A story of finding and maintaining one’s individuality, the Dead Poets Society is a great book similar to If We Were Villains that captures the dark academia spirit. The school’s occult history is everywhere as girls gather in dark rooms but Felicity wants to leave that all behind after last year. Asked to help first-year and prodigy novelist Ellis Haley research the Dalloway Five for the girl’s second book, Felicity can’t say no. A mysterious figure rules over the manor and Olivia has a choice: to protect the world from his rule or take a place beside him.

The genre of dark academia mixed with Shakespearean players makes for a truly perfect blend. Still, If We Were Villains was an extremely daring and ambitious undertaking, especially for Rio’s debut novel. James - Oliver's roommate and best friend. He's popular, a great actor, and usually gets the great, tragic hero roles. How could we explain that standing on a stage and speaking someone else’s words as if they are your own is less an act of bravery than a desperate lunge at mutual understanding? An attempt to forge that tenuous link between speaker and listener and communicate something, anything, of substance.” The book opens with Oliver about to leave prison after a decade, serving time for murder. Detective Colborne - the police officer who arrested Oliver, has never really believed his story. Now he is about to retire, he asks Oliver if he will finally tell the truth about what really happened all those years ago.

if we were villains is a masterpiece crafted from the worst and deepest of our human afflictions. slowly watching each character spiral downward due to their own desire, secrets, heartache, and passion was so painful. it was also beautiful, in a devastating way. his whole world is falling apart & once he realizes he can’t stop it or fix it or change it, there’s only one thing left to do”

Richard Stirling, a talented actor who also hides an abusive dark side. He is a second generation actor. Plays The Tyrant. If We Were Villains is part of this dark academia aesthetics that has a soothing place in my heart. So, of course, I fell in love with it. This book is beautiful. Like, truly beautiful. And if you got a chance to read it, then read it with your mind and heart open, not only with your eyes. Because there is so much more to it than simply words. Nothing about her had ever seen it simple, but she was, then. Simple and close and beautiful. A little tousled, a little damaged." A large problem with If We Were Villains, in fact, is that it rests in The Secret History’s long shadow. This could perhaps be excused if the reader’s expectations weren’t set up that way going in: but it’s all there from the start, from the testimonial on the front which begins ‘Like Donna Tartt’s A Secret History…’ to the cover which pays a striking homage to the 1992 classic.

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The next morning, Oliver and Meredith are awoken by Filippa. She leads the group to the lake, where they find Richard with his skull broken. He is alive, but barely. James tries to help him, but is stopped by Alexander, who suggests they should let him die and thus end his reign of terror. The group agrees to wait for Richard to die, then call the police and pretend he was already dead when they came upon him. It’s a shame, as when the narration steps outside of the early modern period it proves compelling. The novel is exacting in its description of the minutiae of college life – people conspicuous by their absence, and the gradual closing-in of the police investigation. What Rio doesn’t quite capture, however, is the sense of growing guilt, of the slow descent into madness which made Tartt’s book what it was. None of the group regrets the death of their former friend, nor can the audience blame them – rather than subtly psychological, the violence is visceral (broken noses, bruised arms, smashed-in faces), and tied up in a none-too-subtle Julius Caesar metaphor. This means the second half cruises along without much direction, the group feeling vague paranoia without the moral ambiguity needed to give it any substance.

The degree to which the character dynamics affect this plot is just so so amazing. There is a genuine actual love triangle, as in every branch has some weird tension. (Actually, I don’t know how to make a love dynamic of this friend circle. Help them.) set the mood with candles, coffee/tea, blankets, and take advantage of the gloomy/cold fall weather. this book will demand all of your attention, so get comfy and focused. (it helps that this book is set in autumn & winter) drama students at an Elite Arts University are in their final year. They are as close as 7 people can be, they fight, they love and above it all they are obsessed with the works of Shakespeare (bear this in mind if you don't like Shakespeare as there are loads of quotes and sections in here). If We Were Villains begins at the end. Oliver Marks has been in jail for events that occurred ten years later. The investigating officer, Joseph Colborne, pays him a regular visit to let him know he’s retiring from the force and, again, seeks “the truth” about what happened.Then there is Chiamaka, whose Head Girl status means everything to her but power comes at a price – one that everyone now knows about.

Oliver confronts James during the intermission of Lear, and James reluctantly confesses. As Richard stormed out of the Caesar cast party, he assaulted Wren, who was trying to calm him. Wren then begged James to go after Richard, fearing he would hurt himself. James searched for him by the lake, only to realize Richard had been following him the whole time. Richard began to taunt and threaten him, eventually making a homophobic remark in which he accused James and Oliver of being in love with one another and threatening to drown James in the lake. James then grabbed the nearest item — the boat hook — and hit him with it. James also admits that Filippa knew about the murder, and it was she who burned his bloody shirt in the fireplace. This book is so haunting, so atmospheric, so gripping, and so perfect. And If you, too, love The Secret History by Donna Tartt then I recommend this book with every single bone in my body. Also, this is such a love letter to Shakespeare and all his work, so if you appreciate that I think you’ll also fall so head over heels for this story. I’m honestly not sure what I expected going into If We Were Villains, but it is now one of my favorite books of all time.I was able to look past a lot of the cheesy and over the top moments because I really truly wanted to have a good time reading this. I was ready for something light, maybe even a little silly. And the first two acts really delivered. Even though it was kinda cheap, I liked how the plot of If We Were Villains was actually reminiscent of the plot of the Shakespeare plays at the center of the story. Their performance of Macbeth had me on the edge of my seat. It was so thrilling. I loved experiencing a play I like so much through the eyes of these misfits. Also, Alexander as Hecate is everything. Patroclus is exiled by his own father after accidentally killing a boy of noble birth. But soon, he finds himself falling in love with the skilled and attractive demi-god, Achilles. If We Were Villains lured me in, like a fish to a hook, by appealing to my dark academia loving heart. Shakespearian aesthetics, academic setting, homoeroticism, a secret society whose members communicate (pretentiously) through literary quotes, characters doing morally dubious things at odd hours, a devastating murder, and M.L. Rio has set the scene for an exhilarating, unsettling, and devastating thriller. In short, I was never going to surface from this story with my emotions intact.