Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - If We Were Villains

Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

243 reviews

wwsimon93's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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fkshg8465's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

I should’ve DNFd it. None of it felt believable. Hated every character. The whole act of devotion was wasted. And everyone, including Colborne was complicit. Also, given Shakespeare is the one often credited with creating the concept of racism, and he having been terribly sexist, I deplore him. So there was nothing about this book that appealed to me. Really should’ve DNFd it.

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jaimc's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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iane_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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augustrogue's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

1.0

I was so hyped for this book and truly wanted to love it - unfortunately, while it had a few fleeting moments of some very lovely prose, it ended up feeling like a bit of a pretentious mess. Multiple, long scenes that were basically play-by-plays of Shakespearean stage productions. Inexplicable switches into script-style dialogue that disrupts the flow terribly: (not from the book, just an example)

Meredith: "Where did Alexander go?"
Me: "I don’t know."
Wren: "I'm worried about him."

...and then switches back just as abruptly, like it forgot it wasn't a screenplay for a second. Scenes that end abruptly for poetic/dramatic effect and then don't adequately explain what happened next. And I wanted a lot *more* of a relationship dynamic that was only lightly explored in the last 10% or so of the book.

The thing is, I actually *like* Shakespeare, quite a bit. The course I took on his plays was one of my favorites in university, and I still have a Complete Works anthology on my bookshelf. But I don't know, this book just made me roll my eyes a lot. At least the author acknowledges that the characters talking to each other in rapid-fire Shakespeare quotes about mundane things like they're ye olde Gilmore Girls (my own analogy, not hers) *is* super pretentious, in her ending notes. This book is for someone, maybe, but for the most part, it's not for me.

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hellhathnofury's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense 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

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salty_mermaid's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Something wicked this way comes…

SAVAGE

This the story of 7 devoted theatre students and what happens when the world of Shakespeare gets too real - with devastating consequences.

This so appealed to my thespian soul…This tale tore out my heart and put it through the meat grinder. My eyes were glued to the page and I felt as crazed as Lady Macbeth herself getting through this. I cannot believe Rio doesn’t have any other books. This debut brilliantly wove together the world of theatre into a university setting.

Drama, murder mystery, romance, dark academia, and comedy all in one! How fitting since they solely perform Shakespeare.

By exposing vulnerabilities early on, Rio crafted intricately complex 3D characters. Each one was multi-faceted and layered.

I loved the comparisons between the liberal arts students: language, philosophy, dance, music.

Also I loved how Rio occasionally interspersed script dialogue format between the characters just like in real scripts:

Me: “How has she been looking at me?”
James: “Like she’s a shark and you’re an oblivious fur seal.”
Me: “Why is that the word everyone’s using to describe me lately?”
James: “Who else called you a fur seal?”
Me: “Not that. Never mind.”

I think it definitely helps if you know a little bit about Shakespeare's plays and characters because you can get a better idea of who the actors are by who they are casted as. I was familiar with Midsummer Night's Dream but had to brush up on Macbeth and get acquainted with Julius Caesar.

How could we explain that standing on a stage and speaking someone else’s words as if they are your own is less an act of bravery than a desperate lunge at mutual understanding? An attempt to forge that tenuous link between speaker and listener and communicate something, anything, of substance.

I connected with the actors’ plight. There is a lot of foreshadowing, which added to the excitement. I'll admit I am not one to easily guess a whodunnit and sometimes when it’s obvious to others, I still don’t get it…but maybe I'm getting better...I was able to predict the murderer early on but definitely had my doubts throughout. I’d say it is not easily obvious except for one foreshadowing line that caught my attention. Ah, the mystery. In the end, the Tragic Hero and Villian are not who you thought they’d be.

There are many triggers: death, gore, suicide, domestic violence.

Absolutely loved this. I will be re-reading this when my heart finally heals for sure.

Actors are by nature volatile—alchemic creatures composed of incendiary elements, emotion and ego and envy. Heat them up, stir them together, and sometimes you get gold. Sometimes disaster.

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