The Stats
📖 BOOK REVIEW⠀📚
BOOK: If We Were Villains
AUTHOR: M.L. Rio @sureasmel
Publisher: GFlatiron Books @flatiron_books
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Published: April 11, 2017
The Review
The Title/Cover Draw:
- There were lots of recommendations for this book. Finally, I was watching a video by Alexandra Roselyn and she loved it, so I got it on audiobook from my library (which is how I recommend listening to it as well).
What I liked:
- The way Shakespeare was threaded through it. It was a very mysterious story and it pulls you forward in such a way that you are engrossed from the start.
What I didn’t like:
- Sometimes it was hard to keep the characters straight (I’m a visual person). But after a while you catch one.
What kept me reading:
- The mystery of why Oliver was in jail and how it actually happened.
The Characters:
- Oliver and James are so strong and loveable. They are passionate and caring characters that I connected with immediately.
The Ending:
- I was expecting more of a twist than I got, but that didn’t bother me. The ending was still good.
Narrator:
- Excellent characterization even if he could have been a little more distinct, especially with the females. What helped is there was always a notation before each person spoke.
Consider if you like:
- Shakespeare and theater and academics.
All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Small Summary:
Oliver Marks has just served ten 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, ingenue, extra. 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.