If We Were Villains Paperback by M. L. Rio Latest Edition 2023

I was almost mad at this book because it was sold to me as a gay dark academia and most of the book was anything but that, however in a true dark academia murder mystery fashion this book took my breath away. The last Act, was brilliant. The epilogue ruined me for good. It's one of those books that will haunt me for a long time.

Otherwise it is good. Go for it

Debut author and a self-described “word nerd”, M.L. Rio, holder of a Master’s degree in Shakespeare Studies, uses her background to write a stunning mystery revolving around a cast of self-absorbed young actors that the Bard himself would be proud of.The book opens with the protagonist, Oliver Marks, about to be released from prison after serving ten years for murder. The man who put him there is still not convinced that he did it. Oliver agrees to tell him the truth on one condition: that there be no repercussions for the real culprit.Cut to ten years ago, when Oliver is a theater major in his final year at the elite Dellecher Classical Conservatory. His circle consists of his fellow thespians and housemates, all so deeply entrenched in the Shakespeare-only syllabus of their school that they often have entire conversations in quotes and poetry. Over the course of their last year, as the group performs works as varied as Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet among others, we come to know their insecurities and their motivations. The story comes to a head when an unexpected death exposes the fault lines in an ostensibly tight-knit group and the line between reality and play-acting is truly blurred.The story is told from the perspective of Oliver Marks, but we get to know his six peers very intimately. Each one is distinctive and memorable, and I honestly can’t decide who my favorite is. I really enjoyed the friendship between the students, individually and as a whole. Each relationship in this book – whether romantic or platonic – is complex and realistic and interesting.I found the book to be exceedingly clever. Ms Rio does a tremendous job of piecing together the events of ten years ago with the reality of the present. Despite the heavy influences of Shakespeare, the book has a distinct narrative voice. Oliver, James, Wren, Filippa, Richard, Meredith, and Alexander are fully fleshed out and vivid characters, both on and offstage. These characters speak Shakespeare like a language in its own right, with double meanings layered into every sentence.If We Were Villains is a love letter to Shakespeare and the theater. Ms Rio’s characters often blur with the characters they play and are affected by the plots they recreate. Shakespeare isn’t just mentioned in this book a lot, his writing is almost a character in an of itself, and it is brilliant! I will say, that Ms Rio definitely has an exhaustive knowledge of Shakespeare (obviously), and someone who isn’t very familiar with his writing may not quite understand some of the subtleties of this book.That being said, I would recommend this book to all fans of the Bard and anyone who loved The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

Received a pirated copy. It's sad. 😕

Read the pic that I attached above.. its damaged and pirated

the book i recieved has a poor cover and it is damaged from the side , I'm unhappy

The media could not be loaded.  I’m sure the book would be amazing but the quality of the product is bad, the cover is damaged and they would not even let me return it. The prints are literally disappearing . And I paid almost 400 for this?

poor printing n few pages were torned

Oliver is being released from prison after serving his sentence for murder. The detective who sent him there has also visited him through the years. Joe is no longer a cop. He wants to know the truth of what happened 10 years ago. Oliver agrees to tell him once he is out of prison. They meet at the school where it all happened and Oliver tells the tale.I loved this book. Oliver and his friends are drama students at Dellecher Classical Conservatory. They are now in their fourth year. Things are changing between them and not necessarily for the better. Richard has always gotten the leads in the Shakespearean plays they do. Meredith is his girlfriend and usually has the female lead. Oliver's roommate is James. They get the sidekick roles usually while Alexander gets the villain roles. Wren, Richard's cousin, and Filippa get the remaining female roles or cross-dress for the male roles. They have been accustomed to these roles although some would like to expand their repertoire. One night a party goes wrong and Richard is found in the lake bleeding. The remaining six make a decision. Is it the right one?So much happens. I liked how the book is written in an almost play format as Oliver tells the story.I did finally figure out who did it. I know why Oliver made his decisions. I could not say why the others made their decisions. Their last play together, King Lear, was explosive. I liked how the play ended.I cannot say I agree with Oliver's decision, but I understand it. I liked Filippa a lot. She is true blue. Meredith was a mean girl. I do not know what Oliver saw in her. I liked James. I wish a few things about him had been clearer throughout the story. Richard was a bully. Alexander was troubled. Wren was there but not always noticeable.This is one of the best books I've read this year. I was hooked from the first page.

I read and loved The Secret History back in 2020 and ever since I’ve been searching for more dark academia books that gave me the same vibes and feelings as that one. I don’t know why it took me so long to pick this one up ( I think mostly it was fear that I wouldn’t understand the Shakespeare element of this book). But I am so glad I finally read this one! It took me about 75 pages and lots of googling to get Re familiar with all the Shakespeare language within this book, but once I got past that point, I really loved how Shakespeare was interwoven into the book a nd how the characters would speak to one another using quotes from Shakespeare.I truly couldn’t put this book down, and when I did have to put it down, I spent all my time thinking about this story and the characters behind it. I was drawn into this world so easily, and couldn’t wait to see how everything would play out. There are two timelines within this book, you get glimpses into the present day, told by our main character Oliver. Along with retellings of the past, when Oliver was in University. I enjoyed both timelines and really appreciated how we only got small glimpses into the present day, which I found really increased the tension and suspense.I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves Dark Academia, mystery’s, pretentious/Unlikeable characters, Shakespeare, theatre, drama filled stories. If you’re looking for something with similar vibes to The Secret History I would also recommend this one to you.

A entrega foi super rápida, achei que fosse demorar mais, demorou uns 3 dias pra chegar após a compra.Uma coisa que notei foi que veio com uma capa de papel mesmo, bem fácil de rasgar e estragar. Pelo valor imaginei que viria uma capa com uma qualidade melhor...Mas no geral veio certinho, bem embalado e rápido!

Im OBSESSED. It's such a captivating story and the characters are just so fascinating. I was hooked from page 1. This may very well be one of my favourite reads of this year. Long story short: there's this group of friends, one of them dies (murdered) and Oliver ends up in prison for it. 10 years later he gets out, and the detective who was on the case is retiring and asks what really happened bc he never believed Oliver did it. So off the record, Oliver finally tells the whole story. The last 20 pages had me full on sobbing, like really ugly crying. And that last sentence... 🤯 It was SO GOOD. Highly recommended.

I have been wanting to read 'If we were villiains' for some time now. I saw that this special edition had come out and grabbed a copy. When I started reading I noticed there is no act 1 and instead started from the last act, so I had read the ending before the beginning and then straight into act 2. After I finished the book I left like I had missed something important. When I spoke to a friend and they showed me their copy I released my copy had been printed with end last act instead of act 1. I have caught up with the first act now and I have come to like my strange copy of the book.