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A review by mkw1lson
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wow? Yeah, I think that's where I need to start with this book. Wow.
I went into this book with low expectations, which I am very glad of because I think it only improved my experience with this book. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down! I knew it would be a tragedy, you learn from the start that it is a tragedy, so I tried to keep my distance (emotionally) from these characters - that proved to be futile. While I can't say that every character of the seven was richly developed and compelling, I do think most of them are well-fleshed out and interesting. They aren't good or bad, they're simply a bunch of kids trying to navigate a difficult situation and you feel so deeply for each of them.
And yes, they are super pretentious, but that's a staple in dark academia literature so... that should not come as a surprise.
The use of Shakespeare throughout the novel and the way it is employed to parallel their lives/interpret their lives is so intriguing and interesting. It gives the reader a massive wealth of literature to turn to and pull theories from. I've seen some complaints that the book uses only popular Shakespearean works, but I think that's false. The plays they perform are certainly his more popular works, but there is much more Shakespeare referenced and used throughout the novel as well! However, keeping the plays to his more popular works, makes this book accessible for the non-Shakespeare lover as well (or, some less well-read in Shakespeare).
I had so many theories and guesses while reading this book, some of them were correct and others were not. It was so much fun guessing what had happened and trying to put together the ending. It was not a mystery, so it admittedly was not difficult to guess the ending, but it was so satisfying to reach the end and get the confirmation - to know that you know these characters well enough to figure out what was going to happen. (Admittedly I had some darker theories which I am glad did not work out).
This book will hurt you (it is a tragedy), but you will love it.
I went into this book with low expectations, which I am very glad of because I think it only improved my experience with this book. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down! I knew it would be a tragedy, you learn from the start that it is a tragedy, so I tried to keep my distance (emotionally) from these characters - that proved to be futile. While I can't say that every character of the seven was richly developed and compelling, I do think most of them are well-fleshed out and interesting. They aren't good or bad, they're simply a bunch of kids trying to navigate a difficult situation and you feel so deeply for each of them.
And yes, they are super pretentious, but that's a staple in dark academia literature so... that should not come as a surprise.
The use of Shakespeare throughout the novel and the way it is employed to parallel their lives/interpret their lives is so intriguing and interesting. It gives the reader a massive wealth of literature to turn to and pull theories from. I've seen some complaints that the book uses only popular Shakespearean works, but I think that's false. The plays they perform are certainly his more popular works, but there is much more Shakespeare referenced and used throughout the novel as well! However, keeping the plays to his more popular works, makes this book accessible for the non-Shakespeare lover as well (or, some less well-read in Shakespeare).
I had so many theories and guesses while reading this book, some of them were correct and others were not. It was so much fun guessing what had happened and trying to put together the ending. It was not a mystery, so it admittedly was not difficult to guess the ending, but it was so satisfying to reach the end and get the confirmation - to know that you know these characters well enough to figure out what was going to happen. (Admittedly I had some darker theories which I am glad did not work out).
This book will hurt you (it is a tragedy), but you will love it.