Review by itsnotalakeitsanocean - If We Were Villains

itsnotalakeitsanocean 's review for:

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

3.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

In my heart this book is 4 stars, but critically speaking it's a 3.

The characters are definitely believable enough that I can see them existing at a prestigious rich kid art college, but I don't think many of them were as developed as they could be even though there were strong moments from the main cast. Some things that come to mind include:

The plot skimming over the fateful play where everyone was miscast that lead to the plot happening to begin with. It feels like the author expects us to be intimate enough with Shakespeare that we would be go through the motions of the characters according to what Shakespearean archetypes they would represent. This leads to a bit of a two-pronged problem: one being that anyone who is definitely not that kind of person (hi) potentially missing out on some characterisation, the second being that it hinges so heavily on Shakespeare that it feels like the characters could have done more to sabotage each other.
Oliver getting out of the threat of having to withdraw from the college too easily. Caroline felt more like a prop and an excuse for something bad to happen (which feels icky considering she has a very serious eating disorder).
The teachers kind of existing in their own vacuum until the final performance of Lear, which is particularly egregious considering there is a murder
and later another student overdosing
. I know they're not the main focus but it feels like they should have been more involved than the one or two moments they have outside of their class.

I didn't particularly mind the characters constantly speaking in Shakesperean quotes because I think it was trying to set up a theme of reality and fiction blurring, but - again - I don't think it was pushed as far as it could go.

Also I feel like the Oliver/James ship kind of came out of nowhere. Don't get me wrong, I am all about queer characters being incidentally queer and I'm grateful for its inclusion, but I don't think those two interacted enough to come across as the star-crossed lovers that the author wanted them to be.

TL;DR: Great vibes and atmosphere, but not as deep as it wants you to believe it is. The author has potential to improve in any later works.

Content Warnings