Every tale has a villain of sorts.

Whether it’s a madman kidnapping a damsel or a protagonist experiencing internal dilemmas, there is always a quarrel in stories. A villain or some sort of conflict help drive the plot towards a climax, the action-packed and exciting part of a storyline.

Villains are mainly used to boost the image of the protagonist, to help tell the story of the hero and the struggles they face in order to achieve their goals. But villains are important characters in stories too, and perhaps what makes them so interesting is their past, the events in their lives that decided their ultimate fate.

For anyone who enjoys learning the story behind villains, the anthology ‘Because You Love To Hate Me’ provides great insight into the minds of villains.

Written by thirteen notorious young adult authors and thirteen YouTubers, ‘Because You Love To Hate Me’ introduces new and old villains alike with creative twists in each short story.

With authors like Victoria Schwab, Marissa Meyer, and Renée Ahdieh, I had great expectations for this anthology. Who wouldn’t when the whole thing is comprised of nothing but villain stories?

Villains are so interesting to read about, and sometimes they may be more interesting than the protagonists themselves. Villains and anti-heroes will stop at nothing to get what they want; they basically have no boundaries when their best interests are at hand.

Villains are a reminder people are not perfect and sometimes what they think is best may not be the right choice. So it’s natural for some to root for the baddies and be far more interested in their stories rather than a hero’s (though heroes are great too).

With that said, I had a marvelous time reading this anthology.

There were some stories within the collection that raised my eyebrows and made me think “Really? That’s as bad as they get? I’ve seen worse.” Although some villains just aren’t as dramatic as others.

This anthology opened my eyes to understand, in many instances, the villain may not know they’re the bad guy or they believe they’re only a villain to a certain type of people.

Villains are heroes in their own perspectives.

The only way we can identify or name a “villain” is to have a grasp on what our own morals are. My favorite stories in this collection were the ones with antagonists that believed their “evil-doing” was justified or had nocuous tragedies befall them, such as “The Sea Witch”, “Medusa”, “Death Knell”, and “The Erl Queen.” Each of these pieces contained such fluid and rich writing and made me cheer on the villain or feel sympathy for them.

‘Because You Love To Hate Me’ is a great introduction to the minds of villains.

Even though heroes are most often the characters people care about most, stories are almost nothing without their villains. It takes bad things in the world for us to recognize what is good, and villains are certainly what makes heroes that empower the good.