A review by burntotears
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

I probably would have enjoyed this more if I actually enjoyed Shakespeare, but as someone who doesn't really, it was just under blowing me away. I figured basically everything out before it was revealed, but that's never an issue for me as long as I enjoy the characters. The problem I had here were the endless droning through the Shakespeare plays. 

There were also a few word choices used that I thought were pretty strange for something in 2017, but were certainly more commonplace in the 90's. I'm not sure that realism to that extent is really necessary, though. I don't think it added to the narrative so much as jarred me from inside of it.

Hilariously, this reminded me of watching Dawson's Creek when I was younger and thinking "No one actually talks like this in real life". Even if they are enamored with the plays, I can't see people of their age spending their free time talking to each other through Shakespeare lines, but maybe I am just too far removed from the theater kid nerd to know.