If We Were Villains

Oliver Marks has just finished a ten-year prison sentence for a murder he may not have committed. Upon his release, he meets the retiring detective who handled his case to finally reveal the truth about his time at Dellecher Classical Conservatory. A decade earlier, Oliver and six close friends were elite theater students specializing exclusively in Shakespeare. As they spent their final year playing the same archetypal roles—hero, villain, tyrant, ingenue—the boundary between their stage personas and their private lives collapsed. Rivalry and obsession culminated in the physical death of one classmate, forcing the survivors to use their theatrical training to deceive the police and one another.

This novel targets readers who enjoy dark academia and stories centered on obsessive friendship. It appeals to those interested in how immersive artistic study can distort a person's morality and sense of self. Readers find a technical appreciation for Shakespearean tragedy and a structural mystery that relies on dramatic irony. They walk away with a depiction of how loyalty functions under extreme guilt and how high-stakes environments foster destructive social hierarchies.

Inward-looking; a moderate read.

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