If We Were Villains cover art

If We Were Villains

A Novel

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If We Were Villains

By: M. L. Rio
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
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About this listen

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 Coming of Age Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Exciting

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)
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Great story but it felt like it ended to meet a deadline, not because it was over.

Shakespeare

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I had heard great things about this book so I listened wondering if it would be able to live up to the expectation. It did, then left me with that ending!

Loved it!

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I enjoyed the story but felt abit flat at times and I had to push myself through it abit. But overall I felt it was a good story .

Performance

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This is the perfect combination of a fantastic book with a fantastic reader. Petkoff captures Oliver and each character excellently and the quoted Shakespeare was equally superb. A thrilling story with some real characters you can love. Highly recommend, especially if you are a fan of the theatre or Shakespeare, this will tickle your fancy and your inner theatre kid in just the right ways.

'Lets sit upon the ground and tell sad stories...'

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A three-act roller coaster of suspense and romance. I’ll be thinking about the ending long after the book is closed.

I’ll be thinking about this novel for a while

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After about 2 hours I couldn’t stop. Just keep listening. Fun love entertain sad enjoyable

Slow to start but keep listening

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OH GOD. HOW DOES ONE EVEN RECOVER FROM A BOOK LIKE THIS?
When I tell you that I give heavy with the dark academia aesthetic, this is the exact book you need to read to understand what I mean. The theatre nature about this book made me nostalgic for the days I sent studying theatre performance in my undergrad. The love these seven students have for Shakespeare reminded me of how much I love him too. I wish I was able to memorise passages well. I’d never stop quoting Shakespeare. Dellecher is the kind of school that you wished you went to for your academic learning. I wish I had a tight group of friends like the ones in this book (minus the murder bit). The unique element that I enjoyed about this book was how the climax happened early in the book. I won’t lie, I was able to guess who was going to get killed and who did it so there really wasn’t much for the element of surprise. Rio brilliantly showed us the downfall of the students and how such a tragedy can impact each of their souls and lives. Honestly, nothing short of magnificent. I cried at the ending because I didn’t expect it whatsoever. The alternate timelines was also beautifully done. Not too much of the present tense and just the right amount of past tense. The characters are uniquely flawed. The only character I wish we got more from was Wren. God I can’t even begin to describe how much I love this book. This is the kind of book that ruined me emotionally and will stick with me for a lifetime. I’m glad I have a physical copy so that I can go back and read it all the time. Rio had me captivated the entire time. I never wanted to put it down. How does one go back to normal after discovering their favourite book of all time?

THIS IS IT! MY FAVOURITE BOOK OF ALL TIME!

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As my first look at dark academia, this wasn’t bad. The story had a great hook and the characters were developed well enough, but it just felt like in the end, it needed more of the actual characters and less Shakespearean filler. The intense overuse of Shakespearean dialogue felt like lazy writing and got deeply annoying after a short time. The book was far better when we were hearing the character’s inner thoughts and descriptions rather than a replay of all the plays they were doing.

First glimpse of Dark Academia

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Beautiful, sensual, tragic. Perfect work of queer dark academia, which the voice actor brings to life wonderfully. Possibly my new favourite book.

Exquisite

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He was amazing. The book I could was ok, give or take, but the narrator did an amazing job.

Narrator should get an award

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