but I am still allowed to complain. And complain I will. I rolled my eyes so much I feared they would get stuck like that. Otherwise, I think the characters and their relationships had a lot of potential, but I just wished the author would go deeper. Like yea there's this homoerotic best friendship between

James and Oliver

, but you're telling me more than showing me. Same with

Meredith and Oliver

, like I didn't really buy that. And also that whole "Oliver, you're so good" thing, sure he wasn't a terrible person, but I couldn't really see what they were talking about. Like, yes, we come into this group 4 years into their friendship, so I get that there's history, but it's the author's job to convey that and it fell a bit short.

I guessed the killer immediately. Clocked that shit right away.

"I'm not drinking tonight" *throwing up in the bathroom 3 hours later* "yea I just drank too much" am I some sort of idiot??? James, my darling, I do hope you're still alive but c'mon. Also, fuck! how tragic. Bro, if I was Oliver and I went to jail to save my friend and then he killed himself because the guilt was too much, I'd jump off a cliff fr.

IMO, this book had a fair bit of overall unrealized potential, even though it was enjoyable.

Hm. I think I don't rate books harshly enough.

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anni_o's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I liked it! I am not a Shakespear Fan and I did not know beforehand that this book was so committed to the bit. I did start to wonder if there were actual real life people who spoke like this...
Anyway! Overall the story was very compelling, and towards the end I was truly glued to the page. I do enjoy a good murder mystery! I also liked the resolution, though;

I would have liked to actually know what made Richard like, freak out like that so much. I would have loved to find out what made him escalate. Can't just have been Shakespear or smth. That boy needed therapy badly. I did like that it was a tragedy through and through. You saw it coming and until the end you have a hopeful lil spark going 'I'm sure they'll all be fine'. V nicely played.

One star taken because the citations were really getting on my nerves by the end and I guess I'm really not enough of a theatre nerd for this. I did enjoy myself though.

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lizzym126's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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kat_figs's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I had mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I thought the first 100 pages were excellently plotted and paced, and I loved the complicated relationship between Oliver and James. I completely related to Oliver’s yearning and repression of his sexuality, and thought it was well-handled. On the other hand, I feel the book lacks strong characterization of Richard as well as some of the main group of friends. He came across as such a cartoon villain—I found it hard to believe that he hadn’t acted at all in this way over the 4 years, that it was such a heel turn. He felt cartoonishly evil at times, to the point where the characters’ actions seem less shocking. I also think this book falls apart in Acts 3-5 and becomes a bit messy and drawn out. I would’ve loved more focus on Oliver and James, less on the day to day minutiae of the school and the other characters.

I’ve seen this book compared to The Secret History, and it is similar structurally. But I think where The Secret History succeeds more is by latching into the moral ambiguity of the characters, the senselessness of their murder, and by keeping the tight pacing in the second half.

I also have one final thought which is that the way Meredith is described is really dehumanizing. I understand that it’s part of her character’s struggle to be constantly objectified and feel like people only value her for her looks. But I didn’t like how that was constantly reinforced by Oliver salivating over her every two pages. I couldn’t tell if it was intentional on the part of the author to show that his feelings for her weren’t deep, or to show that his real affection was with James, and I wish it had been clearer if that’s the angle she was going for.

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