Books Like If We Were Villains
Seven Shakespeare students at an elite conservatory blur the line between performance and reality — until someone dies. 368 pages of dark academia perfection.
So If We Were Villains wrecked you. Welcome to the club. Whether it was the dark vibes, the dark academia, or M.L. Rio's ability to make you forget you have a life outside these pages — we've been there. These aren't random "if you liked X" picks. Every book on this page was matched element by element against what made If We Were Villains hit different. Same energy, new stories.
12 Books Matched to If We Were Villains
The Shadows That Pull You Deeper
The Era You Wish You Could Visit
Our #1 Pick After If We Were Villains
The Secret History by Donna Tartt — 🌶️ 1/5 spice, 559 pages
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Questions About Books Like If We Were Villains
Based on mood, trope, and pacing analysis, the most similar books to If We Were Villains include The Secret History, An Education in Malice, In the Woods. Each matches on specific elements like dark and theatrical that made If We Were Villains resonate with readers.
We recommend starting with The Secret History by Donna Tartt — it shares If We Were Villains's core Dark energy while bringing something fresh to the table.
If We Were Villains is a standalone novel. You can jump right in without reading anything else first.
If We Were Villains has a spice level of 1/5. The recommendations on this page range across spice levels — each one is labeled so you can find your comfort zone.
If We Were Villains is already a low-spice read (1/5). Most similar books on this page have comparable heat levels.
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Every Sort By Cravings profile is written after a full read-through — not scraped from publisher blurbs. We cross-reference BookTok discussions, Goodreads reviews, and 500+ reader reactions before publishing any mood tag, spice rating, or compatibility note. Read our editorial standards.