If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio

A book for theater nerds everywhere. I first started following the pre-production, so to speak, of this book on Tumblr, where the author posts under the username http://dukeofbookingham.tumblr.com/, and by the time the pub date dropped, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy.

Now, while my own experience starts and stops at three years of middle school plays, I really enjoyed this book. It plays on the obsessive, cut-throat culture of college theater centered around seven students, who make up the core of the department. By the end of Act 1, one of these seven will be murdered. The narrator, Oliver, weaves a tale with all the dramatic flair of Shakespeare himself; flashing between present day, and ten years ago, when the crime takes place. Oliver, accused of the murder of one of his theater-mates, unravels the events from nearly a decade prior to the cop who originally put him away, still not 100% convinced he's hearing the entire story. 

And are we? Are we, the readers, watching the truth unfold chapter by chapter, or are we simply seeing the characters, scenes and dialogue as our playwright, Oliver, is directing? 

It's a classic, thriller/who-done-it while simultaneously tugging at the heartstrings of every coming-of-age enthusiast. Like I said, you don't need to be a theater fan to enjoy this book, as it is masterly crafted to integrate stage storytelling in to novel form. Overall, I'd give it 4/5

-Meg