A review by mingostudio
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
5.0
i am indeed so overwhelmed with emotion i don’t know what to do with myself. i knew i was going to cry, but like last ten pages i was SOBBING. m. l. rio WHYYYYYY it was so close to a happy ending. SO CLOSE
to talk about this book rationally for a second I thought it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It’s my first dark academia novel that’s less about the romance and more just about the dark academia, and I loved the concept of seven theater students in a old Academy, immersing themselves into Shakespeare, and just about nothing else. the author clearly knows Shakespeare so very well - the characters literally quote Shakespeare each other when they speak sometimes - and I thought that was not only beautiful, but incredibly talented that the author could weave that into the dialogue flawlessly. The atmosphere of the book was beautiful and you could tell the entire time that there is a very mellow, very sad undertone during everything that happens, but it’s so gorgeously written at the same time, and if I can go back in and annotate some of the stunning quotes I absolutely would. it’s not easy that’s for sure - i literally cried myself to sleep last night yay me - but I would 100% recommend this especially during the fall season because I am obsessed and it’s definitely a five star for me.
triggers: death, murder, domestic violence, alcohol use, drug abuse and overdose, slut shaming, depression, PTSD, mention of suicide and eating disorders
to talk about this book rationally for a second I thought it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It’s my first dark academia novel that’s less about the romance and more just about the dark academia, and I loved the concept of seven theater students in a old Academy, immersing themselves into Shakespeare, and just about nothing else. the author clearly knows Shakespeare so very well - the characters literally quote Shakespeare each other when they speak sometimes - and I thought that was not only beautiful, but incredibly talented that the author could weave that into the dialogue flawlessly. The atmosphere of the book was beautiful and you could tell the entire time that there is a very mellow, very sad undertone during everything that happens, but it’s so gorgeously written at the same time, and if I can go back in and annotate some of the stunning quotes I absolutely would. it’s not easy that’s for sure - i literally cried myself to sleep last night yay me - but I would 100% recommend this especially during the fall season because I am obsessed and it’s definitely a five star for me.
triggers: death, murder, domestic violence, alcohol use, drug abuse and overdose, slut shaming, depression, PTSD, mention of suicide and eating disorders