A review by kt2e56
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Grating at first (I went to a performing arts college and while I got my BFA in Film, I acted a lot (I even did Shakespeare!) and was very involved with our theater department and can assure all of you that NOBODY, not even pretentious theater kids, actually talks like these characters do) but the plot and chemistry of the characters and secondhand rush of putting on performances, and sinking your teeth into a new role really makes up for some of the cringey dialogue. I find Meredith to be the most interesting character to me and I wish we knew more about Richard
and why he went from pretentious older brother figure to full blown abusive tyrant
but all in all, this was truly great and I plan on reading it again soon.

Shoutout to two truly inspired stagings of Shakespeare: Rio’s visions for Macbeth and King Lear sound phenomenal and I’d happily watch either in real life.
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