Reading Order
If We Were Villains Reading Order
M.L. Rio's If We Were Villains (2017) is a complete standalone novel. There is no sequel. The novel is set at a small elite performing arts conservatory where seven fourth-year students share the roles in Shakespeare's plays — until one of them is found dead and another is convicted of murder. Told as a retrospective by Oliver, one of the seven, speaking to the detective who originally investigated the case ten years after his release from prison. If We Were Villains is the most celebrated dark academia novel to follow in The Secret History's footsteps.
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If We Were Villains
Complete If We Were Villains Book List
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If We Were Villains
M.L. Rio·2017·Standalone — seven Shakespeare students at an elite conservatory share roles and lives until one is found dead; the surviving narrator speaks to the detective who investigated the case ten years after his release from prison
If We Were Villains — Frequently Asked Questions
Is If We Were Villains a standalone?
Yes — If We Were Villains is a complete standalone novel with no sequel. M.L. Rio has not published a second novel as of 2024.
Do I need to know Shakespeare to read If We Were Villains?
You will get more out of If We Were Villains if you know the plays — particularly Othello, Macbeth, Richard III, The Tempest, and King Lear, which are the plays the group performs during the novel — but Rio embeds enough of the text and context that readers without Shakespeare background consistently find the novel works on its own terms. The novel's relationship to the plays is one of the pleasures for readers who know them well.
Is If We Were Villains better than The Secret History?
This is the most common comparison question for If We Were Villains, and it is genuinely a matter of taste. The Secret History has more fully realized characters and more morally complex motivation; If We Were Villains has a more intricate plot structure and more explicit engagement with its literary sources. Most readers who love one love both; preferences tend to depend on whether you care more about character or puzzle.
What Shakespeare plays are most important in If We Were Villains?
The three most central plays are Othello (jealousy, race, manipulation), The Tempest (power, performance, who controls the story), and Macbeth (ambition, complicity, murder). James, the character who dies, is often cast as Macbeth's villain roles. Understanding Iago and Prospero and the specific moral logic of Shakespeare's villain characters deepens the novel considerably.
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