If We Were Villains
by M. L. Rio
★ Top 25 book of 2017 · #16 on Best Books of 2017
A decade after being jailed for a murder he may not have committed, Oliver Marks tells his story to the detective who arrested him. It begins in his college days as a Shakespearean actor, where a rivalry turned dangerous.
Best for: Mystery readers who enjoy campus theatre settings and narrators with uncertain guilt
If We Were Villains is #16 on BookWard's Best Books of 2017, out of 73 2017 books that cleared our data bar.
What If We Were Villains is about
Oliver Marks has just spent ten years in prison, and the night before his parole he is visited by the detective who put him there. Detective Colborne wants to hear the truth about what happened back at Dellecher, a Shakespeare conservatory where Oliver trained as an actor. Oliver agrees to tell it, and the story returns to 1997, his fourth and final year, when he shared a small dormitory called the Castle with six classmates.
The seven students have been typecast by their teachers and by each other: the hero, the villain, the tyrant, the temptress, the ingénue, and two players in smaller parts. Rivalry sharpens, jealousy settles in, and a violent night after a Halloween performance of Macbeth leaves the group holding a secret. Oliver's own feelings, for a friend he did not expect to want, complicate his loyalties further. Dark and atmospheric, this literary murder mystery suits readers who like campus settings, theatre, and the slow weight of guilt.
If We Were Villains on the Best Books of 2017
If We Were Villains came out in 2017. Of the 73 books first published in 2017 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #16 on our Best Books of 2017 list.
Why it made the list: 873 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (24 ratings); 26 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2017 list
- Oathbringer Brandon Sanderson, #14
- Dream Psychology Sigmund Freud, #15
- Make Your Bed William H. McRaven, #17
- Pachinko Min Jin Lee, #18
See all Best Books of 2017 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2016 Best Books of 2018.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 812 want to read it, 26 are reading it now and 35 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 3.8 out of 5 from 24 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 92 | 55% |
| Reader love | 23 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 81 | 20% |
Questions about If We Were Villains
When was If We Were Villains published?
If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio was first published in 2017.
Was If We Were Villains one of the best books of 2017?
If We Were Villains is #16 on BookWard's Best Books of 2017, out of 73 2017 books that cleared our data bar. 873 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (24 ratings); 26 are reading it right now.
Why is If We Were Villains on the Best Books of 2017 list?
873 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (24 ratings); 26 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2017
- The Hate U Give Angie Thomas, #1
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Taylor Jenkins Reid, #2
- A Court of Wings and Ruin Sarah J. Maas, #3
- One of Us Is Lying Karen M. McManus, #4
- The Dark Prophecy Rick Riordan, #5
- Why We Sleep Matthew P. Walker, #6
See the full Best Books of 2017, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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