If We Were Villains - Illustrated Edition: The sensational TikTok Book Club pick

A gorgeous illustrated edition of the bestselling dark academia thriller where tragedy strikes at an elite Shakespeare conservatory - complete with a brand-new cover, original illustrations and deluxe finishes. Oliver Marks has just served ten years for the murder of one of his closest friends - a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he's released, he's greeted by the detective who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened ten years ago.As a young actor studying Shakespeare at an elite arts conservatory, Oliver noticed that his talented classmates seem to play the same roles onstage and off - villain, hero, tyrant, temptress - though Oliver felt doomed to always be a secondary character in someone else's story. But when the teachers change up the casting, a good-natured rivalry turns ugly, and the plays spill dangerously over into life.When tragedy strikes, one of the seven friends is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless.

M. L. Rio is a recovering actor turned academic. She holds an MA in Shakespeare studies from King's College London and Shakespeare's Globe. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland and lives in Washington, D. C. with many books, many records, and her trusty hound dog, Marlowe.