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

3.0

I really liked the moody/dark academia vibes and how atmospheric the story was. I enjoyed that the chapters were organized in acts and scenes like a Shakespearean play and the parallels between the plays and the real world. However, I was NOT a fan of the incessant Shakespeare quotes. I have such mixed feelings about this book. I feel like it had so much potential and the way the story was written (minus the literal chunks of Shakespeare) was beautiful. But, I was bored. I didn't really get thriller vibes, it was more of a melodrama. The ending was super underwhelming and all of the characters fell flat for me and were very one-note, Oliver being the least interesting. Overall, just too much Shakespeare, not enough murder.