If We Were Villains
Author: M. L. Rio
Originally Published: 2017
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
written by: Tina Nguyen | date: 5th May, 2026
When the line between theatrical school life and reality was blurred, could people separate themselves from the characters that they play, or would they “merge” into one with their roles?
Another book with an unreliable narrator that I adore extremely, aside from The Secret History. Oliver Marks and 6 other students were a closed group of “friends” (I’ll emphasise more on this one later on) at Dellecher Classical Conservatory – a prestigious art school.
Another book with an unreliable narrator that I adore extremely, aside from The Secret History. Oliver Marks and 6 other students were a closed group of “friends” (I’ll emphasise more on this one later on) at Dellecher Classical Conservatory – a prestigious art school.
“Far too many times I had asked myself whether art was imitating life or if it was the other way around.”
Everything escalated and happened all in a night after a cast party, which led to a murder amongst the friend group (again, no spoilers here, I’m not gonna tell you who it was).
“Actors are by nature volatile—alchemic creatures composed of incendiary elements, emotion and ego and envy. Heat them up, stir them together, and sometimes you get gold. Sometimes disasters.”
The tension between Richard Stirling and others in the group was undeniably thick, to the point that I sometimes felt it in the thin air while reading. From the moment Richard landed his role as the evil dictator, Caesar, he became the real “villain” to the group in real life – rehearsal sessions were filled with violence where Richard lost himself in his character and caused outrageous injuries to his friends.
“We’re only playing fifty percent of a character. The rest is us, and we’re afraid to show people who we really are. We’re afraid of looking foolish if we reveal the full force of our emotions. But in Shakespeare's world, passion is irresistible, not embarrassing.”
On the other hand, James Farrow, who plays the supposedly “hero” Marcus Brutus, was bullied and attacked violently by Richard several times, had a deep desire in him to get rid of the villain. But even when he did, he was haunted by the ghost of Julius Caesar. Keep in mind that Oliver Marks was the narrator of this book, and so we only got to see James Farrow and everyone else to a certain extent that Oliver knew about them.
“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.”
The fake friendship kept going on in the group and was emphasised on how Oliver observed everything himself – obvious signs here and there that no one wanted Richard to be there because he was insufferable, Meredith (Richard’s girlfriend) used Oliver to get “revenge fuck” on Richard, etc. Despite all those issues going on in their circle, it seemed like Oliver chose to blame Shakespeare for all of it, because the thought of the plays and the characters represented and imitated the 7 of them, but not the other way around, was absolutely absurd, and so Oliver saw the problem from his own denial.
“Do you blame Shakespeare for any of it?”
“I blame him for all of it.
But a character’s emotions don’t cancel out of the actor’s–instead you feel both at once. 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.”
I truly enjoy “If We Were Villains”, M.L. Rio did so well in portraying her characters and creating the tense atmosphere in the friend group. There were scenes when I literally had to hold my breath. The plot twist, the fast-paced story that escalated quickly, and the thick tension were the factors that made this book a page-turner for me.
I can definitely see the resemblance between this book and “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt, but that does not mean they’re the same. For more specific recommendations, “The Secret History” is for someone who loves Greek philosophy, slow-paced novels, and thought-provoking moralities and amoralities; whereas, if you want a faster-paced story that has what seems like a never-ending drama, tension, with much more violence and brutality, “If We Were Villains” is the one for you.