Review of "We Could Be Villains'

Avoid spoilers. Don’t get fired. Defeat a not-so-fictional supervillain?

Seventeen-year-old fangirl Rosemary Collins lives for VIGIL & ANTE Studios movies. From action-packed superhero fights to sweet character moments, she’s here for it all. But in a real-life crossover no one saw coming, the fandom’s heartthrob supervillain, Ironfall, isn’t as fictional as the film studio wants her to believe. Beyond the glamorous red carpet lies the government’s most guarded secret: the movies are real.

Armed with a devilish grin and a wit as sharp as his knives, Ironfall needs her help, and refusing means he’ll kill her parents. Her only other option involves spying on him for the government’s secret superhero division. Suspended between fact and what she thought was fiction, Rosemary must join her heroes and create an impenetrable web of lies—or guarantee her parents’ safety as she watches the world burn at its adored villain’s hand.

Review

From poor characterization to poor scene structure, We Could Be Villains reads almost like Marvel fan fiction.

Why Should I Care?

McCullough has much potential with the storytelling, but the strangest thing was Rosemary. Rosemary is a little unbelievable right from the beginning. I appreciate that this girl is mindful of her surroundings and wary of her safety. However, there is no build to it. She is on her way to work when she believes a fictional character is stalking and trying to get to her.

When Ironfall finally does corner her into helping him, or he will kill her parents, Rosemary’s personality fails again. There is nothing charismatic about this character. Her dynamic with her parents makes the reader question their whole relationship. Honestly, I thought she was adopted and had superpowers. I was wrong on all counts. I’m still struggling to find out why she was so crucial to the villains because it made no sense.

Even her friend Sam was unbelievable. First, there is suspending your belief, and then there is this. He is in high school, and hacking into the school database is one thing; hacking into the CIA database? Now, that is a little far-fetched, considering he does not seem like a genius to that extent.

The characterization simply missed the mark. Rosemary’s parents were awful. They seem to not care about their daughter, creating this strained relationship that doesn’t pull the reader out.

Then there were the training segments and the fighting sequences. There was way too much showing and not enough telling.

As readers, we don’t need sentences such as “Punch. Duck. Dodge. Kick” on repeat. But, unfortunately, that is what we got. Every fight sequence was literal, telling the reader every character’s move. It took away from the pacing and the storytelling. It was boring.

Final Thoughts

We Could Be Villains felt very much like an unfinished first-draft screenplay. There were parts, such as the web forums, that were interesting, but on the whole, the novel fell flat and was lackluster at best.

• Writing Quality : 4/10
• Character Development : 4/10
• "Couldn't Put It Down"-ness : 3/10
• Intellectual Depth: 5/10
• Originality: 6/10
• Overall Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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About the Author

Cynthia Bujnicki graduated from Emerson College with a BA in Writing, Literature and Publishing. She has always loved to read since she was a child. A contributing writer for YA Fantasy Addicts, she is also the Editor-in-Chief for Cyn's Workshop. She lives in sunny South Florida with her husband, son and daughter and their two cats.