Book Review: If We Were Villains

If We Were Villains

M.L. Rio

3/5

Maybe I didn't like this book all that much because I'm not cultured, but I think it could've been done a lot better. I was expecting a classic mystery where you're scrambling to figure everything out the whole time, but I feel like it was pretty obvious from like 30 percent into the book onwards. Not to say it wasn't a very symbolic representation of everything, the parallels to Shakespeare and everything were nice and obviously complicated. In terms of surprise and shock factor though, I was left wanting more. 

I'm going to go into some spoilers now because I can't believe that part can't be accurately examined without looking at the end. <spoiler> The person with the most beef with him killed him, like I don't think anyone reading this could read it and not think James. I was thinking maybe Oliver had killed someone else in his defense and that was why he was in prison, but wow we couldn't even get that drama. We just had Oliver trying to be selfless, which was weak on its own, but then when James removes himself from the equation he couldn't even do so after absolving Oliver of the blame? I know that that would be too easy, and maybe I could accept that that just wasn't who they were, but the last line made me too angry. That's just not a good relationship at all- for friends or something more- and Oliver is just not a good protagonist for it.  Maybe if it had been less predictable it would've been better received by me, I just wasn't even mad just annoyed. </spoiler>

It's a quick read, a lot goes on while simultaneously nothing is going on. The ending was a lot less climatic than I think I was supposed to read it as. It's not bad and there are definitely benefits to reading it, it's just not the characters or suspense I was looking for.