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

2.5

If you're going to write a book that offers no real commentary or insight on anything except clever Shakespeare references and on-the-nose foreshadowing, at least have the decency to make it entertaining. 

Instead we drag on for 400+ pages on a mystery I had absolutely no desire to see resolved, with characters flatter than the earth according to Kyrie Irving. Every single one of them is a caricature of a person that would be comical if M.L. Rio wasn't so earnestly trying to make them really cool and twisted analogies for whatever play drove the story (clumsily) forward. I think only Richard in the first few scenes had real... well... character. Though maybe stage presence is a more fitting word. 

Besides the players, every relationship in this book is so hard to believe and inspires so little feeling that I couldn't even be upset at the supposed plot twists, because I was so completely unattatched to anyone. 

On a different note but equally upsetting: Oliver sucks too much to be a character you empathize with, which completely decimates your ability to read and feel the story through his eyes, but he doesn't suck nearly enough to make him an interesting (unreliable) narrator. Just a very unhappy middle ground. 

The only thing I'm willing to concede is the fact that I haven't read enough shakespeare to fully grasp every symbolic line or casting choice. Even so, the more explanations and analyses I read, the more I'm convinced that getting them right away would have only saved the rating a little bit.  

Take-home message: The best dialogues in this book were written by Shakespeare, should've just picked up Hamlet instead. 

Take-home message 2.0: Feeling a strong desire to re-read the Secret History.