If We Were Villains. Wenn aus Freunden Feinde werden

4.5

Intriguing story full of twists and pulls you in. Characters are full of tropes but are meant to be as that is part of the message. Ambiguous ending though and not quiet convinced of the main characters reasoning for his choices.

“For someone who loved words as much as I did, it was amazing how often they failed me.”

(4.25) The ending was amazing in the sense that it made you feel deeply and intensely in such a short duration (30 pages or so). I am a big fan of the imagery and use of natural symbolism. The night, the sky, and the ocean were crucial metaphorical catalysts for the fragile morality of humans. It is that lingering sadness of ambiguity that really pushed this book over the edge.

That being said, it is no Secret History. Given the similarities between the two books, it is incredibly hard not to compare them. The Secret History just has a more adequate writing style, which matches the layered characters. If We Were Villains' writing felt slightly immature in comparison.

The character depth is not as strong as it could have been, with Filippa but especially (especially!!!) with Richard. The "If" and "We" in If We Were Villains imply a degree of moral ambiguity in all of the main characters, but Richard is exclusively painted as the villain and is not afforded the same grayness as the others. His apparent sudden villainy makes no sense given the background of the group being a family-like unit of friends for three years prior. Richard's baseless villainy feels as though it was done solely to justify the other characters' grayness. I also didn't think James fully lived up to his description—being overly invested in the characters he plays to the point it seeps into his own life. If anything, Richard did more of that, and it's only in the last third of the book that we sort of see that in James.

Lastly, If We Were Villains is definitely a book for the theater kids and the Shakespeare kids. I found myself having to refresh my understanding of Shakespeare's works to fully grasp the book, but I do not think that is necessarily a bad thing. Some more context or clues as to the references would have been helpful, but not necessary.

So, and I say this with all the love in my heart,

Fucking Theater Kids

I'm so in love with the background theme of this book and realism of theatre student's life. Although I've re-read it like many times, I still feel like I'm missing some meanings and plot twists that were meant to be seen only by those who fully understand it which I wouldn't mind obsessing over this book all and all over again.