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

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is like a secret history, but I found the actions of the characters to be less ambiguous and unexplainable. The suspense is written really well in this book. From the beginning the reader is given all of the variables to the problem, and we slowly learned how they all fit into place by the end. I felt that some of the plotlines were very predictable, but that comes more from my experience in reading books with similar tropes than it does with any faults in writing. However, while the ending may be predictable, you in no way know how the story gets to that point until right before it happens. Despite the characters' faults I found them still likeable, especially Oliver, but even James.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death

Minor: Eating disorder, Blood

The tags represent how often they come up in the story, not how heavily they are written. The minor tags are only mentioned briefly, while the moderate tags are more persistent.