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A review by nhborg
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
3.0
3.5
«Wherein I am false I am honest; not true, to be true»
This was a gripping read that I could easily fly through in a couple of days; it was fast-paced, thrilling and dramatic. There were no words wasted on anything inessential, but that might also be why I noticed a limit to how much I could fall in love with the story. I tried my best not to compare it too much to «The Secret History», but it was difficult due to their inherent similarities, and this ended up feeling too bony next to Tartt’s masterpiece. I just honestly think the book wasn’t that well written, however I still think the M. L. Rio did a good job considering this is her debut!
In addition to its readability, the strength of this story was the concept of having the Shakespearan archerypicality yet complexity reflected in the characters - I found that really cool! I just wish that it all felt more real, including the characters and the dramatical storyline. I also think I hyped myself a bit too much up for the plot twist ending (my face remained blank).
My final discussion point: am I the only one feeling surprised that this was written by a female author? I found it curious how she chose to write about the female characters. The line «You haven’t seen this girl. You don’t understand how unlikely.», as a response to this guy and girl supposedly only «talking» in her room, made me feel icky when coming from a completely average, adult (not-supposed-to-be-creepy) character. Are these the attitudes that we should enforce?
«Wherein I am false I am honest; not true, to be true»
This was a gripping read that I could easily fly through in a couple of days; it was fast-paced, thrilling and dramatic. There were no words wasted on anything inessential, but that might also be why I noticed a limit to how much I could fall in love with the story. I tried my best not to compare it too much to «The Secret History», but it was difficult due to their inherent similarities, and this ended up feeling too bony next to Tartt’s masterpiece. I just honestly think the book wasn’t that well written, however I still think the M. L. Rio did a good job considering this is her debut!
In addition to its readability, the strength of this story was the concept of having the Shakespearan archerypicality yet complexity reflected in the characters - I found that really cool! I just wish that it all felt more real, including the characters and the dramatical storyline. I also think I hyped myself a bit too much up for the plot twist ending (my face remained blank).
My final discussion point: am I the only one feeling surprised that this was written by a female author? I found it curious how she chose to write about the female characters. The line «You haven’t seen this girl. You don’t understand how unlikely.», as a response to this guy and girl supposedly only «talking» in her room, made me feel icky when coming from a completely average, adult (not-supposed-to-be-creepy) character. Are these the attitudes that we should enforce?