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

5.0

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

i had to take some time to mull over the book before i could finally come up with a proper review, so here i am writing abt it a few days late. this is perhaps one of the most captivating books i've read in a long time. i found myself enthralled by the characters, captured by their motivations and curious to find out how everything unravelled. it reminded me quite a bit of donna tartt's the secret history (one of my fav books) with the whole dark academia thing going on, but one that was a lot more fast paced & featured thespians instead. it's incredibly strong for a debut novel too (with gorgeous writing) so i have to commend the author for that. i wish i had a lot more knowledge on shakespeare and his work aside from the bare minimum i had learned in high school, but that didn't hinder me from enjoying the book as much as i did. overall, it was a really solid and enjoyable read. 4.5/5 stars, rounded up