A review by mijtje
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Amazing book. It gets under your skin and stays there forever.

Even though I couldn’t help comparing this book to The Secret History by Donna Tartt at first, it managed to soak me away from that. It has a similar story, but there is a lot more symbolism to be found here. I think this is the kind of book you can reread a thousand times and still discover new things.

Sometimes I felt a little left out as someone who knows absolutely nothing about Shakespeare. It wasn’t too much of a bother, but I did feel like I missed essential parts of information throughout the story. If you’re a Shakespeare fan, that will add another layer to this book. In my mind, this book is as much a homage to Shakespeare as anything else.

Finally, with tragedies like this, I am always scared the ending will leave me empty and sad, which I don’t like. The ending to this book, however, is perfect. Hard to pull off, so I tip my hat to M.L. Rio.

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