(Contains no spoilers!)
I read a book, not for a class, but for fun for the first time in a while, and now everyone needs to hear about it! It was a spontaneous purchase between me and my friend whom I accompanied while she ran some errands. We decided to check out Barnes and Noble and were both immediately drawn to the same book because of its cover. Now I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but this one was really pretty, and I liked the title of it! We didn’t know anything about it besides the fact that it was in the mystery/thrillers section, and it had something to do with theater students based on a very brief look at the back of the book’s summary.
I’m a big fan of going into shows, movies, and books blind, so we decided to both buy a copy right then and there. I almost didn’t buy myself a copy because me and my friend were originally just going to share one but then the store clerk showed us an alternative cover of the book with red sprayed edges that I immediately had to buy for myself. And I'm not saying you should always go and buy books just because they have a cool cover...but this one’s story did just happen to have been just as good.
Theater students gone rogue
Oh the drama of being a student actor! The story follows a group of college students studying theater who find themselves looped in a downward spiral of rivalry in their close friend group. Each character plays the same parts on stage that fit their natural personalities: the hero, the villain, the tyrant, the ingénue, the femme fatale, and the extras. It’s very much a life-imitates-art type of group that can’t help but directly reflect the characters they play. These characters
represent the complexities of human relationships and how good and evil could coexist within us, which is my favorite aspect of the story.
For the Love of Shakespeare
Shakespeare himself does not appear in this book, but he might as well be named one of the main characters. Many of his plays are mentioned and performed by the main characters throughout the book including Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear. They also quote from him often, using his words to conversate with each other like real theater nerds (not derogatory). M. L. Rio, the author, also has a Masters in Shakespeare studies so you can trust that this book is written with great love and care in his work.
Listen While You Read
There are many aspects of If We Were Villains that I could rant about, but I don’t want to spoil it too much. I will, however, provide a QR code for a Spotify playlist I created that exudes the vibes of the overall book. In a short novella M. L. Rio wrote titled Graveyard Shift, she provided a playlist of songs to listen to while reading which inspired me to do the same for this novel.
There are hints to what occurs in the book in some of the songs included in this playlist, so if you are someone who doesn’t like anything containing minor spoilers, then you could just skip a peak at it.
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