If We Were Villains - M. L. Rio

 Rating: ✫✫✫✫✫

"Here you will make many friends, and perhaps a few enemies. Do not let the latter prospect frighten you - if you haven't made any enemies in life, you've been living too safely."

Detective Colborne wants to know the truth.  The truth about a crime in which a theatre student was found dead, ten years ago. The truth about a crime that Oliver Marks was sent to prison for. 

On Oliver's release date, Detective Colborne is waiting for him. Waiting for the truth that he knows he did not uncover a decade ago, when the case was closed. 

And so Oliver embarks on his tale of ten years ago, telling of the experiences he shared with his peers at Dellecher Classical Conservatory, where students unite over their love of Shakespeare, and find themselves swelling with ambition and competition for the best parts. Richard, the token lead, is used to getting the title roles, and the rest of the group are happy to fit in around him. Happy, that is, until their final year, when the roles are switched, and the students are given parts that they weren't expecting. When some of the group start to realise this may not be a bad thing, the balance of power turns on its head. 

And when one student pays for this with their life, Oliver realises that tragedies are not reserved for fiction.

✼

I devoured this book, and absolutely adored every moment of reading it. The use of the theatre school focusing on Shakespeare was an element that I really enjoyed, and it was really cleverly thought out. It reminded me in fundamentals of Donna Tartt's The Secret History, but I have to say I enjoyed If We Were Villains even more. The plot felt more cohesive, and it followed a very manageable timeframe that maintains focus throughout the narrative.

The entire book was written with such sophistication, that it was incredibly slick and sharp, and this really translates to the reader. I also think that the way the story focuses on a small group of individuals works well, as it gives the impression that there are secrets everywhere. If you are a lover of literature or theatre, especially the works of Shakespeare, then this is one for you.

*spoiler alert*

The Story

The structure of this book is altogether not particularly extraordinary. Yet some recognition does have to go to the way the plot is broken down into clear sections; or acts. Even just this minor nod to the theatre, and to Shakespeare, brings the wider plot together to make it cohesive. This way of laying out the book is original and very topical, and I appreciated reading the different acts, and the scenes within.

✼

On starting the book, we fist meet Oliver when he is being released from jail, and is greeted by Detective Colborne, who makes clear that there is a mystery here that wasn't necessarily solved. I think this was a perfect way to establish the story. Not only is there such a huge leap in time in the book that it would have been difficult to achieve completely chronologically, but it also sets the stage and creates immediate intrigue. It doesn't really feel like part of the same story, but that really just helps to distinguish the past and the present. It's hard not to feel intrigued as to where the story is going.

And what a story it is. The whole feel of the book from the very beginning is great; sophisticated, and intellectual, and yet you can tell there are vulnerabilities within the characters. The setting of Dellecher really helps the characters come to life, and I found it really easy to become absorbed by this world. It is a little difficult to follow the characters initially, as they are all introduced at the same time. However, I immediately liked James in particular, and I really felt that all the characters complemented each other.

It takes a little bit of time to get used to the style of the book, but by the time the characters get their roles for Macbeth, I was fully invested in the story. And when Richard isn't cast as the lead, the scene has been set enough for the reader to realise the ramifications behind this decision. The tables are turned, and Oliver notes that the balance of power has shifted. The suspense is built really effectively, and the depth given to the characters really aids this.

At the end of Act 1, things had really heated up, and I was gripped. I absolutely loved the production of Macbeth by the lake; it was so atmospheric, which is incredibly hard to pull off effectively on paper. I could just see the witches and the ghost of Banquo. The idea was wonderful, and I think the way this sequence was written really captured the drama of theatre, and of Shakespeare in particular. It was beautifully written, and one of my favourite parts of the entire book. It was also a turning point in terms of the wider plot. Richard shows his true colours at this point, and there is an overwhelming impending sense of doom that cannot be ignored. And I, for one, could not wait to see what happened next.

✼

One thing that I think is incredibly clever and intriguing throughout is that the student Oliver does not seem like the kind to commit a crime, whatever the circumstances. It was very clear to me early on that he must have covered for somebody else. That was something I could see his character doing. Detective Colborne could evidently see the same, and that's why he knew there was more to the case than was originally suspected. Clearly, he was right, because the end of Act 1, Oliver and Meredith are displaying clear chemistry, and it's impossible for the reader not to pick up on the underlying secrecy of all of the characters. Detective Colborne is, actually, a wonderful addition to the story. Oliver states on more than one occasion that if he had met him in another scenario, he would have liked him, and that really speaks volumes. I think the way the story reverts back to the present, with Oliver and Detective Colborne, at the beginning of every Act, is nicely done. It adds some extra structure to the plot, which is beneficial, and it keeps that suspense building by throwing in little details and hints that keep the reader invested.

The end of Act 2 brings even more drama, and it's almost like waiting around for the inevitable fallout. The reader finds out that Richard is purposely hurting James, and then Richard turns up dead. Do we feel sympathetic? No, not particularly. Richard's brutal character was established successfully enough that we merely think 'Good Riddance' and move on. Yet it does spark the questions of who was responsible, and as a reader all you do is wonder how Oliver ended up in the middle of the mess.

Although I said initially that the characters were difficult to distinguish, by the end of Act 2 this is no longer the case. The characters are bold, divergent and intriguing. Oliver is a great protagonist; he's a good guy but he isn't a pushover. James is dark and brooding, and clearly has a dark side. Alexander is troubled but funny, and my favourite for his sheer likeability. Meredith started off as one of the hardest to warm to, but as the story goes on, it's hard to dislike her because it's clear that her bad choices are made because she's vulnerable. Wren is a waif, and Pip is underestimated by her friends, and, in my eyes, was one to watch...

Things get a little bit more tame after Richard is found, as the focus is more on the way they handle the stress and trauma of the incident. The production of Romeo and Juliet is a prime example of the novel calming down a little. When compared to the dramatic and standout Macbeth, it actually came off to me as a little dull. However, it did serve the purpose of connecting James and Wren, which I suppose was the point. Oliver finally opened his eyes on that one. His jealousy is interesting at this point. It's undeniable that his relationship with James is very strange, yet he doesn't really know the nature of this connection yet. It's an exploration of his emotions, and it's quite emotional to go through this with him. It was another little spark that was obviously going to fuel the fire in the later chapters.

Now. When they announced they were going to perform King Lear, I got irrationally excited. It's one of my favourite Shakespeare plays and I was keen for them to get stuck into it. One of the themes throughout the entire plot is how each character gets given a stereotypical role, and this play was no different. The characters were expecting to be given particular parts, and I think the way this idea had been built up as a given made it much more effective when it didn't happen. It created a bigger fallout, and just built the intrigue even more. James would be the classic Edgar; perfect for the role of the good guy, misunderstood but determined to do right. Yet when he is given the role of Edmund, it isn't unimaginable that Oliver could be a good Edgar too. In fact, he is a great fit for that character. James, as Edmund, explores a darker side to his acting, and it also, unexpectedly, fits well. And this unexpected fit makes the other students uneasy. Incidentally, Alexander as the Fool is stellar casting, despite being less relevant to the story.

King Lear was the perfect play to conclude the story. On stage, as Edgar, Oliver says:

"Some villain hath done me wrong."

This is symbolic of what comes next; symbolic of Oliver taking the blame for James. It's satisfying as a reader to see the dramatic irony. In hindsight, it isn't particularly surprising that James was responsible. It was the most obvious conclusion. However, it wasn't altogether surprising, and that's slightly disappointing. I also felt that the relationship between Oliver and James was a little confused, even at the last moment when it had been explained a little more. Their relationship had been the downfall of Oliver's relationship with Meredith, and it felt like a little bit of a curveball. It did make sense, but I felt there should have been a little more of a dynamic ending, with a bigger impact coming from the reveal of Oliver's feelings towards James. When the rest of the book is so fantastic, it's hard not to always want more from the end. That's how I felt with this. I just wanted that little bit more. Then again, I suppose that's due to the merits of the rest of the book; that no ending, no matter how good, would never have lived up to the rest. Nonetheless, it was suitably heartbreaking. That James had chosen to end his life and Oliver had not know, it really tugged at the heartstrings. As Oliver said:

"In that one brief moment, I actually wondered if "okay" or something like it might still be possible. But that is how a tragedy like ours or King Lear breaks your heart - by making you believe that the ending might still be happy, until the very last minute."

The Verdict

This has, without a doubt, been one of my favourite reads of 2018. The plot is dramatic and intriguing, the characters flawed but very endearing. But what makes the book, for me, is the feel of the story. The way every scene is set, the atmosphere and the intensity that is created within every element of this plot, is just fantastic. I loved the idea of Dellecher, and the Shakespeare students, and I think it was written beautifully. The murder of Richard adds drama, so that it's fundamentally a story of a beautiful disaster, and this is perfectly in keeping with the Shakespeare plays that the narrative follows. MacBeth, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear are all tragedies, and this is symbolic of the story of the students.

The way the present day, with Detective Colborne, is intertwined, adds structure that I didn't realise would have been missing until I finished the novel. The whole thing was well planned, and executed beautifully. I will definitely be picking up this book in the future.