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If We Were Villains Paperback – January 1, 2017
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As a young actor at an elite conservatory, Oliver noticed that his talented classmates seem to play the same characters onstage and off – villain, hero, temptress – though he was always a supporting role. But when the teachers change the casting, a good-natured rivalry turns ugly, and the plays spill dangerously over into real life.
When tragedy strikes, one of the seven friends is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless...
- Print length432 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTITAN PUBLISHING GROUP
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 2017
- Dimensions5.2 x 1.14 x 7.83 inches
- ISBN-101785656473
- ISBN-13978-1785656477
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Product details
- Publisher : TITAN PUBLISHING GROUP (January 1, 2017)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 432 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1785656473
- ISBN-13 : 978-1785656477
- Item Weight : 10.9 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.2 x 1.14 x 7.83 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #82,566 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
M. L. Rio is an author, but before she was an author she was an actor, and before she was an actor she was just a word nerd whose best friends were books. She holds an MA in Shakespeare Studies from King's College London and Shakespeare's Globe and a PhD in early modern English literature from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her first novel, IF WE WERE VILLAINS, was published in April 2017 by Flatiron Books and has since become an international bestseller.
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Top reviews from the United States
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The characters? Well, they're a bunch of thespians who can't quite decide if they're living their own lives or just rehearsing for the next big tragedy. Personal passions and on-stage roles? Blurrier than my vision before I put my glasses on in the morning. And let's not forget the Shakespearean verse sprinkled throughout – it's like they're trying to out-fancy Shakespeare himself.
The story unfolds with a five-act structure as if Shakespeare himself penned the outline. Flashbacks from one character's perspective pop up in each act's prologue to anchor us to where the characters are 10 years later. It's like a Shakespearean soap opera but with more iambic pentameter.
On and off stage, a lot of the dialogue is full of Shakespearean verses, but my Shakespeare knowledge peaked in high school. My primary references are She's The Man and 10 Things I Hate About You – which, while helpful, is not exactly the pinnacle of literary expertise.
Despite my struggle to keep up with the Shakespearean banter, the ending was everything I could've wanted from this dark academia story – surprising, colorful, and leaving me grinning. I want to give the book a standing ovation, but the four-star rating reminds me to brush up on the Bard. Still, If We Were Villains is a wild ride into the messy world of human passion and the blurry line between reality and performance.
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2024
The characters? Well, they're a bunch of thespians who can't quite decide if they're living their own lives or just rehearsing for the next big tragedy. Personal passions and on-stage roles? Blurrier than my vision before I put my glasses on in the morning. And let's not forget the Shakespearean verse sprinkled throughout – it's like they're trying to out-fancy Shakespeare himself.
The story unfolds with a five-act structure as if Shakespeare himself penned the outline. Flashbacks from one character's perspective pop up in each act's prologue to anchor us to where the characters are 10 years later. It's like a Shakespearean soap opera but with more iambic pentameter.
On and off stage, a lot of the dialogue is full of Shakespearean verses, but my Shakespeare knowledge peaked in high school. My primary references are She's The Man and 10 Things I Hate About You – which, while helpful, is not exactly the pinnacle of literary expertise.
Despite my struggle to keep up with the Shakespearean banter, the ending was everything I could've wanted from this dark academia story – surprising, colorful, and leaving me grinning. I want to give the book a standing ovation, but the four-star rating reminds me to brush up on the Bard. Still, If We Were Villains is a wild ride into the messy world of human passion and the blurry line between reality and performance.
I am honestly struggling to put my thoughts and feelings into words....but this was incredible.
As both a theatre and book nerd, this book was right up my alley and I loved it. I can't claim to be a Shakespeare aficionado, but man was it wonderful to be submersed in so many references and to see the story not only through the eyes of the characters, but also through the lens of his writings. It was captivating, unique, enthralling....it had me gripped from the beginning.
The writing was absolutely beautiful, blending perfectly the poetry of Shakespeare with the intelligence and ego of those that dedicate their lives to studying and understanding him. Actors are their own breed and, by necessity, have a certain level of insanity and self-centered nature that allows them to be wholly themselves but also any number of others in a moment's notice. ML Rio captures the beauty, depression, and mania of a brilliant actor perfectly.
I really can't speak much to the story without spoilers, but I cannot speak the writing's praises highly enough. Even the twists I guessed were thrilling to read because of how gorgeously they were crafted. This is definitely a book I will recommend endlessly and return to often.
I wanted to like this novel, but I thought it had a lot of problems — e.g., the author tells rather than shows, key characters are unbelievable and/or underdeveloped, and several situations seem extremely unlikely.
For me, another problem is that the crime committed by Oliver and his friends early in the story seems far worse than any that are later revealed to have been committed by a single individual, yet the novel suggests the opposite and glosses over what they did. In that sense, I’d say the book’s moral sensibilities are more “Scandal” than “The West Wing.” That made it hard to take seriously.
Also, the last few paragraphs of the novel IMO were eye-rollingly gimmicky. They reminded me of a made-for-Lifetime movie, or one where a studio wants to make sure we know there’s a sequel coming.
The are some things in the novel that I like — e.g., there were some structural choices that I thought worked well, and I was curious to see where Oliver would go on his journey of self-discovery. The book is definitely readable, and that’s the reason for my three-star rating. But ultimately this novel's problems irritated me.
Perhaps the biggest issue is that it’s very derivative of “The Secret History,“ yet it fails to evoke any of the horror or dread that Donna Tartt seemed to create so effortlessly.
I love Emily St. John Mandel, but I think this is the last time I will follow one of her recommendations.
Top reviews from other countries
Reviewed in Brazil on October 4, 2023