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A review by sophs_mood_reading
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Well this was just short of Amazing.
Oliver, convicted murderer, has been released from jail after 10 years and what does he do? Drive straight back to his old collage to tell the retired cop who put him in jail the story of what really happened.
And so the play begins…
The players: self obsessed 4th year drama students who are an elite clique of their own obsessed with all things Shakespeare.
The stage: A castle like art school where life evolves around acting, musics, Shakespeare, booze, drugs and Shakespeare.
We follow the story along as Oliver relives his final year at college where his small group of friends are as dramatic off stage as their Shakespearian counterparts on stage.
This story is fantastic, you are drawn into the drama and as the tension mounts you are quickly trying to gather every clue and innuendo to figure out what really happened and how Oliver ended up in jail.
I adores the sprinkling of The Bard’s prose throughout the novel, not only when the characters are acting but in their own natural dialogue and thoughts. It really draws you into their world.
The only thing that stopped it being 5 star for me was I felt the pace slowed as we discovered how and why Olivier was in prison and the Epilogue could have got to the point much quicker then it did.
But I will just say, OMG THAT TWIST AT THE END! I was quickly googling a certain play to figure out exactly what the meaning behind it all was.
Oliver, convicted murderer, has been released from jail after 10 years and what does he do? Drive straight back to his old collage to tell the retired cop who put him in jail the story of what really happened.
And so the play begins…
The players: self obsessed 4th year drama students who are an elite clique of their own obsessed with all things Shakespeare.
The stage: A castle like art school where life evolves around acting, musics, Shakespeare, booze, drugs and Shakespeare.
We follow the story along as Oliver relives his final year at college where his small group of friends are as dramatic off stage as their Shakespearian counterparts on stage.
This story is fantastic, you are drawn into the drama and as the tension mounts you are quickly trying to gather every clue and innuendo to figure out what really happened and how Oliver ended up in jail.
I adores the sprinkling of The Bard’s prose throughout the novel, not only when the characters are acting but in their own natural dialogue and thoughts. It really draws you into their world.
The only thing that stopped it being 5 star for me was I felt the pace slowed as we discovered how and why Olivier was in prison and the Epilogue could have got to the point much quicker then it did.
But I will just say, OMG THAT TWIST AT THE END! I was quickly googling a certain play to figure out exactly what the meaning behind it all was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Murder, and Alcohol