Scan barcode
A review by the_escapist
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
One of my favourite reads in a long time. It’s about a closely-knit group of drama students at a prestigious arts university where they focus solely on Shakespeare. One of the group turns up dead, and you know from the get-go that the main character is serving time in prison for a murder he may or may not have done (it isn’t really a whodunnit story though).
The characters are very flawed complex people, but are also people who will quote Shakespeare at each other given any opportunity. I’m no Shakespeare fan but for some reason I didn’t find this (or the re-enactment of certain scenes from his plays) off-putting, it just oozed passion from the author and characters.
It was very neat how some of the arcs mirrored ones that pop up a lot in Shakespeare plays too, and how much of a role the casting of the plays was in mirroring the real life things going on with the characters. It’s… very hard to describe what was so good about this. But it’s so much better than I’m making it sound, I promise! Very well written but also reads quickly, nice short chapters (my attention span is awful these days so this is pretty much a must), super atmospheric, tense, dark, easy to fall into, and it stays with you after reading it.
The characters are very flawed complex people, but are also people who will quote Shakespeare at each other given any opportunity. I’m no Shakespeare fan but for some reason I didn’t find this (or the re-enactment of certain scenes from his plays) off-putting, it just oozed passion from the author and characters.
It was very neat how some of the arcs mirrored ones that pop up a lot in Shakespeare plays too, and how much of a role the casting of the plays was in mirroring the real life things going on with the characters. It’s… very hard to describe what was so good about this. But it’s so much better than I’m making it sound, I promise! Very well written but also reads quickly, nice short chapters (my attention span is awful these days so this is pretty much a must), super atmospheric, tense, dark, easy to fall into, and it stays with you after reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Eating disorder, Gore, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Vomit