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If We Were Villains
520 pages
A claustrophobic, Shakespeare-soaked descent into the dark side of obsessive friendship and performative art.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting in the front row of a dimly lit, increasingly unhinged stage play. The atmosphere is thick with autumnal chill, cigarette smoke, and the intoxicating, claustrophobic intensity of a deeply codependent friend group. As the line between the characters' real lives and the Shakespearean roles they inhabit begins to blur, a creeping sense of dread takes over. The prose is lush and theatrical, demanding that you surrender to its dramatic, dialogue-heavy rhythm. It is a steady, mesmerizing burn that accelerates into a frantic, tragic freefall. Perfect for recovering theater kids and dark academia devotees, this is a story that sinks its hooks into you, leaving you haunted by the devastating cost of obsessive ambition and misplaced loyalty.
- Mood
- claustrophobic
- autumnal
- tragic
- dread-soaked
- Tone
- theatrical
- obsessive
- melancholic
- confessional
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- blurring of art and life · toxic friendships · performative identity · weight of secrets · obsessive ambition
- The writing
- Lush, dramatic, and heavily peppered with Shakespearean dialogue, creating a stylized, almost stage-play-like reading experience.
- The arc
- Begins with intoxicating, insular camaraderie that slowly rots into paranoia, culminating in a devastating, inevitable tragedy.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love dark academia, theater kids, and anyone captivated by obsessive, codependent friendships that end in ruin.
Content notes
- murder
- substance abuse
- suicide
- violence
- homophobia
About the book
Entreated to tell his side of the story to a detective who put him in prison a decade earlier for a murder he may not have committed, Oliver Marks describes his past as a Shakespearean actor in college whose rivalry with a castmate escalated in dangerous ways.
Description from Open Library.
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