A murder is committed. A suspect is tried and convicted. It should be the end of the story, but for Oliver Marks it was only the beginning.

Ten years ago Oliver Marks was convicted of murdering a fellow student at the prestigious arts university he attended. The victim was part of Oliver’s inner circle of friends and while Oliver admitted to the murders, it hasn’t be adding up for his remaining group of friends and the detective in charge of the case. Now, Oliver is being released and the detective is retiring. Before they go their separate ways, the detective has a favor to ask Oliver. Could he tell him what really happened ten years ago? Oliver agrees, telling a sordid tale of obsession, lies, and secrets that, when it is over, reveals the complicated truth of what really happened that fateful night out on the lake.

Ms. Rio’s book, set at a university where the students are trained to be Shakespearean actors, has become a staple of the dark academia genre. Sometimes coined as a modern version of Donna Tartt’s classic The Secret History, If We Were Villains is a must read for anyone in the dark academia genre and it is a conclusion I completely agree with.

From the start the reader gets the sense that something is off both with Oliver’s initial story that he told the police and what is occurring in the group of friends once Oliver begins telling the story. The friends all come off as being supportive of one another but some resentment has begun to blossom and when the cast for the upcoming play Julius Caesar is announced, these tensions reach a boiling point. Once the murder is committed, the reader witness the remaining students’ slow descent into madness and their desire to do anything to avoid being caught. All this tension and plot building is done exceedingly well and highlights how well the story is written.

The characters are all well developed and Oliver as the narrator provides the reader with compelling commentary while also asking if Oliver is telling the whole truth or if he is leaving details out to protect the others. The characters are perhaps the greatest strength of this book and why the story is so compelling. To the outside, they are ordinary students with a touch of the theatrical but when crisis erupts in their midst, they all begin to spiral and think of how to protect themselves from outsiders looking in.

The ending of this book and who was responsible for the murder is both shocking and well worth the wait. By the time the murderer is revealed the reader may have a sense of who has done it, but the twist that Ms. Rio provides is enough to throw the reader for a loop.

There is nothing about this book that I would change and I could not recommend this book enough. It is an excellent dark academia book and though not necessarily the best mystery I have ever read, there is enough questions and suspense to keep you hooked until the very last page.

5 out 5 stars