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If We Were Villains

A Novel

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If We Were Villains

By: M. L. Rio
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
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About this listen

Oliver Marks has just served 10 years in jail - for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he's released, he's greeted by the man who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago.

As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress. But when the casting changes, and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the plays spill dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless. Intelligent, thrilling, and richly detailed, If We Were Villains is a captivating story of the enduring power and passion of words.

©2017 M. L. Rio (P)2017 Macmillan Audio Coming of Age Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Exciting Heartfelt Scary

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Critic reviews

"Much like Donna Tartt's The Secret History, M. L. Rio's sparkling debut is a richly layered story of love, friendship, and obsession.... If We Were Villains will keep you riveted through its final, electrifying moments." (Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, New York Times best-selling author of The Nest)
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I loved this! Fans of ‘The Secret History’ I imagine will love this too. Such interesting characters, full of twists and turns right up to the last minute. So good!!!

Amazing! Especially for Shakespeare fans!

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I loved this book when I first read it but if anything I've loved listening to it more, this audiobook is so well read that it makes the story and characters come to life and the sections with a lot of Shakespeare lines which I found quite hard to understand and get meaning from in the book work so much better when you listen to it.
the story itself is so well put together it's something you just can't help but fall in love with.
I could never reccomend this book enough.

just perfection

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great book and narration, emersive and easy to understand, finished in two days please read

Lovely

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loved the story and how morally grey each character was, unexpectedly could relate to all of them. the end made me surprisingly emotional. the only bit that frustrated me was the narrator's voice for Wren was so squeaky and comedic when it wasn't supposed to be

great for fans of Shakespeare and dark academia

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I think the plot twist and the relationships of all the main characters was wonderfully written

the plot twist and the relationships of all the main characters

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I don't know what can I say to convince you to read it or listen to it! It took my breath away and kept me guessing until the last moment. I purchased the audio version of the book and gosh it was the right thing to do. The passion, intonation and overall delivery of the person reading make this book so much better. One of my favourites for sure ♥️

This is a beautiful story you must read!

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The Shakespeare was wonderful. The story was thin and I found that I didn’t care about any of the characters. The narration was good other than dodgy English accents. Not a patch on Donna Tartt.

Not as good as it thinks it is

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The beauty of it hurts, the intensity kills, the tension can be cut with knife. I loved it

Beautiful drama

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I borrowed this book from my local library just after its release and when i joined Audible it was one of the first i put on my wishlist. And now i have it to listen too,its been well worth the wait,the narrator enhances this story and i highly recommend this audible.❤👍

Worth the wait.

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It’s a beautiful tale that really touches your heart, and the twist itself was very good ! However, no disrespect to the author but the story left me feeling a sadness for all the characters. A very good coming of age novel ! Would recommend

A dark romance

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