by Megan McCullough
publisher’s synopsis
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.
Perfect for fans of pop culture and comics, We Could be Villians packs an entire cinematic uni-verse into a book. Join Rosemary and the not-so-fictional heroes (and villains!) of the VIGIL & ANTE films in this imaginative science fiction where superhero battles equal publicity stunts, fictional characters become family, and the villain just might steal your heart.
(Full confession: I finished We Could be Villians about a month ago, and am finally writing the review now. So sorry if it’s a little sparse or if I missed a caution!)
Marvel fans, this book is for you.
Megan McCullough has crafted a novel that superhero fans will adore. From the characters avoiding spoilers and crafting their own movie theories to the cinematographic feel of the scenes, We Could be Villians comes alive on the page.
I liked how Megan balanced the spy/espionage/superhero elements of We Could be Villians with parts of ordinary life, like school musicals and jobs. The theater references were also super fun.
The characters were well done, and I can’t wait to get to know them more in future books.
There’s a part of me that would have really liked to read We Could be Villians with no knowledge of what the story was about, and experience the surprise of every revelation just like Rosemary did. For instance, if you read the blurb, you know that Ironfall and Vigil & Ante are real. But it would have been fun to experience the surprise of discovering that.
Megan has me eagerly awaiting the next Vigil & Ante Files after that ending, and I look forward to seeing what she writes next.
Cautions: moderate violence; light romance; one kiss
*We Could be Villians releases October 3, 2022, and is currently available for preorder.*
Hailey Huntington 