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    If We Were Villains: A Novel
    If We Were Villains: A Novel
    If We Were Villains: A Novel
    Ebook445 pages6 hours

    If We Were Villains: A Novel

    By M.L. Rio

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    “Much like Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, M. L. Rio’s sparkling debut is a richly layered story of love, friendship, and obsession...will keep you riveted through its final, electrifying moments.”
    —Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, New York Times bestselling author of The Nest

    "Nerdily (and winningly) in love with Shakespeare…Readable, smart.”
    —New York Times Book Review

    On the day Oliver Marks is released from jail, the man who put him there is waiting at the door. Detective Colborne wants to know the truth, and after ten years, Oliver is finally ready to tell it.

    A decade ago: Oliver is one of seven young Shakespearean actors at Dellecher Classical Conservatory, a place of keen ambition and fierce competition. In this secluded world of firelight and leather-bound books, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingénue, extras.

    But in their fourth and final year, good-natured rivalries turn ugly, and on opening night real violence invades the students’ world of make-believe. In the morning, the fourth-years find themselves facing their very own tragedy, and their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, each other, and themselves that they are innocent.

    If We Were Villains was named one of Bustle's Best Thriller Novels of the Year, and Mystery Scene says, "A well-written and gripping ode to the stage...A fascinating, unorthodox take on rivalry, friendship, and truth."

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateApr 11, 2017
    ISBN9781250095305
    Author

    M.L. Rio

    M. L. Rio is the author of international bestseller If We Were Villains, which has sold 470,000 copies in English, been published in nineteen languages, and was recently optioned for limited series adaptation by Blink49 Studios and Eleven Films. She holds an MA in Shakespeare studies from King’s College London and Shakespeare’s Globe, and a PhD in English literature from the University of Maryland, College Park.

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    Reviews for If We Were Villains

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    • 5/5
      If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio is a 2017 Flatiron Books publication. This is a psychological thriller for deep thinkers. There is crime and there is punishment. There is mystery, suspense. There are intense characters, shallow ones too, those who are fatalistic and those who are tragic… just like a Shakespearean play.Ten years ago, Oliver Marks was one of seven Shakespearean actors at the prestigious Dellecher Classical Conservatory. Today he is about to walk out of a prison cell for the first time in a decade. How did he end up behind bars? That’s something Detective Colbourne would also like to know. He may have put Oliver in prison, but he knows there is more to the story than he's been told. He can’t rest until he coaxes the entire story out of Oliver once and for all. With Colbourne retired, and with nothing else to lose, Oliver grants Colbourne his wish. ‘But that I am forbid/ To tell the secrets of my prison -house,/ I could a tale unfold whose lightest word/ Would horrow up thy soul.’The story then flashes back ten years as Oliver walks us through the events that left him holding the bag for crimes he may or may not have been solely responsible for. When one of the seven elite actors’ dies, the remaining six thespians are the very picture of innocence. It was an accident after all… wasn’t it? But, Detective Colbourne’s senses they know more than they are telling. Are they as innocent as they appear or are they harboring a dark secret- one that is eating away at them more and more with each passing day?I tend to gravitate towards these types of stories, which are too few and far between, but I suppose that only makes me appreciate them even more when I stumble across one. The Shakespearean allegory is well done, as the stage is set for the ultimate tragedy. Our little acting coalition is as thick as thieves, too close, too driven, too immersed within their own little thespian world to cope with reality as most of us know it, which leads to grave consequences, when they begin to become the roles they often play on stage. Jealousy, competition, unrequited love, anger and resentment stir the bubbling pot until ‘exuent omnes’. I was so engrossed in Oliver’s tale, so mortified, so mesmerized and tantalized, and despite knowing most of the details of the crime in question, and that Oliver has obviously paid his debt, the suspense is still nearly unbearable, because I still didn't know WHY- or HOW things turned out this way. I was filled with such dread, I almost felt like I was back in Vermont at Hamden College listening to Richard Papen unfold a similarly horrifying tale of obsession. But, as morally questionable as those standing center stage may be, as superficial and self-absorbed, or in some cases, as honorable, or heroic- the classic “Villains VS Heroes”, if you will, the story is haunting and left a painful ache in my heart. “But that is how a tragedy like ours or King Lear breaks your heart- by making you believe that the ending might still be happy, until the very last minute.”The author did an amazing job with presentation and ‘staging’, as such, and created a vivid atmosphere, perfect for settling in for a modern Shakespearean tragedy. If you are a fan of the Bard, you will really appreciate the way the dialogue mirrors the events as they unfold and of course the bittersweet irony. This is not just a psychological thriller, it’s a literary novel filled with obsessions and angst, with beauty and horror, and a near pitch perfect delivery! This is a debut novel, incredibly, and I for one am pretty much blown away! Pulling out all the stars for this one!
    • 5/5
      This one reminded me very much (and in a good way) of Donna Tartt's The Secret History. I had a terrible time putting it down, and enjoyed it thoroughly, even if I did find most of the characters entirely unlikeable. A great read.
    • 4/5
      After serving a ten year sentence, Oliver Marks is confronted by the lead detective for the case asking that Oliver finally tell him the truth of what happened a decade earlier. As a drama student in his final year at a small private arts college whose program specializes in Shakespearean drama, Oliver was part of a tight-knit group of seven students. But over the course of the term fractures begin to appear leading to an event none of them anticipated. A dark, heavily Shakespearean mystery that builds so slowly and inevitably the reader spends the novel living with a level of dread that comes with knowing just what Othello will do to Desdemona. Filled with fascinating and complex characters who aren't always sympathetic but are always compelling to follow, I moved through the novel far quicker than I expected. Rio also excels at building a world for these characters to play in with setting descriptions so rich I felt fully immersed in this world. Recommended for readers of mysteries and thrillers who have a great love for Shakespeare.
    • 5/5
      Alexander, Filippa, James, Meredith, Oliver, Richard, and Wren are fourth-year theater students at a prestigious arts conservatory. Here, they breathe, eat, drink, live, and die Shakespeare, non-stop. Living together and acting against each other for so long, they know every inch of each other's soul. But they're also professional liars, so when Richard, the boisterous, violent, bully of the group, is found dead in the lake, they know not whodunit. This utterly devastating novel is an amalgamation of pretty much every bit of Shakespeare's tragedies. It's filled with love and betrayal and madness and murder and guilt and ghosts and spots that won't come out. The several plays that the students put on throughout the year merge with reality so you sometimes can't tell what's real and what's not.... and neither can the characters. If you love Shakespeare this is really and truly perfect.
    • 5/5
      In this novel, life imitates art. This is the tale of seven talented students who studied Shakespearean theater at a prestigious private school. It is told through the memories of one of the students, Oliver, who has just been released from prison. He describes their history, how it all went wrong, and how everyone played a part in the ultimate tragedy. This is one of the most beautifully written books I have read lately. Making it even more interesting is the ability of all of the students to quote Shakespeare throughout the story. This is a wonderful summer read for every English teacher or fans of the Bard.
    • 4/5
      Think Mystic River with a Shakespearean literary twist, and that somewhat explains this book. Having said that, there are mamy differences to this book as well. The story is about seven friends in their final year of drama school at an elite artistic conservatory of learning. The book is set up like a play with five acts and many scenes in each act. The seven students are totally immersed in Shakespearean theatre, and not only do they act in Shakespeare's plays, but they live and breathe Shakespeare all day long. Like any other college, their social life includes a local pub, many parties and cast get togethers. And also like any other college, there are many different personalities, even within their closed group of seven. A violent accident happens after one of their cast parties, and it forever changes the group dynamics, and these men and women are never the same again. As I was reading, I felt that i was a part of their closed little community in the tower building. This is not your ordinary thriller, but it is a thriller that is unique and spellbinding. And the ending will shock you to the core. Recommended.
    • 5/5
      I remember being stunned some twenty years ago by Donna Tartt’s startling debut novel The Secret History. It defied ready classification within existing genres, and launched a slew of imitators, though very few came close to matching it. The publisher’s plaudits strewn over the cover of M L Rio’s debut, If We Were Villains, compare it to The Secret History, and for once the allusion is justified. The basic scenario is certainly very similar: a group of seven students at a private college in America become obsessed with their studies, and it all ends badly. Instead of the classics, however, the students in this book are all aspiring and highly talented actors and have survived through to the final year of an intensely competitive drama course that focuses exclusively on the works of Shakespeare.Having been cast together in powerful plays over the last four years the group has become very close, and as with the protagonists in The Secret History, they have come to be viewed by other students as an exclusive and potentially sinister clique. Each semester there are a range of theatrical extravaganzas in which they all participate, which provoke short term rivalries both beyond and within the group. The dominant figure is Richard, a fine actor though hampered by a fragile personality that leaves him incapable of enduring criticism, or of being cast in anything but the leading role in any production. His beautiful girlfriend Meredith is equally accomplished, and while she does not display Richard’s egotistical traits, she does have her own demons to contend with. The rest of the group have their own quirks and idiosyncrasies, all perfectly plausible, and captured by M L Rio with great clarity.The novel is narrated by Oliver, the youngest (and perhaps the most ‘normal’) member of the group, who is looking back at the events of the story from a remove of ten years, during which time he has been in prison. His recollections are detailed, and balanced, and it is easy to believe that he has been reliving these events over the years. The prose is marvellous, scattered with quotations from Shakespeare’s works. This could easily fall flat, and come across simply as a means of showing how clever and well educated the writer is, but the author manages it marvellously. The quotations are always apposite, and serve to illuminate the characters’ prevailing neuroses.The comparisons with The Secret History are deserved but should not obscure the fact that this is a compelling and thrilling novel in its own right.
    • 1/5
      I'm so sad I didn't like this one. I loved the beginning but I couldn't get into it.
    • 4/5
      If We Were Villains is set at an eccentric conservatory/college that has a very exclusive program to train Shakespearean actors. The tight-knit coterie of seven students who survive the program's culling process to become fourth-years are all obsessed with Bard, to the point of using Shakespearean lines in every conversation. In this group Oliver, the narrator, is the "nice guy," not the one with the most talent, but the one everyone likes. How is it that he ended up serving ten years in prison for murder?I was concerned that this book might owe too much to The Secret History, but despite sharing a few plot elements the two novels are different. If We Were Villains held my attention with good writing and well-developed, vivid characters, even though I figured out the final plot twist before the end. Still, I highly recommend this novel.
    • 4/5
      "Actors are by nature volatile—alchemic creatures composed of incendiary elements, emotion and ego and envy. Heat them up, stir them together, and sometimes you get gold. Sometimes disaster."Sexy, dangerous, intoxicating, and fraught. Rio's mastery of this chilling mystery is vivid and harrowing as she explores the dark depths and layers of friendship, obsession, passion, and the consuming nature of the arts. Woven throughout with the evocative and pervasive words of William Shakespeare, If We Were Villains will haunt and enchant you to its final electrifying page.I lost my way somewhere in the middle of this story and ending up finding the mystery's conclusion to be predictable, but, as it turns out, the central theme of If We Were Villains is less the whodunit and more the characters, none of them particularly likable, and their passions, insecurities, and breaking points. Hold out for the final line of this book in which Rio will burn everything you thought you knew to the ground.
    • 5/5
      fiction/murder-intrigue. This started off a little slow, but quickly turns electric. A group of college-aged, Shakespeare-quoting theater students could easily become annoying to non-thespians, but with this drama-charged plot, Rio makes them magnetic. It does help if you know a little bit about Shakespearean plays, but it doesn't have to be a lot.
    • 4/5
      A great mystery-thriller kond of book that is not really of either genre. Seven 4th year acting students study nothing but Shakespeare and quote him relentlessly (and wonderfully) and eventually their lives take on their own tragedy. Shakespeare's plays/scenes are crafted into the text to add depth to both the plays and the novel. The mood is dark and stormy and makes for a great read!
    • 5/5
      The modern love story of Shakespearean plays where love— though complex and often misinterpreted—prevails everything. Love guides every character’s actions, even when you cannot quite see it. This novel shows us the complexity of humans, how we are not simply good or bad, but mixed
    • 4/5
      Dark and immersive!! M. L. Rio brings Shakespears' work alive in the pages and the characters. Aside from that they each still had their own prose and traits adding to the story. Loved it!!
    • 5/5
      I couldn’t put this book down, and when I had to all I thought about was what would be next. I fell in love with the characters and while I was frustrated with Oliver most of the time, my heart broke for him.
    • 5/5
      4,8 stars

      I went into this with plenty of apprehension. This book is pushed as perfect for fans of The Secret History, which is a book I had very high hopes for, none of which were fulfilled. This one, though.

      If We Were Villains is a book that pretty much realizes what I expected of The Secret History. I haven't sobbed like that at an ending to a book since Flowers for Algernon - both of them had me invested but not emotionally up until the very end, and then the floodgates opened.

      The characters are flawed and pretentious (can you be anything other than pretentious if you live and breathe Shakespeare?) but the writing wasn't, which made a huge difference in comparison to the aforementioned disappointment. I loved the writing, I enjoyed the unexpected splashes of humor in the dialogue, I actually believed these characters could be actual real people (again, unlike in it's predecessor).

      The one aspect I don't usually enjoy is the love triangle/emotional cheating. Even though Oliver and James only have a platonic relationship, it's also clear pretty early on that they love each other and are jealous of each other etc. Of course, in this instance the infidelity is more of the variety of not being honest with yourself and to what you know to be true.

      That ending, though. For me, it's a mark of a well written book when I start caring about the characters without realizing it and then something happens that just ruins my emotional well being.

      I have a feeling this might actually be a book I'll end up re-rereading some day. I am shooketh.
    • 4/5
      As a theatre major in late 90s/early 00s, I absolutely loved this book, but it definitely is not for everyone.
    • 5/5
      Murdery mystery + theater students who are both pretentious and undeniably human + so much Shakespeare. Glorious.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      4.75

      Murder, dark Academia and Shakespeare. Three of my favorite things! Lol. This was an absolute joy to read.
    • 4/5
      low key was disappointed that this didn't quite fill the secret history sized hole in my heart but ya know, it was still pretty goddamn fantastic

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Read as an audiobook, but lots of positive emotions and confusion at the end. Would like to read again in a physical copy to fully experience the story's twists and turns
    • 5/5
      Oliver is being released from prison after serving his sentence for murder. The detective who sent him there has also visited him through the years. Joe is no longer a cop. He wants to know the truth of what happened 10 years ago. Oliver agrees to tell him once he is out of prison. They meet at the school where it all happened and Oliver tells the tale. I loved this book. Oliver and his friends are drama students at Dellecher Classical Conservatory. They are now in their fourth year. Things are changing between them and not necessarily for the better. Richard has always gotten the leads in the Shakespearean plays they do. Meredith is his girlfriend and usually has the female lead. Oliver's roommate is James. They get the sidekick roles usually while Alexander gets the villain roles. Wren, Richard's cousin, and Filippa get the remaining female roles or cross-dress for the male roles. They have been accustomed to these roles although some would like to expand their repertoire. One night a party goes wrong and Richard is found in the lake bleeding. The remaining six make a decision. Is it the right one?So much happens. I liked how the book is written in an almost play format as Oliver tells the story.I did finally figure out who did it. I know why Oliver made his decisions. I could not say why the others made their decisions. Their last play together, King Lear, was explosive. I liked how the play ended. I cannot say I agree with Oliver's decision, but I understand it. I liked Filippa a lot. She is true blue. Meredith was a mean girl. I do not know what Oliver saw in her. I liked James. I wish a few things about him had been clearer throughout the story. Richard was a bully. Alexander was troubled. Wren was there but not always noticeable. This is one of the best books I've read this year. I was hooked from the first page.
    • 4/5
      This was a well-written, captivating debut novel. A quick read, full of interesting characters, with a nicely done ending. An appreciation of The Bard is helpful, but definitely not a prerequisite. I look forward to more from M. L. Rio. A solid 3.5 star read.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      This book was incredible! I read it in one sitting, in less than 5 hours, because I could not put it down. The main character has been in prison for 10 years for a crime we don't originally know the details of. Now that he is out, and the detective who pursued the case is retiring, he is finally ready to tell the truth of what happened. The characters are so complex, the solution is so twisty and suspenseful, and the end made me gasp out loud.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      Not really much of a murder mystery. Bunch of Shakespeare-quoting, rather annoying, drama students get wound up, the most obnoxious one ends up dead, anyone with half a brain can work out what happened from halfway through.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      4.5 Stars. This book so good. The characters are so unique and it really feels like we are getting a glimpse into a real friend group with flaws and rivalries and sexual tension. I flew through this book in two days. I could see how this book could feel a bit slow if you weren't reading the whole thing in a short period of time. I was hoping for a big twist ending but really this book is a thriller with a slow burn mystery. It explores friendships and rivalries and really digs into the psyche of actors and their craft. I can't believe this was a debut novel. This book is going to be one of those that stay with me for a long time. I haven't read anything like this in the past. It was dark and felt very real. I think this story is going to haunt me for a long time to come.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      The main attraction of this book is also its biggest problem: its similarity with Donna Tartt's The Secret History. The book is at its weakest when dealing with the story's 'detective' aspect and best when drawing the characters and their relationships. Some of the romantic involvements smack a little of adolescent fantasy, but this is a minor complaint. This is a sound and thoroughly enjoyable book, which would merit a great deal more praise if were not constantly bringing Tartt's masterpiece to mind.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 1/5
      This book fails against essentially any rubric I can set it -The characters are bad and all of the dynamics and relationships are forced - tons of segments I wanted to pencil "show, don't tell" into the margins. Richard is their friend and we are meant to believe this because it's what we're told, even though we literally never see him do anything that could be considered friend behavior, he acts like more of an enemy really, to the point that it makes no sense for the characters to resist reporting him to teachers or even police. Meredith is a promiscuous attention seeker we're told, despite the fact that the only encounters she has within the novel are with guys she lives with and has literally known for years. Oliver (the narrator, let me remind you) and James have what is depicted and described as a platonic friendship until midway through the book when we're abruptly told that actually they've been in a deep romantic relationship since before the book even began, and every other character knows and even comments on it...The storytelling is bad, too. The plot manages to be both predictable (the murder victim is obvious well before anybody dies just because he's the only character with no sympathetic qualities at all, and the first half of the book is spent having him make dick move after dick move; the murderer is obvious quickly as well) and also hilariously full of holes at the same time (how is Oliver convicted if they have someone else's bloody clothes? If even Meredith notices this evidence and there's also a cop who disbelieves Oliver's story enough to visit him for a decade, why do neither of them check it out?). The pacing is horrible - sections slow to a crawl because Rio's unwilling co-author Shakespeare is inserting his full scripts between every 20 pages of new content, so readers have to sit and reread Romeo and Juliet or Macbeth instead of the book they actually bought. In other places reveals get crammed after reversals fast enough to induce emotionally manipulative whiplash - surprise, this character is conveniently dead, mourn while you can because in 5 pages you'll discover the death was faked!Even the writing itself is bad! I was reading this with a friend and we got into the habit of texting each other horrible similes and metaphors when we'd stumble across them. A few favorites:"we squinted in the sunlight like tiny newborn babies""sleep rolled over the top of me like an affectionate furry pet""she laughed like a tigerlily bursting open""his cheeks were flushed as if he'd had his face rouged by a little girl who had no idea it was too much"Nothing else I can say will make my point as well as those quotes (all spoken by a grizzled excon who's just finished a ten year prison term), so I'll just leave it at that. Bad book, don't read. Especially don't read while in withdrawal after a Tartt novel.

      3 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      4.5. A small elite school, a theater program that is only about Shakespeare, seven friends, seniors, together from the beginning, strong, intense friendships formed. Oliver, our narrator, one of the seven, just released from spending tempers in prison. How did something so special, so promising, go so wrong?A novel of love, obsession, friendship passion and betrayal. Spending all their on and off time together, this little theater group becomes more important to each other than their real families, than the real world. Shakespeare takes over their lives, the plays they perform, always having to be on, the intense study, rehearsals, they even speak to each other in Shakespearean quotes. The author, and this her first book, does a fantastic job incorporating these quotes, fitting them into the context of the plot, often providing clues and foreshadowing into what has happened. Their obsessions with each other, and Shakespeare lead to dangerous breaks in reality. The plays begin to mimic life and these young people begin to fall apart, deconstruct with horrifying results. We learn so much about these characters, not only from the roles they play but in how they treat each other, how they behave when their loyalty is tested.Not you typical thriller, more character studies but suspenseful nonetheless. It is not necessary to have a full understanding of Shakespeare's plays but necessary I think to be willing to read many quotes and speeches. I loved every minute of it, thought it was brilliantly done was thoroughly captivated by the players and curious to how it would end. A very special, well thought out, and executed debut novel.ARC from BookBrowse.Releases April 7th by Flatiron books.
    • 5/5
      im left breathless and at a loss for words.
      thank you.

    Book preview

    If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio

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