Thank you so much to net galley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book! I feel like this was the best concept and it was extremely well executed. I definitely want to the read the rest of the series!

This book was alright. I didn't feel particularly connected to any of the characters, and the story felt a bit flat to me. I didn't find myself invested in the mystery, and I don't plan on reading the sequel.

I gave this a three out of five stars I really enjoyed the story. I am interested in continuing with book two. It was different than anything that I've read lately. I'd love to add this book to my collection and to read more by this author. I totally recommend this book, I liked the friendship and the story line.

This was a fun Disney villain crime thriller and I honestly wasn't expecting that! The concept sounded cool but I ended up enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would.

(i received this e-arc from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

unfortunately, i was rather let down by this book. for some reason, i expected City of Villains to have a gritty, Gotham-esque setting. sadly, because... well, it *is* disney, i never got to see that come true.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found this book incredibly interesting the author really kept me hooked until the end. very well written I highly recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advanced copy of this book to read and review.

This is such a great world! These books are fun and engaging, adventure with solid themes, heart, and soul in them. I’ll be looking for hard copies for my classroom library!

The synopsis sounded amazing! This is marketed as a YA novel yet it does not read that way. It felt like I was reading a middle grade novel instead.

"The world ended because of me."

My Disney-loving heart wanted to love this one for obvious reasons, but I was never truly hooked. (Pardon the pun).

There are fun nods to the villains we love to hate, and some fun catch phrase moments, but everything else just felt sort of muddled. It read really young, but contained elements that seemed -- at times -- too intense for a middle grader. Like a gritter Descendants sans the musical moments.

I think now that the worldbuilding and plot has been established the series might thrive in later installments, but I'm let down by the potential outweighing the final product.

At the end of the day, I'm always going to give my baddies a chance, and if you're looking for a read that could easily be consumed in an afternoon this could be the one for you.

Rounded up from 2.5 stars.

I wanted to like this so, so much! I've always been a huge fan of fairytale retellings/reimagining's and especially anything to do with the villains. This just didn't hit the mark for me.

It's a good basis and idea for a plot- but I just didn't like how it played out. I didn't like how the characters were written, it felt too one dimensional and like they had no other character or motives beyond what the plot needed them to have and could easily through it out on the next chapter. And the 'metaphor' I guess we can call it, just missed it for me. It felt like it was trying to make a point / story about privilege and prejudice, but it was too all over the place.

I do like the world building, and the ending DID make me want to read the next book, so I suppose it did its job, but it most likely won't be for a while.

I loved the Disney Villains meets Gotham vibes of this story, it's perfect for anyone who enjoyed books like Kingdom Keepers growing up. I enjoyed all the references to different characters, and think the concept of the villains as teens (before they become villains) was super interesting to explore.

A clean cut telling of villain stories in a way that is intriguing and accessible for teens. Retellings end up going too dark, and this one didn’t do that, so we’ll done!

Perfect for a disney loving teen. The action is gripping and you want to know what is happen around every turn.

This might be a case of mismatched reader and book. City of Villains is billed as YA but reads more like a MG novel, in my opinion. The idea behind this book is extremely clever, and while the book felt geared at a much younger crowd than I was expecting, it's quite a fast paced read, and one I'm definitely going to pass on to my daughter who will eat it up. If you aren't a fan of MG novels, you might have the same issues I did, but if you're open to something on the younger side of the genre/age spectrum, I definitely recommend giving this one a try for yourself!

I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would as fairy tale and Disney retellings have been hit or miss for me lately. But City of Villains by Estelle Laure was a hit. I enjoyed the noir crime novel aspect of the book. Mary Elizabeth and Bella have this weird detective duo going on and I love it. I want more of those two in the next book in the series.

I've loved Estelle's previous books and appreciated what Estelle tried to do with this book. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. Might be better for younger readers.

thanks netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Overall I wanted to love this novel. I love a good disney villain flip, but it was super slow to start and I couldn't find myself connecting to the protagonist all that well. I think this series is going to be a miss for me.

Absolutely a case of 'it's not me, it's you' - I personally was not impressed by this title, but I could definitely see how others would be. This is YA, but could also easily be shelved as middle grade.

This book is tough to describe. It’s kind of a Disney character meets X-men meets Gotham vibe and will be a hit for it’s intended teenage audience.

I felt a bit confused at the beginning, but eventually was able to figure out what was going on. It was kind of fun to try and figure out which people were characters from Disney movies.

The characters weren’t very well developed, and the term legacy was used extensively. Overall just ok for me. If it turns out to be a duology or trilogy I may read the other books but if it ends up being a big series it’ll be a one and done

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.