Bloody, melodramatic, suspenseful debut… This novel about obsession at the conservatory will thoroughly obsess you.
Nerdily (and winningly) in love with Shakespeare…Readable, smart.
Much like Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, M. L. Rio’s sparkling debut is a richly layered story of love, friendship, and obsession. Both comic and tragic, this novel asks what people are willing to sacrifice in the name of ambition. Expertly plotted, beautifully written, If We Were Villains will keep you riveted through its final, electrifying moments.
–Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, New York Times bestselling author of The Nest
This is a rare and extraordinary novel: a vivid rendering of the closed world of a conservatory education, a tender and harrowing exploration of friendship, and a genuinely breathtaking literary thriller. I can’t recommend this book highly enough, and can’t wait to read what M. L. Rio writes next.
–Emily St. John Mandel, New York Times bestselling author of Station Eleven
If We Were Villains is a whip-smart, chilling tale of a group of Shakespeare students who are, as the Bard put it, ‘a little more than kin, and less than kind’– especially after one of their own meets a horrific fate. Full of friendship, betrayal, and passionate devotion, this is a page-turning literary thriller whose final, shocking twist you won’t soon forget.
—Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, New York Times bestselling author of Bittersweet and June
A fascinating, unorthodox take on rivalry, friendship, and truth, If We Were Villains will draw readers in and leave them pondering the weight of our biggest actions and their consequences.
A tale worthy of the Bard himself…ending in one final, astonishing twist.
—Booklist
M. L. Rio 