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

5.0

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

Oliver Marks has been arrested for a crime he may (or may not) have committed.

The unexpected part of the story is that the detective in charge of the case knew of that possibility, but he couldn't prove it due to the lack of clues and proof to stand by his theory. After 10 years in prison, Oliver is finally inclined to tell him the whole story—as far as he takes the secret to his grave.

Some people might consider If We Were Villains a copy of The Secret Story for having this group of students in an elite environment, irresponsible adults, naive young people obsessed with literature and classics, characters flirting with queer agenda while trying to discover their own identity, a poor lad in the middle of rich people and the death of a member of this selected group of people who were, apparently, friends. This paragraph basically sums up most of dark academia aesthetic boards on Pinterest, to be honest.

I haven't finished TSH (yet) but as far as I could see, those books are not the same. M. L. Rio is more open with what she wants to say and criticize in the academic aesthetic and elite areas than Donna and the rich people aren't superficial enough to disdain others for not having material things (however, they're superficial enough to judge people based on their Shakespeare knowledge LOL). I'd fully recommend if you're into thriller, a bit of drama and gossip (maybe some gay people denying they're gay while obviously being gay but totally not gay) and philosophic thoughts on obsession, found family, caring for your friends more than then the ones related to you by blood, and people who would do anything to keep their loved ones out of trouble.

Anything. For real.