If We Were Villains Themes

The question of whether the misfortunes that befall Oliver and his friends are the result of fate or a consequence of the fourth-years’ own choices is one that haunts Oliver throughout If We Were Villains. At the heart of these misfortunes is the tragic death of Richard, a mystery that unravels the once close friend group and ultimately brings about their undoing. When the fourth-years see Richard dying in the water, they react…

The characters in If We Were Villains are actors—in simple terms, they are all people who pretend to be what they aren’t. The fourth-year students at the heart of the story have all been cast as the same type of role throughout their time at Dellecher, and it’s immediately clear to the readers—and to the characters themselves—that these typecasts have influenced the students’ sense of self and how they relate to one another. Meredith…

The characters of If We Were Villains do bad things, and in many ways, their bad deeds escalate over the course of the novel. Even mild-mannered Oliver, for example, has sex with his dead friend’s girlfriend, lies to the police, and hides murder weapons by the time the story is through. The fourth-years frequently comment on their own descent, trying to find its cause. Alexander at first proposes two possibilities: that they’ve always been…