If We Were Villains Direct

The phrase "If We Were Villains" evokes a specific, haunting aesthetic—one of dusty libraries, blood-stained stage curtains, and the toxic blur between art and reality. Since its publication in 2017, M.L. Rio’s debut novel has transcended the "Dark Academia" subgenre to become a modern cult classic.

"Thou, Nature, art my goddess; to thy law / My services are bound."

For the uninitiated, the fear of reading If We Were Villains is often the Shakespeare. Do you need a Folio guide to understand it? No. Rio is a genius of contextual integration. The characters speak in modern English, but when emotion peaks—rage, lust, grief, betrayal—the dialogue snaps into perfect iambic pentameter. It feels organic, as natural to these characters as breathing. If We Were Villains

The central conflict of the novel is the loss of identity. As the students spend their days rehearsing Macbeth , Julius Caesar , and King Lear , the violence and madness of the plays begin to bleed into their actual lives. Rio poses a chilling question: If you spend all your time pretending to be a villain, do you eventually become one? 3. A Focus on Devotion

M.L. Rio’s If We Were Villains is a mirror. It holds up to the theater world and asks us to look closely at the difference between pretending to be a monster and actually being one. It is a novel about the danger of living a lie so long that the lie lives you. The phrase "If We Were Villains" evokes a

And Richard, the brute, parries as the bastard Edmund as well. They are not speaking; they are performing. But the knife they are using is real.

: The narrator and "sidekick" who sees himself as a secondary character in others' stories. James Fane "Thou, Nature, art my goddess; to thy law

, here is a "helpful post" style guide covering the essentials, character roles, and common reader questions. 🎭 The Premise