“But in Shakespeare’s world, passion is irresistible, not embarrassing.”
I can’t think of a better book to start this blog. A review of If We Were Villains by ML Rio is the perfect choice. If you love dark academia, you can appreciate Shakespeare, and you’ve seen Dead Poet’s Society, this is the book for you.
I saw this book brought up on several list videos and other blogs. When I noticed it was on Kindle Unlimited, I knew I had to read it.
Instantly, you’re drawn into the main character’s world, wondering what’s happening. You can’t even call Oliver Marks the protagonist of the novel, but it’s told from his perspective. He and his senior-level classmates are drama students at an elite drama college in Illinois. Those who have specialized in school understand the intimacy of upper level education. You’re with your classmates more than with your family, and they end up becoming your family. Oliver and his troupe of acting classmates are no different.
“We had, like seven siblings, spent so much time together that we had seen the best and worst of one another and were unimpressed by either.”
After looking into the author, M.L. Rio, I saw she has an acting history, so I knew she had poured some of her experience in acting into the writing of the story. Throughout the book, you could feel the time pressure of actors needing to learn their lines. She also stated that students had to study the time periods surrounding the plays. This was necessary to understand their characters’ motivations. These are little details that audiences often overlook when watching a show. Actors are astonishingly well read and do their research if they’re going to play a character right.
The main characters, all seven of the acting students, were well fleshed out, and you could see their personalities in their acting were mirrored in their real personas. There were different styles but they all moved well together… until they didn’t.
The unraveling into the plot played out in such a way that you could sense something devastating was imminent. The dynamics of the core group was forever altered. After the first third of the book, the plot shifted. It focused on how they dealt with a friend’s death. They struggled to understand their emotions and loss. Oliver, our first person perspective, is an unreliable narrator. He doesn’t know what’s going on. On the night of the death, he was inebriated. His actions, despite being drunk and not able to recall events, cast suspicion on himself. He spends a lot of time wondering if he is to blame.
I don’t like writing spoilers into reviews. I want you to read the book. It’s so hard with this one because I just want to tell you!
I should mention this. If you were unacquainted with William Shakespeare before reading this book, you will become familiar with him. This familiarity will be like your high school English teacher wanted you to be. Peppered throughout the book are interpretations of Shakespeare’s King Lear, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, and Romeo & Juliet. That’s all the seniors are working on, throughout the year. They’re interpreted for you, and I can tell you for myself that I was inspired. I was looking up where to go in Milwaukee for acting workshops after I finished the book!
“But that is how a tragedy like ours or King Lear breaks your heart—by making you believe that the ending might still be happy, until the very last minute.”
The biggest criticism I had about the read was that it started slow. Once it picked up in pace, it really got going. There are flags I should mention. They include the beginning markers of domestic abuse in a relationship, narcissism, and alcoholism. Additionally, there is drug use and there are intimate scenes. It isn’t excessive, and serves to drive the plot and I didn’t find that it took away from the story.
If you liked the books below, you would like this book. I link to an online store where each purchase benefits an independent bookstore.
- The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
- Dead Poets Society, by N.H Kleinbaum
- A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
- The Maidens, by Alex Michalides
- Ninth House, by Leigh Bardugo
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