BOOK 212: IF WE WERE VILLAINS: M.L. RIO

Oliver Marks has just served ten 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, ingenue, extra. 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.

(From Goodreads )

MY VERDICT: I think this book thought it would be ‘The Secret History’ and even though it seems to be compared to it sometimes it doesn’t come remotely close to being as good as that book. I read this all the way through to the end but to be honest it was a little too long and I’d stopped caring about what happened to any of the characters – if I even cared about the characters at all from the start – which maybe I didn’t. Is it because they are thespians, is it because they seem pretentious and stuck up – I’m going to say no – I’ve found positive feelings for people like that before and it’s not like it’s even the point of the book to dislike them. This book wasn’t really for me – the mystery/crime side of things wasn’t interesting – which is usually what keeps me going when everything else is a little weak – I think you’re meant to like the protagonist Oliver, I just did not and maybe that’s where it all falls apart for me?

Despite what could seem like a negative review I’m not saying this book is bad, I just didn’t enjoy it that much.