Author: M.L. Rio
Publication Date: 17 April 2020
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Page Count: 368
Reading Method: Physical
Synopsis:
Oliver Marks has just served ten years in jail – for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he’s released, he’s greeted by the man who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago.
As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingenue, extra. But when the casting changes, and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the plays spill dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless.
Review:
Oh hello dark academia. I will never get enough of this genre and the hauntingly beautiful stories it gives us. I have been a big fan of The Secret History for a while now and everyone kept telling me to pick up If We Were Villains because it gives the same feel. Well, they were right.
I instantly fell in love with our little Shakespearean theater group. The writing was magnificent. The development of the characters throughout and the shift in relationships was fantastic. I feel like I need to read it again to truly experience all of what this book has to offer. And the ending??? Okay, if you’ve read this one I need to know what your thoughts are about the ending because it was a bit ambiguous.
You can purchase a copy of If We Were Villains here
