Mystery

If We Were Villains

If We Were Villains

  • Downloads：6940
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-09-11 08:52:39
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：M.L. Rio
  • ISBN：1803362111
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

Oliver Marks has just served ten years in jail - for a murder he may or may not have committed。 On the day he's released， he's greeted by the man who put him in prison。 Detective Colborne is retiring， but before he does， he wants to know what really happened a decade ago。

As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college， Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero， villain， tyrant， temptress， ingenue， extra。 But when the casting changes， and the secondary characters usurp the stars， the plays spill dangerously over into life， and one of them is found dead。 The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police， and themselves， that they are blameless。

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Reviews

Lucy Hamer ，

not for me， too many characters introduced all at once with fairly poor descriptions/development， skipped over all shakespeare bits bc boring so probably didn't get full picture but just really quite slow not for me， too many characters introduced all at once with fairly poor descriptions/development， skipped over all shakespeare bits bc boring so probably didn't get full picture but just really quite slow 。。。more

Prince Japskyun ，

😭

Linda Ciccipallo ，

This book made me shake， never a book was so unsettling to me。 I have no words to describe how morbidly I've enjoyed reading this。 If there was another star to give， I'd give it now。 This book made me shake， never a book was so unsettling to me。 I have no words to describe how morbidly I've enjoyed reading this。 If there was another star to give， I'd give it now。 。。。more

nia ，

if you don't have any plot ideas you just shouldn't write a book you don't need to copy and paste a bunch of No Fear Shakespeare and blend it with Donna Tartt if you don't have any plot ideas you just shouldn't write a book you don't need to copy and paste a bunch of No Fear Shakespeare and blend it with Donna Tartt 。。。more

Inês Santos ，

2，5 stars i guess this is not my type of book really（also i found the play’s lines so boring， i skipped almost all of them） boring， predictable， meh characters， not thrilling at all

ximena ，

4。5 or 5 stars I DONT KNOW LET ME THINK

zahrau ，

basically tsh 2。0。 I threw it across the room a couple times and stayed up til 5 for the past few days but it was good。 a therapist may be needed tho

Holly Knott ，

i thought to start with， the writing was absolutely beautiful and it made me wanna give it to all my friends after， especially my actor friends ！ but honestly， the climax and the resolution was so ridiculously bAD ！ like felt like they just crammed an ending on because they ran out of ways to make it sound good :/ kinda sad x

Lacy ଘ（੭ˊᵕˋ）੭* ੈ✩‧˚ ，

“The future is wide and wild and full of promise， but it is precarious， too。 Seize on every opportunity that comes your way and cling to it， lest it be washed back out to sea。” THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD！！！！ The development of each of the main 7 characters and how they split into the different archetypes found in Shakespearean tragedies was so interesting to watch。 Their dynamics with each other made me feel a range of emotions， from comfort to irritation to pure stress and sadness :（（。 The mystery el “The future is wide and wild and full of promise， but it is precarious， too。 Seize on every opportunity that comes your way and cling to it， lest it be washed back out to sea。” THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD！！！！ The development of each of the main 7 characters and how they split into the different archetypes found in Shakespearean tragedies was so interesting to watch。 Their dynamics with each other made me feel a range of emotions， from comfort to irritation to pure stress and sadness :（（。 The mystery element also played a huge role in keeping me captivated。 I was on the edge of my seat wondering the whole time when the tragedy would strike， and when it did， my mind was racing to piece together what actually happened。 When I got to the final act and learned the truth， I was surprised， but how each of the characters dealt with the information is what made it so shocking。 My jaw was on the floor。 I CRIED！！！！There's so much more I want to say， but I don't wanna include spoilers， so y'all should hurry up and read it so we can talk about it :）） 。。。more

jayc ，

well that was TRAUMATIZING••• i cannot get this book out of my head。 every waking second， i am thinking about oliver， james， filippa， alexander， wren， meredith… and richard， too， i guess。 there is something so fascinating about books with （1） friend groups， （2） murder， （3） tension， （4） and some type of school/academy。the book did unfortunately slow down after the half-way mark， but i really don’t mind。 the writing was compelling enough to keep me hooked。 on second thought， “compelling enough” is well that was TRAUMATIZING••• i cannot get this book out of my head。 every waking second， i am thinking about oliver， james， filippa， alexander， wren， meredith… and richard， too， i guess。 there is something so fascinating about books with （1） friend groups， （2） murder， （3） tension， （4） and some type of school/academy。the book did unfortunately slow down after the half-way mark， but i really don’t mind。 the writing was compelling enough to keep me hooked。 on second thought， “compelling enough” is an understatement。 some sentences were so meticulously crafted， i had to take a second and admire them。 （a true enthusiast， i am。）i am tempted， after reading this， to consume all the works of william shakespeare （figuratively）。 i doubt anyone would call me a true fan of his。 i did have an intense obsession with romeo and juliet， but that is only one of his works and quite possibly the most well-known。 but this book， this book makes me want to study and act and allow myself to be devoured by shakespeare。（i doubt this will actually occur。 i am terrible at understanding elizabethan english。）i really did love the characters， despite the fact that it was， at first， confusing。 during the beginning， i could not differentiate one from another， and actually forgot wren was a character in this novel。 but once i got farther in， i learned to appreciate， even love them。 i will not go into each of the characters。 they are all entirely complex and i would need an empty notebook to explain my take on them。 but i will talk about oliver。hey， ms。 rio， apart from absolutely ripping my heart to shreds， i have a question。 why was the story told in his perspective？ because that was a good choice。 oliver is entirely， completely interesting。 it makes me wonder how much i was missing out on， considering there are many different POVs in this story。 i loved him for his confusion， his awkwardness， his recklessness。 i loved him for his selflessness。 he was just incredible。his infatuation with both james and meredith was possibly one of my favorite bits of the book。 it was so real and human。 it confused me， it confused oliver， and i too was haunted by different ideas of them。 the ending made me cry。 the last line made me smile。 oh， my love for ambiguous last lines is infinite。a one-of-a-kind read。 perfect for this season。 。。。more

Izzy ，

intriguing dark academia / murder-mystery， with cool use of Shakespeare - but the tension kind of fell off a cliff once the murder happened so = good but not great

rowan ，

I think this could be one of my favourites actually？It’s just like the secret history with very much dark academia and morally grey characters， but it was without the （slightly boring） and overly-long writing style， and Shakespearean references rather than classical ones， so i could actually understand the poignancy of the quotes and stuff a lot better and enjoy it more。 The characters were a lot more likeable and they felt a lot more human despite all their flaws- and I actually sort of liked t I think this could be one of my favourites actually？It’s just like the secret history with very much dark academia and morally grey characters， but it was without the （slightly boring） and overly-long writing style， and Shakespearean references rather than classical ones， so i could actually understand the poignancy of the quotes and stuff a lot better and enjoy it more。 The characters were a lot more likeable and they felt a lot more human despite all their flaws- and I actually sort of liked the protagonist（？）。 It’s a much simpler book and to an extent its sort of not worth comparing to the Secret History in the way that they’re completely different styles， and the Secret History isn’t meant to be fast paced and I completely get why， but I just personally prefer this style more I think？ But yeah 100% recommend。anyways spoiler alert 🚨 Thoughts in general:You could see a lot of where this was going but I sort of didn’t mind， it was interesting to see how each of them were coming undone from Richard’s death， although I honestly did not realise the truth for a while lol， my money was maybe on Meredith。Love modern tragedies and looking at all the character flaws and this was truly cathartic， like I was crying through the end 💔💔 Enjoyed the ironies of it turning into a Shakespearean structure and them all becoming too absorbed into their characters， giving them exaggerated and overly dramatic personalities and the very dramatic ending。 Loved the halloween scene with Macbeth too that was cool。 Mildly raging at the end but was to be expected。 Onto the characters: Hated Meredith sorry。 Maybe it’s my literal internalised misogyny but I found her pretty insufferable， and just sort of felt like she was using everyone most of the time。Fillipa is a queen 🫶 Alex and Colin were very sweet👯‍♂️ Obviously hated Richard - I was genuinely concerned for every character that was with him， especially James （understand ur motives king， i forgive u）。 Wren was a bit annoying cos they didn’t really explore her enough so she just came across as fragile which is a shame （and maybe a wasted opportunity）。 Now for Oliver， I genuinely disliked him fully until the end。 He just came across as a bit lacking in personality， pretty passive and not even that nice （despite everyone saying that？）。 But he redeemed himself at the end there。 And James - I loved James I’m afraid。 Troubled romantic 🫶🫶🫶 His only crime is not admitting his feelings sooner but I still hold Oliver mostly accountable for that as I think James would have been ready to admit them 😢😢😢😢Anyway dunno why I put all my thoughts here but there u go。 。。。more

Noor ，

Beautiful story， but I need to take a breath after finishing

diya ，

This was BRILLIANT I did not expect to love this so much。 In my world Oliver and James lived happily ever after。

sasha carter ，

a masterpiece，，，， heavily infused with literature and shakespeare。 the ending is just -

Fortune ，

what the fuck！！！！！！！

Bruna ，

3。5 ⭐

em ，

SOBBING， CRYING。 this book destroyed me in the most beautiful way。 i want to die。

Charley-Ann ，

As I said in my The Secret History review， I read the two books back to back due to people commenting they were similar。I do believe they are similar enough that if you liked The Secret History you would like If We Were Villains too， due to the academia vibes and the murder。 However to be honest I preferred If We Were Villains a lot more。（view spoiler）[ This may be effected by me knowing more Shakespeare than Greek。 I do also prefer the pretentiousness of theatre。 I also much prefer to like char As I said in my The Secret History review， I read the two books back to back due to people commenting they were similar。I do believe they are similar enough that if you liked The Secret History you would like If We Were Villains too， due to the academia vibes and the murder。 However to be honest I preferred If We Were Villains a lot more。（view spoiler）[ This may be effected by me knowing more Shakespeare than Greek。 I do also prefer the pretentiousness of theatre。 I also much prefer to like characters than to hate them and I truly really liked many of the characters in this story unlike The Secret History。 To the point the book made me break down crying near the end。。。I like to believe in the end that James and Oliver end up living a happy life finally together at last。 （hide spoiler）] 。。。more

Beth ，

I thank Flatiron Books for a Kindle version of this book， which I really wanted to like more than I did。 Maybe if only I knew Shakespeare better than I do… I just did not like any of the characters and just did not care what happened to them。 I had to work to finish。 The ending is a bit of a salvation though。

denisa ，

i hated this book but in a poetic sort of way

Fiona ，

4。5 stars

Elise ，

Perhaps my new favorite book。 Theatre kids。 Murder。 Love triangles。 So so good。 If I were a book it would be this。 Big Dead Poet’s Society energy

Tayla ，

My only complaints are that it broke my heart and then it ended。

Jordan ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I LOVED IT！ i really did。 i’m happy that james is alive。 lowkey feel bad for meredith but i TRULY think james and oliver are soulmates。 this is one i’m gonna wish i could read again for the first time。 lowkey i thought all of them we’re gonna be in on it， like murder on the orient express vibes。 james murdering richard does make the most sense though。 5/5 for me！ dark academia fall 2022。

Catriona Fyfe ，

If We Were Villains is a dark academic novel following a group of Shakespeare students as they experience their senior year。 10 years ago a tragedy happened leaving Oliver jailed for a crime he will say nothing about。 Now that he is being released he has decided to tell his story of what happened senior yearWhen I read the synopsis I thought this was going to be a 5 star for me and tbh within the middle of the book I was engrossed fully and binge read quite a few chapters。 Nevertheless I just co If We Were Villains is a dark academic novel following a group of Shakespeare students as they experience their senior year。 10 years ago a tragedy happened leaving Oliver jailed for a crime he will say nothing about。 Now that he is being released he has decided to tell his story of what happened senior yearWhen I read the synopsis I thought this was going to be a 5 star for me and tbh within the middle of the book I was engrossed fully and binge read quite a few chapters。 Nevertheless I just couldn’t get on board with how much Shakespeare quotes were in this。 I have never studied his work nor am I interested so when the main characters kept using lines even off stage， I just didn’t grasp any of it。 I liked how the format of the novel was like a play which added to the overall theme of theatre。 I also loved the setting of a Hogwarts-like college with its eerie lake and dorms for the students。 The relationship between James and Oliver was a complex one and I think their story was probably the one thing that kept me reading throughout， the ending left you with so many questions but I liked how it allowed for interpretation of what happens nextOverall， it was an interesting read。 Sadly didn’t love it as much as I initially thought but still it was enjoyable enough。 Will definitely keep an eye out for more work by this author 。。。more

Moonyhatesmoon ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 4。5⭐️ ESTOY LLORANDOPEREN ENTONCES HABRA OTRO LIBRO NO？ JAMES Y OLVIER SERAN FELICES NO？ TIPK YO YA ME Etaba prePARANDO PARA LLORAR AUN MAS CON LA ULTIMA PAGINA LO JURO Y PUM PORQUE TIPO O SEA EL AYUDA O SEA AAAAHHHH Y AYYYY QUE DOLOOOORD TIPO ES QUE COMO OLIVER SACRIFICO TODO POR JAMES Y TODO ENCAJA AL FINAL Y ES QUE AY QUE DOLOR AMIGO NONO Y JAMES QUE SUFRIA EN SILENCIO SOLO PARA NO MOLESTAR A OLIVER ES QUE YO ME HAGO LA RICHARD （jajan’t） No ya pero es que me encanto casi todo tipo la estetica 4。5⭐️ ESTOY LLORANDOPEREN ENTONCES HABRA OTRO LIBRO NO？ JAMES Y OLVIER SERAN FELICES NO？ TIPK YO YA ME Etaba prePARANDO PARA LLORAR AUN MAS CON LA ULTIMA PAGINA LO JURO Y PUM PORQUE TIPO O SEA EL AYUDA O SEA AAAAHHHH Y AYYYY QUE DOLOOOORD TIPO ES QUE COMO OLIVER SACRIFICO TODO POR JAMES Y TODO ENCAJA AL FINAL Y ES QUE AY QUE DOLOR AMIGO NONO Y JAMES QUE SUFRIA EN SILENCIO SOLO PARA NO MOLESTAR A OLIVER ES QUE YO ME HAGO LA RICHARD （jajan’t） No ya pero es que me encanto casi todo tipo la estetica， Shakespeare， los personajes， encima me engancho demasiado el libroalgo que no me gusto y que por eso no le pongo 5⭐️ es que lit casi todo el libro solo de romance tiene a Meredith y Oliver （que ni química tenian por logia pero igual me quejo） y las escenas que oliver y james siempre se salteaban， ENTONCES COMO MICHI QUIEREN QUE ALGUN LECTOR NORMAL （no como yo que llore porque confie en mi gaydar y los shippeaba） CAPTÉ EL FINAL PORQUE TIPO OLIVER MAXIMO DIO 3 MUESTRAS DE QUE LE GUSTABA JAMES COMO PARA QUE AL FINAL EL DE PARTE DE SU VIDA POR EL Y TODO PERO AHHH bueno igual llore， james y oliver merecían mas escenas juntos 。。。more

Max ，

Pleaseeee god Kill me now end my suffering。 We deserved more James x Oliver moments but :/

Caitlyn ，

i don’t even know how to comprehend this book。 it was so deep and complex i’ve honestly never read anything like it in the best way possible

Sabrina ，

not what I was expecting at all！ but thoroughly impressed nonetheless。 p。s。 Oliver is me and I am him。 he is the exemplar， the epitome of a damned saint， honorable villain。 godspeed fair knave style: 4。5 starslanguage: 4。5 starscharacters: 3。5 starsatmosphere: 4。5 stars plot: 4。5 starsthemes: 4 starsenjoyment: 4 starsoverall: 4 stars

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=If We Were Villains

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=If We Were Villains&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,If We Were Villains&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0