If We Were Villains

Seven young Shakespearean actors at an elite conservatory play the same kinds of roles on and off stage, until a casting shake-up turns friendly rivalry into something much darker. One of them ends up dead. The rest have to put on the performance of their lives.

Why Read This

If The Secret History is dark academia through the lens of ancient Greece, If We Were Villains is the same story refracted through Shakespeare. Rio’s prose is laced with quotations from the plays, and the characters live so deeply inside their roles that the line between acting and reality dissolves completely. It is a faster, more emotionally immediate read than Tartt’s novel, and the central friendship group feels rawer and more volatile.

What to Expect

A literary thriller with a theatrical setting. The story moves between the present, where Oliver has just been released from prison, and the past, where you watch the events unfold. At 354 pages it is a quick, propulsive read. The Shakespeare quotations are woven naturally into the dialogue and never feel like homework. If you loved the group dynamics and moral deterioration in The Secret History, this is the natural next step.