Book Blog: If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
IF WE WERE VILLAINS by M.L. Rio
★★★★½
This story is a haunting tale of ambition, friendship, and betrayal, where Shakespearean tragedy bleeds into real life with devastating consequences.
“For us, everything was a performance.” This line captures the essence of M.L. Rio’s debut novel, which transports readers to a fictional, elite Shakespearean conservatory. Here, a close-knit group of seven friends spend their days immersed in the works of the Bard, their identities blurring the line between their roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingénue, and extra. Oliver serves as our main narrator, who considers himself simply lucky enough to be there amongst his friends. His story begins in a peculiar place: at the start of his parole after ten years in jail, where he reveals he’s finally ready to share what happened the night of one of their classmates' fateful murder.
There’s no other way to put it: this book, rightfully so, has excessive amounts of drama. Throughout the story, each character routinely, (and somewhat insufferably) recites Shakespeare for pages at a time. But Rio’s clear mastery and affection for the topic (self described as a “recovering actor turned academic”, she holds an MA in Shakespeare studies herself) shines through Oliver’s voice and captures the intensity and focus of art school life – the sense that every action, is both dramatic and performative. “Imagine having all your own thoughts and feelings tangled up with all the thoughts and feelings of a whole other person. It can be hard, sometimes, to sort out which is which.”
Each friend’s life closely mirrors the very tragedies they perform, particularly Macbeth and King Lear, with their themes of power, loyalty, and treachery. Rio’s characters are deeply intertwined, and she explores the complex emotions that drive these friendships and rivalries, particularly in an industry that relies so heavily on competition. “Far too many times I had asked myself whether art was imitating life or if it was the other way around.” As the story progresses, it is clear that these young actors have become typecast in their roles both on and off the stage, whether they like it or not. They are unable to break free, doomed to re-enact Shakespeare’s darkest themes until the very scenes they spend so much time rehearsing crumble into real-world violence.
Oliver is an expressive narrator, who equally muses on both the negative and positive of pursuing a life in the performing arts, and the sacrifices that must be made for it. The atmosphere crafted is so vivid and immersive that it will make any actor/performer feel a pang of nostalgia for the insular, intense life of conservatory training. But the environment is as alluring as it is isolating — when you’re immersed in your own little world, it’s easy to forget the realities and responsibilities that exist outside its walls, particularly when the police come poking around.
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"Pulls the reader in from the first page...A well-written and gripping ode to the stage...A fascinating, unorthodox take on rivalry, friendship, and truth, [this book] will draw readers in and leave them pondering the weight of our biggest actions and their consequences." —Mystery Scene
"This is a rare and extraordinary novel: a vivid rendering of the closed world of a conservatory education, a tender and harrowing exploration of friendship, and a genuinely breathtaking literary thriller. I can’t recommend this book highly enough, and can’t wait to read what M. L. Rio writes next."—Emily St. John Mandel, New York Times bestselling author of Station Eleven
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“Make art, make mistakes, and have no regrets.” This is a must-read for theater lovers and dark academia fans alike, with Shakespearean-level twists that will keep you engrossed until the literal last page.
Find If We Were Villains at your local library or shop at Bookshop.org!
