Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books)'s Reviews > We Are Villains

In the last couple of years, dark academia has become one of my favorite genres. I have a soft spot for those morally grey characters who I’d condemn in contemporary or romance.

We Are Villains has the same blunt writing as Felix Ever After (Kacen Callender’s most popular book) but with darker vibes. From the blurb, Milo and Liam seem to be the main characters, while, in fact, Ari sets the pace of this story. I love books with multiple POVs, but if there are more than two, I always get a little wary. In this book, Kacen Callender used at least eight, but I didn’t mind and found it very interesting to be in all those other minds for a short time. Their chapters were just little snippets that gave an extra layer of depth to what happened to Ari and the atmosphere of Yates, the boarding school.

Just like so many other dark academia stories, this book is f*cked up. Yates is central where tyranny and patriarchy rule, everyone is pretending to be something or someone else than they really are, and the reader starts sympathizing with the ones, who are bad news. My favorite was Liam, even though I hated him too for what he did. But love and hate are never far from each other, right?

It’s always easier to look at someone else—to see how they’ve made mistakes. Always easier to see how someone else is the villain. It’s harder to admit when we’re the villains, too.

Don’t expect a romance because there isn’t any. Also, don’t expect lots of angst. Instead, We Are Villains focuses on all those messed-up teens, their f*cked-up relationships, and what they’re trying to hide. I flew through the pages because of Kacen’s vivid writing, even with so many POVs.

Stars in Your Eyes is one of my favorite adult romances, but I wasn’t a huge fan of Infinity Alchemist. I was a little afraid to see another genre, but I shouldn’t have feared because I really liked this one and will definitely read other dark academia stories by Kacen Callender.

Thank you, Abrams Books and Edelweiss, for this ARC!

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