by M. L. Ric
I love Shakespeare and upon reading this novel it is apparent that M. L. Ric loves Shakespeare too!
The characters are literally Shakesperian actors, or rather students studying to be Shakespearian actors. Our cast of characters range from a villain to an ingenue.Our main character, Oliver, is neither a villain or an ingenue, rather he is “every man” that one character Shakespeare always includes in his play that seems close enough to the audience that we can understand and believe the events and motivations of the characters more readily.
Like Shakespeare, Ric organizes his novel in 5 acts, then, each scene in each act serves as chapters. I love the parallels in organization.
The similarities to Shakepeare’s craft just don’t end in how the novel is organized. The themes in the novel are as big as Shakespeare’s themes, love, hate, guilt, power, betrayal and the repercussions from choices taken within each theme. Obviously I have first read this novel for the plot, but it is definitely worth a reread in order to see just how layered and interconnected he made his story to the plays themselves.
An engrossing story in the genre of Dark Academia (my new favourite) that is totally worthy of a reread. I would also use it to “hook” my high school students into studying Shakespeare.
So far, If We Were Villains is one of my favourite books I’ve read this year!
Ink And Spine 