If We Were Villains has been compared to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, which initially was enough for me to give it a hard pass. But my curiosity triumphed (as well as my desire to fill up my Book Outlet cart with enough books to get free shipping) and I am pleasantly surprised to say that I like this novel because not all the characters are insufferable, and I would recommend it over The Secret History.

If We Were Villains is about a man named Oliver Marks, who at the beginning of the novel has been released after a ten-year stint in prison for a reason that is eventually revealed by the end of the novel. Waiting for him on the outside is the detective who put him there, Colborne, who is not satisfied with the way his case played out and wants Oliver to finally tell him the truth.

Oliver and Detective Colborne end up back at Dellecher Classical Conservatory, the pretentious arts college that Oliver attended before he ended up in prison, and I say pretentious because Oliver and his small group of 4th year classmates only performed Shakespeare’s plays and spoke to each other by quoting Shakespeare’s plays. This is not fun to read if you have a hard time parsing Shakespearean language like I do; I ended up skimming over most of the Shakespeare, which thankfully did not detract from the story.

Oliver is like Richard, the protagonist from The Secret History, in that he comes from more humble origins than his classmates, he is naïve, and he has a somewhat unhealthy devotion to his classmates. But as naïve as Oliver is, he is smart enough to eventually figure things out and he is realistic about his limitations. He knows he is not as good as a performer as his classmates. And that is what makes Richard an endearing character: his modesty and his appreciation for his more talented classmates. His roommate, James, tells him, “Oliver, you make every scene you’re in about the other people in it. You’re the nicest person and the most generous actor here, which is probably more important than talent anyway.” This quote is an important explanation of Oliver’s character and hints strongly at his role in the events of the novel.

I still think Oliver is an idiot, unfortunately, although not as much as an idiot as Richard, when it is finally revealed why he spent ten years in prison. But it is easy to empathize with the life-altering decision that he makes as his relationships with his classmates in their final year of college unfolds. Oliver’s appreciation for them is not just one-sided; they all genuinely care for each other and look out for each other as they struggle with the guilt of hiding the crime they committed together.

If We Were Villains is more than the mystery that makes up the plot of the novel. It is a study of friendship among this small group of very different thespians, and of rivalry and love, emotionally rendered through Oliver’s first-person narration as he looks back on the happiest time of his life before it all went wrong. I definitely recommend reading this one, but if you have read a lot of mysteries like I have had, you will probably find the so-called shocking twist not so shocking, but I don’t think this ruins the entire story. It’s more about the journey than the destination.