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

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This one is for us, pretentious girls, I'm so serious. 

"For someone who loved words as much as I did, it was amazing how often they failed me." 

If We Were Villains follows the story of seven Shakespearean fanatics. You can't blame me for calling them fanatics! They lived Shakespeare, they breathed Shakespeare. And they preferred each other's company over the world. Well, at least, in the beginning.

I hate this book actually. This book tore me apart and I suffered through the entirety. Truly a page turner. The plot was immaculate, the writing wonderful and the characters so deeply flawed you know they're going down and taking you along themselves. Sometimes, it feels like you're not just a reader but the eighth person in the group and if that's not truly one of the best reading experiences, then I don't know what it is. 

“You can take the boy out of the theatre, or something like that.” 

Oliver's entire life turns into one of those Shakespearean plays, a tragedy and I can't forgive the author for it. From the beginning, he's got this feeling that he's not as talented as the rest of his friends and lo and behold, he's the one who actually breathed Shakespearean. 

One of the things that I did dislike were the casual misogyny. The objectification and treatment of Meredith were a sore point in my eyes, something that I did not like at all. But in some regards, it's slightly more passable than The Secret History where the female characters barely served any importance, aside from being a plot object, of course. 

Having seen so many discourses on how If We Were Villains is just a duplicated copy of The Secret History, now that I've read both the books, I can assure you they're not. While one book obsesses over Greek, the other prefers Shakespeare. Surely, there are obsessed students in both and a murder but that's where it ends. 

SPOILER‼️ 

WHAT WAS THE ENDING? What do you mean James is dead? This is just cruel. Imagine spending ten years in a prison, just waiting for the person you love and boom, you find out that he had drowned himself. I HATE IT SO MUCH. Also, you've to love Filippa so much. She cared so much about everyone *sobs* Also, I can't be the only one who finds Richard's possessiveness over his cousin, Wren, weird? I mean, let the girl breathe? That was so off putting