[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"work-reviews-detail-if-we-were-villains-iqjw":3,"work-reviews-list-if-we-were-villains-iqjw":201},{"id":4,"slug":5,"title":6,"original_title":7,"description":8,"first_publish_year":9,"original_language":10,"primary_cover_url":11,"cover_3d_url":12,"cover_blurhash":13,"preferred_edition_id":7,"community_rating_avg":14,"community_rating_count":15,"page_count":16,"estimated_reading_minutes":17,"shelves_added_this_week":18,"enrichment_status":19,"community_depth_avg":7,"community_momentum_avg":7,"community_atmosphere_avg":7,"community_craft_avg":7,"community_impact_avg":7,"community_spice_avg":7,"is_non_fiction":20,"is_romance":20,"is_indexable":21,"rating_distribution":22,"authors":25,"genres":32,"characters":53,"places":66,"subjects":73,"series":136,"editions":141,"enrichment":178,"community_distribution":7,"default_edition":190,"faqs":191,"reviews_count":34,"contributions_count":18,"quotes_count":18,"photos_count":18,"created_at":200},"01kjv3cgz4a4ev9jjdnjbq701r","if-we-were-villains-iqjw","If We Were Villains",null,"Ten years after his release from prison for a murder he may or may not have committed, Oliver Marks agrees to finally tell a retired detective what really happened during his final year at Dellecher Classical Conservatory. There, a tight-knit group of seven Shakespearean acting students lived and breathed the plays they performed, casting themselves in the same types of roles — hero, villain, temptress — until the lines between the stage and their own lives began to blur.\n\nWhen a shift in casting upends the group's fragile hierarchy, old resentments and desires that had simmered for years boil over into something none of them can take back. As the group's charismatic, self-destructive dynamics spiral toward tragedy, one of them ends up dead — and the story Oliver has spent a decade not telling finally comes out, unreliable narrator and all.\n\nM. L. Rio's atmospheric dark-academia debut is steeped in Shakespeare, using long passages of the plays themselves to narrate a story of obsession, jealousy, and the danger of actors who can no longer tell where their characters end and they begin.",2017,"en","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.seekquel.app\u002Fstorage\u002Fcovers\u002Fworks\u002F01\u002F01kjv3cgz4a4ev9jjdnjbq701r.jpg","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.seekquel.app\u002Fstorage\u002Fcovers\u002Fworks-3d\u002F01\u002F01kjv3cgz4a4ev9jjdnjbq701r.png?v=9e3d9bf598","L06Hy5-;00xt~qt601ay00D*~qxu","4.83",3,368,418,0,"complete",false,true,[18,18,18,18,18,18,18,18,23,24],1,2,[26],{"id":27,"slug":28,"name":29,"role":30,"bio":31},"01kjv3ch4kz43khtj33g8cwy32","m-l-rio-bigf","M. L. Rio","author","M. L. Rio is an author, but before she was an author she was an actor, and before she was an actor she was just a word nerd whose best friends were books. She holds an MA in Shakespeare Studies from King's College London and Shakespeare's Globe and a PhD in early modern English literature from the University of Maryland, College Park.\r\nHer first novel, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fopenlibrary.org\u002Fworks\u002FOL20054906W\" target=\"_blank\">***If we were Villains***\u003C\u002Fa>, was published in April 2017 by Flatiron Books...",[33,37,41,45,49],{"id":34,"name":35,"slug":36,"is_fiction":21},5,"Thriller","thriller",{"id":38,"name":39,"slug":40,"is_fiction":21},6,"Mystery","mystery",{"id":42,"name":43,"slug":44,"is_fiction":21},9,"Literary Fiction","literary-fiction",{"id":46,"name":47,"slug":48,"is_fiction":21},15,"Drama","drama",{"id":50,"name":51,"slug":52,"is_fiction":21},40,"Suspense","suspense",[54,59,63],{"id":55,"name":56,"description":57,"role":58,"is_spoiler":20},"01kjv3chb0zya01tjwvr806kf5","Oliver Marks","A former Shakespearean acting student released after a decade in prison for a murder he may not have committed.","protagonist",{"id":60,"name":61,"description":7,"role":62,"is_spoiler":21},"01kjv3chb8hn99wf2xrv1n6bna","Richard Stirling","supporting",{"id":64,"name":65,"description":7,"role":62,"is_spoiler":21},"01kjv3chbe6ste4hd8kx45bnkf","Meredith Dardenne",[67,70],{"id":68,"name":69,"description":7,"is_fictional":20,"real_world_location":7},"01kk4vb8t7dq51pbrv6stmh1zn","prestigious college",{"id":71,"name":72,"description":7,"is_fictional":20,"real_world_location":7},"01kk4vb8tehv2qe3v66kzhyh09","The Prison",[74,78,81,84,87,90,92,94,97,100,103,106,109,112,115,118,120,123,125,127,130,133],{"id":75,"name":76,"type":77},"01kjq6w2ey12ypd3vpappbf8w9","College students","subject",{"id":79,"name":80,"type":77},"01kjr38xwvv7h1jxtje657yw5d","Actors",{"id":82,"name":83,"type":77},"01kjq77e1enewfsytd0da8xv1f","Fiction, thrillers",{"id":85,"name":86,"type":77},"01kjq77e27xwc3x2vpe9t5cv4s","Fiction, thrillers, general",{"id":88,"name":89,"type":77},"01kjv3ch8an559fydp1c3qhcmf","Dark 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Farrow",[137],{"id":138,"slug":139,"name":6,"position":140,"is_main_entry":21,"parent_id":7,"parent_slug":7,"parent_name":7},"01kve2wn980ec4qm8h0awb6j37","if-we-were-villains-vrto","1.00",[142,151,162,169,174],{"id":143,"title":144,"edition_name":7,"format":145,"format_label":146,"page_count":16,"audio_duration_minutes":7,"narrator":7,"publish_date":7,"cover_url":147,"cover_blurhash":7,"isbn_13":148,"asin":7,"publisher":7,"language":7,"quality_score":149,"submission_status":150},"01kjv3ch66qy146xf0x9p0drz8","If We Were Villains - Signed Edition","hardcover","Hardcover","https:\u002F\u002Fcovers.openlibrary.org\u002Fb\u002Fid\u002F12060338-L.jpg","9781789098877",7,"approved",{"id":152,"title":153,"edition_name":7,"format":154,"format_label":155,"page_count":16,"audio_duration_minutes":7,"narrator":7,"publish_date":156,"cover_url":157,"cover_blurhash":7,"isbn_13":158,"asin":7,"publisher":159,"language":160,"quality_score":161,"submission_status":150},"01kjv3ch5d98s28g5658yjekrm","Teatr 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Limited",{"id":175,"title":6,"edition_name":7,"format":164,"format_label":165,"page_count":16,"audio_duration_minutes":7,"narrator":7,"publish_date":176,"cover_url":7,"cover_blurhash":7,"isbn_13":177,"asin":7,"publisher":173,"language":10,"quality_score":38,"submission_status":150},"01kjv3ch6r7grbv05ck8x92w6q","2022","9781803362113",{"summary":7,"pace":179,"complexity":180,"complexity_score":149,"audience":181,"mood":182,"themes":186,"setting_period":7,"content_warnings":189},"moderate","dense","adult",[183,184,185],"dark","tense","mysterious",[187,188],"dark-academia","unreliable-narrator",[],{"id":170,"title":6,"edition_name":7,"format":164,"format_label":165,"page_count":16,"audio_duration_minutes":7,"publish_date":171,"cover_url":7,"cover_blurhash":13,"isbn_13":172,"asin":7,"publisher":173,"language":7},[192,196],{"id":193,"question":194,"answer":195,"is_spoiler":20},"01kvdvsrzh8mn2v6n01b01d3h2","Is there a screen adaptation of the novel?","A television series adaptation is in development, co-produced by Eleven and Blink49 Studios.",{"id":197,"question":198,"answer":199,"is_spoiler":20},"01kvdvsrzqpa7ayba14x6c6q1b","How is the story structured?","The novel is structured like a five-act play, complete with dramatis personae, prologue, and epilogue, alternating between a present-day frame narrative in 2007 and flashbacks to 1997.","2026-03-04T00:18:55.000000Z",{"data":202,"links":286,"meta":287},[203,219,234,259,274],{"id":204,"slug":205,"title":206,"user":207,"work_id":4,"is_draft":20,"verified_reader":20,"featured":20,"body":214,"overall_rating":34,"depth":7,"momentum":7,"atmosphere":7,"craft":7,"impact":7,"spice":7,"spoiler_level":215,"locale":7,"feed_item_key":216,"like_count":18,"comment_count":18,"top_likers":217,"viewer_can_reply":20,"created_at":218,"updated_at":218},"01ktkpdjjrd9gxw7pn54qjp5b5","review-of-if-we-were-villains-by-tayeb","Review of \"If We Were Villains\" by tayeb",{"id":208,"name":209,"username":210,"avatar_url":211,"is_system":20,"published_reviews_count":212,"books_read_count":213},480,"Tymethy","tayeb","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.seekquel.app\u002Fstorage\u002Favatars\u002F480.webp?v=1783419060",145,144,"i enjoyed this book beyond belief.\ni guess anyone who likes dark academia, this is the book !","none","rv-01ktkpdjjrd9gxw7pn54qjp5b5",[],"2026-06-08T13:23:12.000000Z",{"id":220,"slug":221,"title":222,"user":223,"work_id":4,"is_draft":20,"verified_reader":20,"featured":20,"body":229,"overall_rating":230,"depth":7,"momentum":7,"atmosphere":7,"craft":7,"impact":7,"spice":7,"spoiler_level":215,"locale":7,"feed_item_key":231,"like_count":18,"comment_count":18,"top_likers":232,"viewer_can_reply":20,"created_at":233,"updated_at":233},"01kt4s4gpmexsvhqggr8y13bcx","review-of-if-we-were-villains-by-frogus","Review of \"If We Were Villains\" by frogus",{"id":224,"name":225,"username":225,"avatar_url":226,"is_system":20,"published_reviews_count":227,"books_read_count":228},454,"frogus","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.seekquel.app\u002Fstorage\u002Favatars\u002F454.webp?v=1780405292",404,460,"\u003Cdiv>my heart hurts and my soul is wrecked\u003C\u002Fdiv>",4,"rv-01kt4s4gpmexsvhqggr8y13bcx",[],"2026-06-02T18:22:04.000000Z",{"id":235,"slug":236,"title":237,"user":238,"work_id":4,"is_draft":20,"verified_reader":20,"featured":20,"body":7,"overall_rating":245,"depth":7,"momentum":7,"atmosphere":7,"craft":7,"impact":7,"spice":7,"spoiler_level":215,"locale":7,"feed_item_key":246,"like_count":15,"comment_count":18,"top_likers":247,"viewer_can_reply":20,"created_at":257,"updated_at":258},"01kt13mht7gcwm8r2ew7622zr5","review-of-if-we-were-villains-by-amal-chebbi","Review of \"If We Were Villains\" by amal_chebbi",{"id":239,"name":240,"username":241,"avatar_url":242,"is_system":20,"published_reviews_count":243,"books_read_count":244},214,"Amal chebbi","amal_chebbi","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.seekquel.app\u002Fstorage\u002Favatars\u002F214.webp?v=1777893018",325,344,4.5,"rv-01kt13mht7gcwm8r2ew7622zr5",[248,251,254],{"id":149,"name":249,"username":7,"avatar_url":250,"is_system":20},"Myriam Akrout","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.seekquel.app\u002Fstorage\u002Favatars\u002F7.webp?v=1778226190",{"id":42,"name":252,"username":7,"avatar_url":253,"is_system":20},"Marwa Oualha","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.seekquel.app\u002Fstorage\u002Favatars\u002F9.webp?v=1782851502",{"id":24,"name":255,"username":7,"avatar_url":256,"is_system":20},"Sabri Ben Chaabane","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.seekquel.app\u002Fstorage\u002Favatars\u002F2.webp?v=1783102436","2026-06-01T08:08:37.000000Z","2026-06-01T14:03:34.000000Z",{"id":260,"slug":261,"title":262,"user":263,"work_id":4,"is_draft":20,"verified_reader":20,"featured":20,"body":270,"overall_rating":34,"depth":7,"momentum":7,"atmosphere":7,"craft":7,"impact":7,"spice":7,"spoiler_level":215,"locale":7,"feed_item_key":271,"like_count":18,"comment_count":18,"top_likers":272,"viewer_can_reply":20,"created_at":273,"updated_at":273},"01kmt05dm9dz4tm9d4w8ze8epw","review-of-if-we-were-villains-by-lina","Review of \"If We Were Villains\" by lina",{"id":264,"name":265,"username":266,"avatar_url":267,"is_system":20,"published_reviews_count":268,"books_read_count":269},56,"Lina","lina","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.seekquel.app\u002Fstorage\u002Favatars\u002F56.webp",109,104,"I think I agree with Colborne here: \"Honestly, I don’t know. I thought some closure would make it more bearable, but now I’m not so sure.\"\nThis is what I feel about the ending...","rv-01kmt05dm9dz4tm9d4w8ze8epw",[],"2026-03-28T10:34:46.000000Z",{"id":275,"slug":276,"title":277,"user":278,"work_id":4,"is_draft":20,"verified_reader":20,"featured":20,"body":282,"overall_rating":34,"depth":7,"momentum":7,"atmosphere":7,"craft":7,"impact":7,"spice":7,"spoiler_level":215,"locale":7,"feed_item_key":283,"like_count":18,"comment_count":18,"top_likers":284,"viewer_can_reply":20,"created_at":285,"updated_at":285},"01kkc6jzrz8r232csht64mketz","review-of-if-we-were-villains-by-myriam-akrout","Review of \"If We Were Villains\" by myriam_akrout",{"id":149,"name":249,"username":279,"avatar_url":250,"is_system":20,"published_reviews_count":280,"books_read_count":281},"myriam_akrout",618,600,"Mad at myself for not reading this sooner! AMAZING book!","rv-01kkc6jzrz8r232csht64mketz",[],"2026-03-10T15:41:58.000000Z",{"first":7,"last":7,"prev":7,"next":7},{"path":288,"per_page":289,"next_cursor":7,"prev_cursor":7,"has_more":20},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.seekquel.app\u002Fapi\u002Fworks\u002F01kjv3cgz4a4ev9jjdnjbq701r\u002Freviews",20]