I debated wether or not to give If We Were Villains a full 5 stars. I loved the story, the characters, the prose. I also could predict pretty much every plot point, twist and revelation; and outright starting the book stating that the protagonist ends up in jail but the cop involved doesn't know the full story is probably a big part of it.
As with every dark academia, it's impossible not to compare it with it's genre's founder: The Secret History. If We Were Villains is definitely more accessible and easier to read, focusing more on the characters and each of theirs emotional turmoils than on an intricate plot. The students here feel way more like dramatic and traumatized 20-somethings than the caricatures of obnoxious academics with critical intent from Secret History. They're still obnoxious, but in a way that many young people with loads of talent tend to be.
None of this to say that this book is any less beautiful or interesting. With a simple premise, a lot relies on execution; and the execution is fantastic. Even with a very (very) basic knowledge of Shakespeare and his stories, the atmosphere enchanted me. The theater scenes were so mesmerizing that is easy to forget that I've never actually seen most of these plays before; and I'm sure that with a deeper knowledge on them the experience of reading this book would be even more interesting, as oftentimes the roles they were playing onstage mirroed their interactions on the wings.
If We Were Villains is not a story about a crime, it is a story about the people involved in it. The relationships, conversations through quotes, parallels between scenes and overall emotions portrayed were vivid and enrapturing and I didn't want to let go.