Review of “If We Were Villains” by M.L. Rio

To be honest, as I was reading this book, I was prepared to give it, at most, 3.5-4 stars. I wasn't too familiar with the intricacies of the Shakespearean references, and I was slightly put off by how the characters talked - sometimes with the true crudeness of college students, other times pretentious and caricatural. At the same time, the Shakespeare references were perfect, doing exactly what Rio intended: imbuing the actors and readers with the words and feelings of his work in parallel to the novel's events…