Rio drops us right into the middle of an insular group of Shakespeare students, and from the beginning we know each of the characters extremely well. They are an unusual lot. They carry on their day-to-day lives as though they were the characters they are playing on stage, even to the extent of conversing mostly in Shakespearean quotes. While this might seem altogether too precious in a less talented author's hand, Rio manages to make this obsessive environment seem realistic for a group of 20 somethings.

The book takes place during the group's final year at an arts conservatory, the year in which the students take on Shakespeare's tragedies. As the students immerse themselves in their roles, the emotional and physical intensity of Shakespeare's characters play out in the students themselves. By mid-year, one of the students is dead and the others are on the road to disintegration.

The book is told in flashbacks (scenes) by one of those students as he is released from prison ten years after the events of that fateful year. The plot is fascinating both on its own and also in the manner in which it mirrors many of Shakespeare's tragedies. But the characterization is really where Rio shines. Setting, character, plot...they are all handled as if by a master rather than the debut novelist that Rio is.

Unfortunately a family emergency happened and I never downloaded If We Were Villains. I apologize for the inconvenience. Downloads will happen much earlier to avoid this issue in the future.

College students can be pretentious a-holes. I know, because I was one. I was a student of literature (see? Why couldn’t I just say “English major”?) instead of theater, like the group of friends in If We Were Villains, but the effect is the same. Throwing out obscure references in casual conversation, trying to out-intellectualize everyone else, making mundane observations in a way that is supposed to seem “deep”—21-year-old Taryn was guilty of all of that. There is a particular high that comes from eviscerating another student’s point with textual evidence, a sharp tone, and a haughty flip of one’s hair. I remember it well.

So yeah, the characters in this book are pretentious to the max. They attend an exclusive art school where students are cut from the theater program each year, leaving only a handful to survive to senior year. Oh, and they perform Shakespeare. ONLY Shakespeare. Because no other play ever written by anyone else in the history of the world is worthy of their attention, obvs. The seven friends/frenemies that make up the cast, if you will, quote Shakespeare constantly, even in their off-time, even when completely plastered. Like the characters they play onstage, they are larger than life, their flaws and foibles magnified, their romantic entanglements and betrayals explosive. While part of me was rolling my eyes at them, another part was salivating to see what crazy shit they were going to do to each other next.

Because crazy shit is a guarantee from the beginning. One of the seven died senior year, and another one of the seven went to jail for it. Now ten years have passed and he’s being released from prison, but the true story of what happened and why is…complicated. I couldn’t turn pages fast enough to unravel the mystery. And the book is peppered throughout with descriptions of performances they staged, which worked so well and brought the story so vividly to life. Especially when the actors go off-script. (Think about it—anything can happen onstage during a performance. You could physically hurt another actor, and they would have to choose between breaking character and ruining the show, or taking it stoically so the show can go on. I had never realized how vulnerable you are to the people you’re performing with! Yikes!! How did I survive all those high school musicals?)

I got a bit of whiplash from a couple of too-fast plot twists right at the end of the book, but overall, If We Were Villains was a super fun way to revisit my past. And it made me thankful I escaped my pompous college days without a brush with murder.

With regards to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the advance copy. On sale today, April 11!

If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio (debut)
Publisher: Macmillan
Release Date: April 11, 2017
Length: 368 pages

Single Sentence Summary: At an elite art college, seven young acting students (performing only Shakespeare) are the best of friends until one is found dead and another is charged with the murder.

Primary Characters: If We Were Villains is a story that centers on seven students from a private conservatory in Illinois. All play a prominent part in the story. Oliver, newly released from prison, narrates.

Synopsis: Richard, Meredith, Filippa, Alexander, Wren, James and Oliver are the seven remaining fourth-year acting students at Dellecher Classical Conservatory in Broadwater, Illinois. At this elite art school the number of students moving on is pared down every year leaving only a handful to finish each program. Those in theatre perform Shakespeare exclusively. The seven actors are very close. They live together, attend classes together, act together and socialized together. They’ve made it to the top and are excited for the year ahead. When the expected castings change just a little, tensions mount until one is found dead and the others are left trying to convince themselves and the police that none are to blame.

Review: If We Were Villains is an absolutely incredible debut. I don’t think I’ve enjoyed another book more this year. Bravo to M. L. Rio! If We Were Villains has been compared to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. Comparing a new book to another beloved book is a big risk. Often times doing so sets the reader up for disappointment. That did NOT happen here. If We Were Villains constantly reminded me of The Secret History, one of my all-time favorite books. Both take place at a small college where the key players study some sort of “classics.” Both involve a group of close friends. And, both involve a killing. More importantly though, both are books I could not put down!

The cast of characters in this book is studying and performing Shakespearian plays. Their love of Shakespeare is why they are at the school. It’s also why they have developed a common affectation of peppering their conversations with snippets of quotes from The Bard. Initially, this might be a little off-putting to some readers. For me it was just a part of who the characters were, and it was something I quickly grew used to. Not being a real follower of Shakespeare, I felt like If We Were Villains schooled me a little. I’ve not been to anything by Shakespeare in years, but now think I’d like to try him again.

A cast of seven characters can get cumbersome, but that didn’t happen in If We Were Villains. Rio was able to develop each of her characters into very real people that I felt like I truly knew. I didn’t always like each one, but I eventually understand them. It was compelling to watch the slow disintegration of their friendships.

“The moral outrage we should have suffered was quietly put down, like an unpleasant rumor before it had a chance to be heard. Whatever we did – or, more crucially, did not do – it seemed that so long as we did it together, our individual sins might be abated. There is no comfort like complicity.”

Rio logically set her book up using a play motif. Divided into five acts, each started with a prologue featuring Oliver in the present. The remaining parts of each act were broken into scenes, telling the story of what happened to the seven friends during their final, fatal year of school. The build up of tension, both between the friends and within the plot as a whole, was palpable. The nervous energy it created made it impossible for me to put this book down. If We Were Villains is truly a MUST read book! Grade: A

Note: Thank you to Macmillan for providing me a copy of this book (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.

Debut author and a self-described “word nerd”, M.L. Rio, holder of a Master’s degree in Shakespeare Studies, uses her background to write a stunning mystery revolving around a cast of self-absorbed young actors that the Bard himself would be proud of.

The book opens with the protagonist, Oliver Marks, about to be released from prison after serving ten years for murder. The man who put him there is still not convinced that he did it. Oliver agrees to tell him the truth on one condition: that there be no repercussions for the real culprit.

Cut to ten years ago, when Oliver is a theater major in his final year at the elite Dellecher Classical Conservatory. His circle consists of his fellow thespians and housemates, all so deeply entrenched in the Shakespeare-only syllabus of their school that they often have entire conversations in quotes and poetry. Over the course of their last year, as the group performs works as varied as Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet among others, we come to know their insecurities and their motivations. The story comes to a head when an unexpected death exposes the fault lines in an ostensibly tight-knit group and the line between reality and play-acting is truly blurred.

The story is told from the perspective of Oliver Marks, but we get to know his six peers very intimately. Each one is distinctive and memorable, and I honestly can’t decide who my favorite is. I really enjoyed the friendship between the students, individually and as a whole. Each relationship in this book – whether romantic or platonic – is complex and realistic and interesting.

I found the book to be exceedingly clever. Ms Rio does a tremendous job of piecing together the events of ten years ago with the reality of the present. Despite the heavy influences of Shakespeare, the book has a distinct narrative voice. Oliver, James, Wren, Filippa, Richard, Meredith, and Alexander are fully fleshed out and vivid characters, both on and offstage. These characters speak Shakespeare like a language in its own right, with double meanings layered into every sentence.

If We Were Villains is a love letter to Shakespeare and the theater. Ms Rio’s characters often blur with the characters they play and are affected by the plots they recreate. Shakespeare isn’t just mentioned in this book a lot, his writing is almost a character in an of itself, and it is brilliant! I will say, that Ms Rio definitely has an exhaustive knowledge of Shakespeare (obviously), and someone who isn’t very familiar with his writing may not quite understand some of the subtleties of this book.

That being said, I would recommend this book to all fans of the Bard and anyone who loved The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

I was really looking forward to reading this (having followed this author on various social media for a while now), and it did not disappoint. If We Were Villains is an intelligent and moving story about friendship, passion, guilt, and the role Shakespeare played in all of the above for a group of seven student actors in their final year at the fictional Dellecher Classical Conservatory. This group of friends has spent years playing the same roles over and over onstage and off, but when their instructors decide to mix up their casting, cracks begin to form in their carefully constructed group dynamic, and in a few short months, one of them ends up dead. Oliver Marks is convicted and spends ten years in prison, but it's only after he's released that he's ready to tell the truth about what happened that night.

If you've seen the comparisons to The Secret History, you'll know to expect plenty of character drama and academic geekery, and a bit of murder, but the comparisons stop there. Despite the fact that these characters have long conversations speaking only in Shakespeare quotes, If We Were Villains is actually a lot less pretentious than The Secret History (I say this with love - I adore The Secret History). The characters in If We Were Villains are much more likable, too, for the most part. I felt their youth much more acutely than I did with Donna Tartt's characters, who all seemed larger than life and at times much older than college-age. Rio creates a host of characters who are are each in their own way memorable, vulnerable, and sympathetic. This is every bit as much a coming of age story as it is a thriller - probably more so. The twists were mostly easy to guess a mile off, but it didn't matter, because I was so immersed in these characters that I found it gratifying to watch their story unfold.

Rio's prose flows with a natural elegance, and although Shakespeare himself does a lot of the legwork (his quotes infusing this narrative with such frequency) Rio holds her own. One word I'd use to describe this book is 'concise': not a word is out of place; not a scene is extraneous. It's a relatively short novel, but it doesn't feel underdeveloped, because Rio succinctly shows us everything we need to see in order to form the full picture. And it's a gorgeous picture - the setting of Dellecher is so vivid that I truly felt transported straight into this world, straight into that castle-like dormitory by the lake, straight into that world of Shakespearean drama.

People tend to be very polarized about Shakespeare. Love him or hate him, everyone has a rather strong opinion. I think I'm in the minority in falling somewhere in the middle: I've enjoyed the Shakespeare productions I've seen but I don't actively seek them out; I mostly like reading his work, but again, don't make it a priority. So I'm going to actually argue that you don't need to be a Shakespeare aficionado to enjoy If We Were Villains. Does having a love of Shakespeare enrich the overall experience of reading this novel? Undoubtedly. This is a book for Bardolators, first and foremost, and if you love Shakespeare, you should pick this up immediately. Rio's extensive knowledge shines through every inch of this narrative. But there is a sort of universality to the passion that these students display, and the Shakespeare is adequately contextualized, so that it's possible to get something from this book even if you aren't intimately familiar with the plays these students perform.

This novel isn't without faults, of course. The descriptions of the performances themselves tend to be rather indulgent and don't do much to propel the narrative forward. The concept of each of these productions is gorgeous (and I'd love to see Rio direct them!) but for such a short novel, I'd rather have spent that time focusing on other things.

I do have another complaint having to do with a sudden shift in a certain character's behavior, and not fully understanding the impetus behind that (keeping this deliberately vague for fear of spoilers). There was something about this characterization - and the way the rest of the group reacted to it - that felt a bit like a plot device designed to move the rest of the narrative forward. From that point on the story and characters resumed their believability, but I did have this one moment in particular where I found myself thinking 'I'm not buying this.' But ultimately there was enough that I liked about this novel to compensate for this one element.

A solid 4.5 stars. This is a really stunning debut that forces the reader to think about guilt and culpability; about youth and passion; and about art and life and the way the two coexist so intensely. I loved reading this and I'd highly recommend it to anyone with a fierce love of the humanities - and in particular, of course, Shakespeare.

Beginning in 2007, Oliver Marks is greeted on his last days of imprisonment by the detective who put him there in M. L. Rio’s debut novel, If We Were Villains. Soaked in Shakespeare, Villains tells two stories: Oliver’s release from prison and his following conversation with Detective Colborne and the conversation itself: a retelling of what, exactly, happened at the Dellecher Classical Conservatory in 1997. One of seven remaining fourth-years at the elite school in the theatre department, Oliver is, compared to his six friends, decidedly ordinary. There’s Richard, who can nearly be described as a high school jock stereotype (though, not, as he is somewhat more complex and is a twenty-two-year-old theatre student), always cast as some king or equivalent; Meredith, his on-and-off girlfriend who is consistently cast as the temptress; Alexander, the moody and intense — too intense for his own self as he self-medicates with various substances — naturally and often cast as a villain; Filippa, nearly as much a bystander as Oliver, somewhat androgynous and cast just the same; James, a source of comfort for Oliver who is regularly cast as some hero or other; and Oliver himself, James’s sidekick both on- and off-stage. With a group so tightly wound around each other to the point of near-exclusion of other students and a natural inclination toward drama and theatrics, it’s no surprise that their lives implode when one of the students dies, or is killed, or has an accident, or who-knows-what and there’s the question of whether it’s better to know or to not know.

Having followed Rio as DukeofBookingham on Tumblr for a few years, I know a little bit about how this story came to be and the author’s work on it. It’s been a strange experience, coming into this piece of literature that I feel relatively intimately connected to, compared to any other book I’ve ever read. It made me look at the book differently and, I think, more critically. Rio regularly provides writing advice to her followers, so I went in expecting the best and, really, (probably unfairly) specifically looked for flaws. There weren’t many.

Rio, a big fan of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, incorporated much of one of her favorite novels into Villains: the setting, the tormented students, the relationships that spur on problems, death, an obsession with a scholarly pursuit. What I preferred in Villains over History, however, was that the novel’s narrator wasn’t quite so periphery as in History. I love periphery narrators (perhaps one of the biggest reasons I really enjoy The Great Gatsby — while Nick is present in the lives of the people he speaks of, he doesn’t act a whole lot. In fact, his inaction probably leads to a good amount of the tragedy that occurs — but I digress). Rio, however, made an excellent choice in giving Oliver more agency as a character in this instance. She very well could have made him a simple bystander, but Oliver’s guilt in all of this is far more interesting for his action, both direct and indirect.

Oliver as a narrator is observant and detailed. Readers learn about the specific architectural history of Dellecher (which I felt at points was overkill, but did do some work to build the scene). As the seven students live in what is known as the Tower, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Gryffindor dormitories of Harry Potter fame. I don’t believe this was intentional, but it did cast a sort of magical shimmer on the events of the novel without any other sort of magical realism going on, beyond, perhaps, some delusions. But back to Oliver’s narration and Rio’s skill with description: rarely, if ever, did the language become cliché. With Shakespearean quotes strewn about the text (again, perhaps too much, though it certainly served to demonstrate the characters’ immersion), anything said outside of that context was fresh. The description of the dead character’s body, in particular, was so striking I skipped lines and came back, skipped lines, came back — unusual, for me.

Also a bit overwhelming was the sheer number of primary characters. One of the female characters (I won’t say who so as to avoid leading you to figuring out which student dies) I could have done without as her involvement throughout the novel seems relatively minimal. Despite this, nearly everyone was well-developed and their individual relationships with each other similarly so, which was especially impressive given how many there were. Colborne, as a character, leaned toward a detective stereotype, though as his role as character in the novel was small, I ignored him, mostly. Meanwhile, Shakespeare’s presence felt lacking. Although his words can be found on nearly every other page, there was something missing in his influence on the students, particularly as Oliver blames Shakespeare for “all of it.”

Rio incorporates a fair amount of twists toward the end. While each one was at least a little surprising, the overwhelm of them felt somewhat gimmicky and insincere. This, too, was how I felt about a major decision made around the death of the one character, which featured a thought process I just couldn’t buy into. The character was awful, to be sure, but that awful? I wasn’t convinced. Additionally, the remaining character’s decision seemed moot: the time it would have required to act was not equal to the time in which things wrapped up (and, apologies for the vagueness here, but I don’t want to spoil it!). It’s a grand idea, just perhaps not executed well and, certainly, not easy to execute.

Rio’s first novel is clearly well-plotted, well-constructed, and well-written, if a little insincere at parts. I always felt a bit aware that I was reading fiction, as if Rio held back somewhat — perhaps due to her background in theatre in some way or other, but I won’t speculate too much on why, because I don’t know that it matters. Villains is a good next-pick for fans of The Secret History or Paper Covers Rock. Ultimately, I hard a hard time putting it down. With great attention to detail, Rio has a good amount of success with Villains and I’m looking forward to whatever comes from her next.

(4.5/5 stars)

For all you lovers of Shakespeare, teachers of the Bard, and attendees of festivals, this book is for you. The premise is deliciously different from many other 'thrillers' of today. Setting the plot at a prestigious arts institute, with the focus on the seven fourth-year actors, debut author M.L. Rio shows off her chops...and this woman knows her Shakespeare! The story begins when Oliver is just finishing up his decade in prison and the policeman who put him there arrives to make a deal - 'Tell me the real story of that night and I can retire in peace.' Thus the tale begins of these seven students, their last year together before graduation, the complicated ties amongst both students and teachers, the staging of Julius Caesar, Macbeth, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet and all the ways these plays interact within their lives. Of course, it is a tragedy so a dead body and some mystery is involved, but Rio does a masterful job of fully developing each of these seven actors, as well as what motivates their behavior. Sprinkled generously throughout the book are lines from the Bard's many plays; as a former literature teacher, I loved recognizing some lines, but did not feel bereft if I was stymied. I do not think you need a thorough grounding in Shakespeare but I do feel you will delight in this book more fully if you also enjoy a bit of the Bard.

If you are even slightly a fan of Shakespeare, run out and get this book! It's a modern mystery set in an art college and all the players, are, literally, players -- fourth year theater students. And, like a Shakespeare play, there are several threads running at once. Personally, I got bogged down a bit in the Shakespearean references, but someone more familiar would enjoy it.

I received an advanced copy of this novel from the publisher via netgalley. Thanks!

The structure of the dialogue didn't work for me here as it interrupted my flow of my reading. It's an interesting concept but just not for me. As I stated above I don't rate or review books I do not finish, as a personal rule.

4.5. A small elite school, a theater program that is only about Shakespeare, seven friends, seniors, together from the beginning, strong, intense friendships formed. Oliver, our narrator, one of the seven, just released from spending tempers in prison. How did something so special, so promising, go so wrong?

A novel of love, obsession, friendship passion and betrayal. Spending all their on and off time together, this little theater group becomes more important to each other than their real families, than the real world. Shakespeare takes over their lives, the plays they perform, always having to be on, the intense study, rehearsals, they even speak to each other in Shakespearean quotes. The author, and this her first book, does a fantastic job incorporating these quotes, fitting them into the context of the plot, often providing clues and foreshadowing into what has happened. Their obsessions with each other, and Shakespeare lead to dangerous breaks in reality. The plays begin to mimic life and these young people begin to fall apart, deconstruct with horrifying results. We learn so much about these characters, not only from the roles they play but in how they treat each other, how they behave when their loyalty is tested.

Not you typical thriller, more character studies but suspenseful nonetheless. It is not necessary to have a full understanding of Shakespeare's plays but necessary I think to be willing to read many quotes and speeches. I loved every minute of it, thought it was brilliantly done was thoroughly captivated by the players and curious to how it would end. A very special, well thought out, and executed debut novel.

ARC from BookBrowse.
Releases April 7th by Flatiron books.

Since I wrote this I really probably shouldn't review it.

5 stars--I loved it. An amazing read that's exactly my genre.

Three things about this book that might make you love it or hate it:

1. It's very similar to The Secret History, both in plot and theme. I love The Secret History, so this was right up my alley.

2. It contains an abundance of Shakespeare. There's a Shakespeare quote or play discussion on nearly every page. The characters speak to each other using phrases from Shakespeare.

3. The characters are pretentious, entitled, white college kids. I found them all pretty unlikeable but that didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book; I was fascinated by them and their sheltered world. I came to have the same love-hate relationship with them that they had with each other. (And as an English major who used to communicate with my other English-major friends using scraps of poems, I can relate. I wince at the memory, but relate!)

This book is a suspense novel in one of my favorite settings (college). I couldn't stop reading to see what happened, and overall, despite some minor quibbles, really loved this book.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

I very much enjoyed the book. The intro immediately pulls you in, but the first introduction to all the students was rough to keep track of all the characters. It gets easier and each character becomes fleshed out and individual. It's a unique story and Rio's obvious mastery of Shakespeare adds so much to the story.

I think this has the potential to be crossover for teens and adults since the audience is really both. Not to mention it would certainly make studying Shakespeare more interesting to the general populous.

One of my only negatives is that it doesn't feel set in 1997. I suppose it's a good excuse to not include cell phones, but there are no references to fashion or pop culture and I can't imagine the school would be so insular as to not know about Hanson.

What really happened ten years ago when one of a group of college students studying Shakespeare was killed? Oliver was arrested and convicted of the crime, but the detective who arrested him as always wondered if he got the right man. Now as Oliver is being released, detective Colbourne is about to retire and approaches Oliver, hoping to uncover the truth. What follows is the story of seven students so involved in the stage characters they portray, that fantasy and reality begin to blur, resulting in disastrous consequences. This is a literate mystery that is more subtle than most of the thrillers published today, but the reader’s patience will be rewarded by this rich and evocative story