“You can justify anything if you do it poetically enough.”

If We Were Villains, by M.L. Rio

Summary

On the day Oliver Marks is released from jail, the man who put him there is waiting at the door. Detective Colborne is retiring, and before he does, he wants to know the truth. After ten years, Oliver is finally ready to tell it.

A decade ago: Oliver is one of seven young Shakespearean actors at the elite Dellecher Classical Conservatory, a place of keen ambition and fierce competition. In this secluded world of firelight and leather-bound books, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingénue, extras.

But in their fourth and final year, good-natured rivalries turn ugly, and on opening night real violence invades the students’ world of make-believe. The casting changes, the secondary characters usurp the stars, the play spills dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. In the morning, the fourth-years find themselves facing their very own tragedy, and their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, each other, and themselves that they are innocent.

My Thoughts

Almost immediately after I finished The Secret History, which is a dark academia cult classic, I went to If We Were Villains, which is also a dark academia staple and considered one of the original dark academia books. It has a similar structure to The Secret History, which I also did a review on (link), but at the same time is a unique, more typical take. It’s a book about Shakespearean actors, so the play is structured into five acts, like a typical Shakespearan tragedy (which I absolutely love, it adds to the fine details of the book and really helps set the tone). It’s a lot more of a traditional murder mystery: the narrator, Oliver, begins the plot not knowing who committed the murder. 

I see why the book is a staple of dark academia. It’s not as revolutionary or unique as The Secret History in my opinion, but it has a lot to offer in terms of characters. I do think that the authors could have fleshed some of the characters out more, however: characters like Oliver, James, and Meredith feel fully formed while Filippa, whose character I loved, still feels less developed and more like an idea than a fully formed person. As someone who loves excellent characterization, I feel like the book could have benefited just a bit by either becoming bigger/longer, or choosing to focus on fewer characters so that they could all be fleshed out.

That’s not to say that the plot and characters aren’t good, however. I think that having preexisting knowledge of Shakespeare like I had (I’m a nerd and I’ve read most of his plays except for some obscure ones like Richard III), but you don’t have to have read his plays either to understand the book. The plots are explained well while the characters act them out; the main ones featured are Julius Caesar, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet. 

Overall, it’s a good book. There is mystery, gothic academia tones, and it’s just the right amount of pretentious and fun while the characters are not obnoxious and are generally likeable (way more likeable than the cast of The Secret History, that’s for sure). It’s not the best book I’ve read, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s a lot of fun, and I think it’s a good read for someone getting into the dark academia genre. If you’re a fan of Shakespeare like me, you’re also bound to love it, in my opinion.

Review: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

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