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A review by giulsfloris
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
To me, this book was just… boring, predictable and pretentious. The characters weren’t well developed, they were annoying and overall badly described. They lacked depth and fell into a bunch of stereotypes. The women were used as a plot device more than once and didn’t have anything interesting to add.
It baffles me that this book has such good reviews since it also contains racist slurs and is filled with misogyny and sexism. Even worse, there’s no actual redemption or growth for these people. I personally don’t like static characters who don’t take opportunities to grow and change. This is narrated by an adult man’s point of view and yet it lacks the maturity and understanding of what a bunch of almost-adults did.
I considered DNFing this so many times so I skipped a bunch of boring parts in the second half of the book (especially since half of it is basically just Shakespeare dialogues copied and pasted into the story, you could really say he co-authored this thing), and I eventually finished it but boi was this disappointing. I don’t dislike Shakespeare, I studied some of his works at both high school and university, so I was convinced I’d like this book, but I did not.
It baffles me that this book has such good reviews since it also contains racist slurs and is filled with misogyny and sexism. Even worse, there’s no actual redemption or growth for these people. I personally don’t like static characters who don’t take opportunities to grow and change. This is narrated by an adult man’s point of view and yet it lacks the maturity and understanding of what a bunch of almost-adults did.
I considered DNFing this so many times so I skipped a bunch of boring parts in the second half of the book (especially since half of it is basically just Shakespeare dialogues copied and pasted into the story, you could really say he co-authored this thing), and I eventually finished it but boi was this disappointing. I don’t dislike Shakespeare, I studied some of his works at both high school and university, so I was convinced I’d like this book, but I did not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexism, and Sexual content
Minor: Eating disorder