“For someone who loved words as much as I did, it was amazing how often they failed me.”
It’s no secret that we here at What We Reading have become big fans of the dark academia genre over the past couple of years or so. There’s just something so delicious about witnessing a whole bunch of smart people descend into psychological obsessions and moral horrors. From Benjamin Wood’s The Bellwether Revivals to Alex Michaelides’ The Maidens, we’re yet to experience a dark academia book that hasn’t struck all the right notes with us. M.L. Rio’s debut novel, If We Were Villains, has become one of the most successful dark academia novels ever since its release, inviting plenty of comparisons to giant names in the genre, namely The Secret History. But, how did this Shakespearean-infused tragic mystery stack up, both against Donna Tartt’s acclaimed classic, and on its own merits? Join us at What We Reading for our If We Were Villains book review to find out!
Date Published: 2017
Author: M.L. Rio
Genre: Dark Academia, Mystery
Pages: 354
Goodreads Rating: 4.12/5
If We Were Villains Summary
At the elite Dellecher Classical Conservatory, a close-knit group of Shakespearean actors lives and breathes their art. Among them is Oliver Marks, freshly released from prison after serving ten years for a murder that he may – or may not have – committed. The story opens with his release, greeted by the detective who put him away. Detective Colborne wants to know the truth about what happened all those years ago.
Flashing back to their fourth and final year at Dellecher, Oliver and his six classmates are cast and recast in increasingly intense roles, blurring the lines between performance and reality. As rivalries simmer and friendships fracture, a real tragedy unfolds – with harrowing consequences. With lyrical prose and a deep reverence for Shakespeare, If We Were Villains is a haunting, suspenseful tale about ambition, identity, obsessions, and the dangerous magic of pretending for too long.
What Worked
Off the bat, If We Were Villains is a novel that nails all the requirements any reader of dark academia would expect. From the lonely, isolated nature of the group’s accommodation, the frozen lake and dense woodlands surrounding them, to the stages and venues of their performances together, the settings capture the intense, eerie mood perfectly. The mystery at the heart of the novel keeps the audience hooked, and there’s more than enough in each character to drive the narrative forward, with a host of believable and compelling potential culprits in mind.
The way in which M.L. Rio establishes each of the characters with their own unique and distinctive traits and personalities help them all standout from one another; however, one element we especially enjoyed was the way in which these characteristics fed into their on-stage characters, and how intertwined it all became with how they acted as the story progressed. It feeds exceptionally well into the novel’s themes of identity, obsession, and performance.
The structure of the novel also works exceptionally well for giving If We Were Villains a unique flavour of its own. Everything from how the dialogue is shown to how the novel is broken up into four separate acts does infuse the book with a screenplay feel, and naturally plays into the feeling of this all being a performance told by Oliver, whose entire life is dedicated to that very art.
What Didn’t
Whilst we enjoyed the ambiguous ending, these sorts of finales can sometimes be a divisive point for some readers.
If we had one complaint about If We Were Villains, it would be to do with the pacing of the book. Compared to a novel like The Secret History, everything is delivered at a far greater speed. Whilst this does help make the story feel much more like a gripping mystery-thriller, there are instances where some relationships develop faster than what feels natural. Without wanting to give away any spoilers, the relationship between Meredith and Oliver is a prime example.
Again, avoiding spoilers, the build-up to the tragedy at the heart of the novel also feels slightly rushed. It would have been great to have seen a bit more growing tension among the group, how different characters could have all had their own motivations and reasons to be kept in the audience’s mind more than they were.
Given that the story is told through Oliver’s perspective, it’s natural that the majority of the spotlight is going to be shone on those he was closest to. Nevertheless, all of these characters were great, and it would have been great to have had a little more time seeing them fleshed out even further.
Verdict
Let’s get the big one out of the way first: we would probably have to give The Secret History the edge over If We Were Villains.
With that out of the way, we can go back to applauding M.L. Rio’s international bestseller for the brilliant book it is in its own right.
If We Were Villains more than earns its reputation as one of the best dark academia novels in recent times. There’s a chilling and suspenseful mystery at the heart of the novel that does a wonderful job of hooking readers throughout and capturing the dark, thespian themes both in Shakespearean tragedies and these intimate elitist circles that Rio immerses the audience in.
However, what makes If We Were Villains such a beautifully addictive thriller is its characters, all of whom do a stellar job of demonstrating the ways in which performance, obsession, and identity can all collide and play a role in driving the decisions we make over the course of our lives.
Our Verdict: 5/5
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
