Title: We Are Villains
Author: Kacen Callender
Publisher: Amulet
Publication date: March 25, 2025
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Summary
Officially, Arianna Reynolds’ death was ruled an accident, but her best friend Milo thinks that there is more to the story. Solving the mysteries around her death is the only reason Milo returns to Yates Academy. Even though he was a target of bullying the previous year.
Liam is the King of Yates who starts receiving anonymous letters tying him to Arianna’s death. He hires Milo to help him figure out the mystery. As they unravel the mystery, Milo realizes that there’s more to the story that Liam isn’t telling him.
Review: We Are Villains
Thanks to NetGalley and Amulet for an advanced copy of We Are Villains by Kacen Callender! It’s a Kacen Callender year apparently, since they have two books coming out in back to back months and I am here for it. This is different in tone from Chaos King, more of a dark academia thriller/mystery. For the most part, I think the story worked well in unfolding the mystery.
We get a variety of POVs in this, not just Milo and Liam which adds to the mystery. However, it does make the story itself feel a bit choppy as you read it. This might have been intentional, though. Callender also flips between timelines, making you question what really happened with Arianna’s death.
Despite the changing of POVs, we do get a strong sense of the characters throughout. Callender is good at developing characters in a small amount of time, which was important for developing the mystery and the overall setting at Yates Academy. We get to see the darker underbelly of the school as Milo unravels what actually happened with Arianna.
All in all, if you like dark academia mysteries, definitely check this one out when it comes out at the end of March!
4/5 stars