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

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

2.5

Maybe Dark Academia just isn't my genre. Rarely do I read a beloved book and wind up a naysayer, but this is one of those cases. 7 acting students in a Shakespeare program find themselves at the center of their own Shakespearean tragedy when one of them is murdered. For me, some parts of it felt like a bit too much more than nods at "The Secret History". Additionally, the ending, which was predictable but I actually thought was smart in its Shakespearean riff, would have resonated much more deeply if the author had let the two main characters actually be a couple and really invested us in their love for each other in that Shakespearean star crossed lovers way, instead of the queerbaity nonsense that lasted for the entirety of the novel. Like…
imagine if James and Oliver were just actually a couple, we lose all the pages of the entirely extraneous romantic relationships with Wren and Meredith respectively, and instead we spent pages building a deep connection to and care for James and Oliver as a couple. Then if Richard was still abusive to Meredith, it would have made her the prime suspect in our minds and the ‘obvious’ murderer, and then having it end with the twist being that it was James… would’ve been shocking. And if we had spent time really caring for James and Oliver as a “Romeo & Juliet” like couple, Oliver taking the fall would have made so much more sense. And then if James had actually committed suicide rather than the completely ridiculous and not at all logical suicide fake out, it would’ve brought the whole story full circle and concluded it with a Shakespearean and “Romeo & Juliet” like flair.
I think that would’ve made for a much more dynamic story.
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