'If We Were Villains' by M.L. Rio

If We Were Villains

Author: M.L. Rio

Rating: C+

Vibe: Dark academia Shakespeare obsession with promising setup but predictable payoff

Quick Take: Gorgeous use of the Bard and compelling relationship dynamics, but loses steam when it needed to accelerate.

There's something deeply appealing about the idea of Shakespeare-obsessed theater students whose lives start mirroring the tragedies they perform. M.L. Rio's If We Were Villains opens with that exact premise: seven acting students at an elite conservatory who speak in iambic pentameter as naturally as ordering coffee, whose friendships are as intense as they are insular, and whose final year together ends in death and secrets. It's dark academia catnip, and for about half the book, it absolutely works.

Oliver Marks has just been released from prison after serving ten years for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day of his release, the detective who put him away wants to hear the real story—what actually happened during that final, fatal year at Dellecher Classical Conservatory. What follows is Oliver's confession about seven friends who lived and breathed Shakespeare so completely that the line between performance and reality dissolved entirely.

The setup is genuinely compelling, and Rio's greatest strength is her handling of Shakespeare himself. Rather than feeling like pretentious window dressing, the constant quoting and referencing creates an authentic world where these characters would absolutely communicate in Shakespearean fragments. The way the Bard's work bleeds into their daily lives—how they slip into verse during arguments, how their assigned roles (hero, villain, ingenue) start defining their relationships—feels earned and immersive. This isn't just literary showing off; it's world-building at its best.

The relationship between Oliver and James anchors the story's emotional core, and their connection feels genuine rather than convenient. There's real chemistry and complexity there, though I found myself wanting more development of their bond to fully justify some of the dramatic choices they make later. The moments we get—quiet conversations, shared looks, the weight of unspoken feelings—suggest a deeper relationship that could have used more page time to make the story's climax feel inevitable rather than merely dramatic.

But here's where the book started losing me: somewhere in the second half, the momentum that had been building so carefully just... deflates. What should have been an escalating thriller instead becomes a waiting game where you can see exactly where things are headed. I kept expecting more twists, more stakes, frankly more deaths to shake up the dynamics. Instead, the central mystery stretches believability in ways that took me out of the story. Individual character decisions start feeling convenient rather than organic, and the group's responses to tragedy feel more plot-driven than psychologically authentic.

It's impossible to read this without thinking of Donna Tartt's The Secret History—both books feature insular academic communities, obsessive study, and death among beautiful, damaged students. But where Tartt's characters felt genuinely unpredictable and dangerous, Rio's feel more like they're hitting familiar beats. The comparison isn't entirely fair—The Secret History is a masterpiece—but when you're working in the same territory, the bar is set pretty high.

For gay readers specifically, Oliver and James's relationship offers something meaningful, though the book doesn't dive as deeply into queer experience as it could have. Their connection is central to the plot without being exploitative, but I wanted more exploration of what it means to be young, gay, and in love within this hothouse environment.

If We Were Villains has real strengths—Rio's prose is lovely, his knowledge of Shakespeare is impressive, and the author creates an atmospheric world you want to inhabit. But it's a book that promises more than it delivers, building toward revelations that feel more expected than shocking. It's worth reading for the Shakespeare elements alone, but don't expect it to keep you guessing until the final page.

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