If We Were Villains

If We Were Villains, the debut novel of actor and author M.L. Rio, was published in 2017. A work in the dark academia genre, the campus novel is part murder mystery and part dramatic tragedy. Rio draws on her training as an actor to create the world of an elite drama school ripped apart by a disaster of Shakespearean proportions. The plot follows a group of seven acting students whose friendship comes undone after they are cast outside of their usual roles. This ends in the mysterious death of Richard, one of the friends. Oliver, the novel’s narrator, confessed to murdering Richard and was sentenced to 10 years in prison; however, the detective responsible for the case, Colborne, never fully believed Oliver’s confession. The question of who killed Richard and why adds suspense as Oliver finally tells Colborne the true story.

Rio structures the novel as a five-act play, titling the chapters as scenes. The characters quote Shakespeare to each other and embody his characters. Shakespearean themes such as love, jealousy, ambition, and murder abound as the characters blur the line between dramatic text and reality. On its publication, the novel was praised for its suspenseful

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