If We Were Villains

A Novel

By: M. L. Rio

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Oliver Marks has just served 10 years in jail - for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he's released, he's greeted by the man who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago.

As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress. But when the casting changes, and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the plays spill dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless. Intelligent, thrilling, and richly detailed, If We Were Villains is a captivating story of the enduring power and passion of words.

©2017 M. L. Rio (P)2017 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Much like Donna Tartt's The Secret History, M. L. Rio's sparkling debut is a richly layered story of love, friendship, and obsession.... If We Were Villains will keep you riveted through its final, electrifying moments." (Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, New York Times best-selling author of The Nest)

A modern tragedy

I found it a tad bit difficult to get into the story as I kept getting the characters confused. Eventually, I made a character cheat sheet on Pinterest with my own visual of what each character looked like and what the represented. As the book went on, I couldn’t put it down. It has been awhile since I couldn’t wait to go to bed to start reading. Absolutely beautiful writing with a gut wrenching tragedy.

Probably the best book I've read in a long time

I love this book. The plot is spectacular, the prose is beautiful, and the story is so heart-wrenching it made me cry. There is this constant mystery that the reader is trying to understand which isn't revealed until late in the story.

The only thing is... there are a couple things that are problematic. There is one scene where a character makes a cruel joke of an insult implying that being transgender is bad. There is also some stigma about eating disorders which is never addressed as if it is a real problem.

These are obviously not the best traits of a book but they are few and far between and, in my opinion, the book is so very worth it.

Thoroughly enjoyed

The performance is outstanding and the characters true in their self-absorption and willful disregard for anyone and anything outside their small world. It feels very much like colllege days. The author does an excellent job drawing the reader into their world.

Unexpected in the best way!

I cannot believe how eloquently this book is written and why it took so long for me to read/listen to it. The characters personalities are deep and the overlapping of Shakespeare is absolute perfection. It is a story for you to question along the way and you only understand until the end. I love it! I could listen to this 1000 times over.. highly recommend. The narrator needs an additional standing ovation for capturing the souls of each of the characters and bringing them to life! Well done!

Enjoyable but ending was bland

Very engaging, I feel like the ending didn’t really do some of the characters justices. Overall though it was compelling

The narrator was wonderful

The narrator was wonderful. This is a different genre than I’m used to reading and I was with it until about three quarters of the way through. But the ending was flimsy and a tragedy for all the wrong reasons.

A painful yet multifaceted tragedy for the Shakespeare-familiar reader

If you're not particularly familiar with Shakespeare's works, this may not be a good fit for you. This is weighty, complex, and tragic, full of layers upon layers of meaning and inference that may not land unless you're partly aware of the roles, plays, and even the format of an acting academic program. And if you happen to already be familiar with all of that... hang on to your butts. Some of the interpersonal dynamics are far too familiar, and some of the tragedy echoes too close to reality. Beautifully written and fabulously read/performed.

Predictable boring

Predictable and boring. I should have stopped and returned it but I kept going hoping for it to pick up.

Great book

Plot was great and the reading felt like watching a play. Adding 3 more words

Started very slow

I almost stopped listening after the first chapter. It should have began building the suspense much earlier.