This was ABSOLUTE perfection. I am still internally screaming after finishing it. I can't get over the emotional rollercoaster that I went through with this book. I loved characters. I hated characters. It was the absolute perfect mix of everything I need in my books.

All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman is the first book in the new young adult fantasy series by the same name, All of Us Villains. As with most fantasy series the books are best read in order starting with this first book and continuing on as the series will pick up the story from book to book. The story in this series is one that is told by changing the point of view between the various characters.

For centuries there has been a tournament in the city of Ilvernath once every two decades to determine which of seven families will gain control of high magick. Each of the seven cursed families choose a representative to send into the tournament to fight to the death with only one remaining the victor. This has all always taken place in secret until this year when reporters have swarmed the town after details were leaked of the upcoming tournament.

Much like the Hunger Games the participants in All of Us Villains are tossed into a battle to the death but these characters aren’t the innocent children that readers sympathized with in the Hunger Games. That being said though the ‘villains’ were all chosen from their families and each had their own unique reasons and personalities they brought to the battle and it was fun getting to know them in the story. As much as it seems like this one is a remake of the Hunger Games the story is different and took on it’s own identity fairly quickly. Once the games began the pages flew by waiting to see how it would all unfold in this first book of the series.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Every twenty years a blood moon rises over Ilvernath.

A beacon which means a deadly tournament is about to take place. Seven representatives. Six sacrifices. The reward is sole access to all of the high magick left in the world.

A centuries old secret kept by seven families, until a damning tell-tall brings scrutiny to Ilvernath. The tournament is now infamous and the pressure to win is higher than ever.

With chapters dedicated to each champion, you learn the gruesome history of the tournament that taints this town. Their strengths and weaknesses and the connections they build to obtain the most dangerous spells.

Packed with complex characters, lots of blood and violence and a super fun and unique magic system, this book ends on cliffhanger that will have you counting down the months until book two comes out.

For readers who want the brutality and gore of Battle Royale, the world building of The Hunger Games and a creative magic system like Mistborn.

All of Us Villians comes out November 9th. Thank you to NetGalley and TorTeen for an ARC of this title.

I was lucky enough to receive an Advanced Readers Copy of “All of Us Villains” by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman. This book has been generating quite a lot of buzz in YA circles, so I eagerly jumped into the fray to see if it lived up to the hype. The answer was, yes (for the most part). The novel had a fascinating concept and very cool worldbuilding. I love fantasy books that take place in modern settings, so this novel hit the spot in that regard. The magic system was incredibly fascinating and I would have loved to know more about that. I was promised villainy and morally gray characters, and I found that in droves. All of the characters were very interesting and I liked that they were all villains despite their different personalities, backgrounds, and definition of what exactly a villain is. Due to the perspective chapters being limited to 4 of the 7 champions, we do miss out on some perspectives that could accentuate the novel. Some of the characters felt a little too similar in their descriptions relating to appearance, and as far as I gleaned from reading it they all appear to be white characters. In the sequel, I would like to see more diversity in regards to characters' race. Speaking of the sequel, with the cliffhanger ending there is certainly a lot of material for one! I felt like the second half of the book unraveled so fast that it was hard to grasp what was going on. A more gradual unraveling of the world we were just getting accustomed to would have allowed readers to have a keener grasp on the second halves' events. This was to the point that the plot twists seemed unsatisfying and the cliffhanger did not stun as much as it should have. I eagerly look forward to the sequel to see how it is resolved. In conclusion, this is a fascinating story with interesting characters and mind-bending magic. It just lost control of itself in the end. I cannot wait to see where it leads next.

All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman is a high-stakes fantasy that puts a unique twist on the concept of the tournament to the death. Depicting a competition where players fight through curses, this one contains morally grey characters and a well developed magic system. This is a great read for those looking for a dark, character-driven fantasy.

Each generation, seven families nominate one champion to compete in a fight to the death. Only, instead of fighting with weapons, they fight with curses. Should a family’s champion win the competition, they earn the privilege of controlling high magick, which everyone else in Ilvernath believes is obsolete, until the next games. This year, however, the secrets of the tournament have surfaced, bringing reporters and spectators to the games for the first time ever. Now, with all eyes on the tournament, the competitors have a choice to make—continue on, or put an end to the games forever.

❀ WELL-DEVELOPED NARRATORS

This book contains four different narrators, and each is well developed. As the tournament progresses, we follow Alistair, the champion with the highest chance of winning, Isobel, who never wanted to compete in the first place, Gavin, the underdog, and Briony, who stole the opportunity to compete from her sister. While there are many characters to keep track of, each is distinct, and the authors do an excellent job outlining their differing motivations. These characters are also complex and morally grey, as the title suggests, although I wouldn’t necessarily call them villains.

❀ UNIQUE USE OF MAGIC

One of the elements that impressed me the most was the role of magic in the book. The concept of a fight to the death through magic is unique, and the world building details such as the characters purchasing spells from a store brings dimension to the story. I especially enjoyed the consequences of using magic, as it may backfire if the characters make curses themselves. While I found that the world building could have been stronger, the unique use of magic made up for this.

❀ AN ORIGINAL FANTASY

All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman is an original fantasy with magic and plenty of twists. The tournament is brutal yet engaging, and each of the competitors is well developed. The use of magic is particularly well executed, bringing a unique angle to the story. Fans of The Hunger Games will not want to miss this one.

I received as an ARC through Netgalley. The description of All of Us Villains compared it to the Hunger Games, and it did not disappoint! A curse is on the land that every 20 years the seven families that control the high magic must put up a champion that competes to the death until only one is left standing. While there are a lot of different narrators, the story flows nicely. Not clear cut who is a hero or a villain, a lot of gray area like real life. Can the curse, like other curses be broken? Will the champions of each family try to work together, or will they keep repeating the same patterns as in centuries past? Cannot wait for the next book in this series by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman.

a delightfully dark read with an ending that is truly another beginning.

while the pacing falters here and there, i was completely drawn and hooked into this world of sacrifice and bloodshed. i enjoyed the relationships between the characters (especially gavin’s relationships with Everyone), but mainly how they stuck to themselves rather than each other, all with their own motives and goals. i only docked a star because i found the romance unnecessary, as well as poorly executed. however, this is a world i plan on revisiting whenever the next bit drops.

The Hunger Games meets the darker side of Harry Potter makes for a most addicting read.

All Of Us Villains drew me in right from the beginning. I couldn’t put this book down. Normally I don’t like books with a similar premise to other popular books, but this one was just different enough for me to be able to thoroughly enjoy it without feeling like I was reading The Hunger Games over again.

The cast of characters was well developed and dynamic. Each one had their own quirks that made them likable in their own ways. The magic system in this book was also well thought out and very interesting. It wasn’t the boring wave of a wand or spell words magic, but something more intricate and sinister.

I loved all the plot twists the book had. It definitely held me in suspense the whole time. Overall, I thought this book was excellent and I can’t wait for the sequel. Thank you to NetGalley for this ebook ARC!

This was such a unique book and I completely fell in love!

In the city of Ilvernath there is a generational tournament for high magick. Ceremoniously, one person from each of the seven families is chosen and the tournament is to the death. Only one will remain. But this time is a little different because the remote town is swarmed with people who all have something to say about it. Protestors and reporters alike have come in droves creating a whole new element to this ordeal.

The dynamic between the chosen in this generation of the tournament is intense. With backstabbing betrayal and new alliances, these seven all enter into this round each believing they will be the one to come out victorious. With this story being told from only four narratives of the seven, I felt like we got just the right amount of insight into the proper minds to tell the story to its perfection. I cannot get over how much fun this was to read. Some of the chosen were the actual worst (one in particular even if she thought she was doing the right thing… just no! I despised her) and some were perfect - I am talking about Alistair. He was a hands down favorite. Coming from the more villainous of the families, he was a shoo-in to win, considering his family usually wins, giving them the terrible villainous reputation. Loved him!

I cannot wait for more in this creative and dark magical series.

All of Us Villians is a young adult urban fantasy about seven teens forced to fight each other in a to-the-death style magical duel.
After five centuries of hiding the truth the city of Ilvernath has finally had their biggest secret leaked in a tell-all book. Now the world knows that they control the high magic by having an epic three month showdown once every generation between seven of their top families. We follow possible contestants Alistair, Isobel, Briony and Gavin as they deal with their relatives, their magical abilities and the world as it watches. But once the sky turns red marking the beginning of the duel we start to see the cracks under the contestants exteriors. Alistair has presented himself as the ultimate monster but the love he has for his brother and a possible romance with a fellow contestant shows his human side. Isobel has a spell go wrong before the tournament and enters it weak and scared and Gavin makes a deal that makes his magic unreliable. And Briony risks everything to compete in order to dismantle the curse that runs the tournament from the inside but she’ll need help from the other six contenders and no one is inclined to believe her.
All of Us Villains is a new twist on tournament type young adult books. By incorporating curses and spells and a cast of morally grey characters Foody and Herman created a brand new story for YA audiences. All of Us Villains kept me riveted all the way to the end and thanks to the cliffhanger ending I look forward to reading more books in this series.
4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you loved The Hunger Games and Maze Runner back in the day, then listen up - this one’s for you!

Every generation of the elite families sends one champion to compete in a death tournament when the blood moon rises. If their champion wins, the family gets access to high magick until the next generation competes. Except this year, the champions don’t want to straight up slaughter each other. Something’s going on, and maybe they will get to the bottom of what’s really driving this tournament… or maybe they won’t.

This books gets pretty brutal without warning in parts. There were a few audible oh sh*ts that came out of my mouth. I absolutely loved the premise, and there was such an array of personalities to round out the cast. The only thing I’m mad about? That epic cliffhanger at the end!

A big thank you to Netgalley (@netgalley )and the publisher (@torteen ) for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. This review expresses my own personal opinions.

All of Us Villains describes a modern fantasy world where there's not much magick left and the most powerful remnant is locked, only accessible to the family that wins a murderous tournment in which the 7 families have competed for centuries. This tournament has now been exposed to the press by a tell-all, leaving the selected teen champions chosen to compete exposed to the public in a way they never have before. The book follows some of the champion as they manage the physical, emotional, and social aspects of finally getting into a much anticipated fight to the death with people you know and with whom you have centuries of history. In addition to the individual dynamics between the contestants, the familial and town politics add some flavor to this competition, making it feel less self-contained and giving the contestants a backstory to differentiate them, as none had a traditional path on their way to champion. The synopsis is pretty vague because going into this book knowning absolutely nothing created tension for the first quarter that usually gets exposed in the summary given by the publisher (not this time!).
I really liked that this world felt somewhat modern, a good mesh of modern society with some old trimmings. At the same time, the way the book was written was dark enough that it felt Gothic at times, a perfect vibe for a fall/Halloween read. It gave more gruesome details and deeper emotions about killing than you feel from most fantasy books. The tournament, once they got into the arena that is, felt very much like the Hunger Games with magick, though everyone felt like one of the Careers here. I loved the romance arc, having one of my favorite enemies-to-love trope with little insta-love. I will say some of the twists were staring you in the face the whole time, but on the whole, the shifting dynamics between the champions kept me reading right up until the end. I can't wait for the sequel because the book fully ends in the middle of action, not on a cliffhanger, but just after one.

OHHHHHH MY GOD!!!!

I am in a state of shock after reading this I’m literally screaming this was NOT what I was expecting and I’m obsessed with it

vibes are: hunger games x witches - like please say less I’m totally in (and if you want the best experience like I did, that’s literally all you need to know about this book)

every generation when the blood moon falls, it’s time for a new slaughter seven to take their place. one champion under the age of 21 from each of the seven powerful witch families must partake in the tournament to the death - the last surviving champion will have alllllllll of the expensive high magic until the next tournament. oh yes, I said surviving, as in they all have to kill each other.

*cue rue’s theme*

the story itself is told from 4 different champions POVs: alistair (the brooding projected heir whose family mysteriously always seems to win), isobel (the popular favorite due to her looks and charm), briony (the scorned sister who is determined to find more loopholes in the tournament than not), and gavin (another brooding male whose family has almost never won and they’re seen as basically losers).

I loved hearing from them all separately and see how they all felt about each other and the tournament without narrator bias. and the description of the spell-rings and magic was just *chef kiss* AND THAT ENDING? I NEED ANSWERS!!!

everyone needs to read this one when it comes out this month holy crap!! thank you to netgalley and macmillan forge publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

wine pairing: mouvèdre blend
rating: 4.5 stars

I’m waiting for book 2 even though book 1 hasn’t been released yet.

Magic + Hunger Games

This book had a really unique magic system, characters with a tragic backstory, a story bathed in blood, and a tournament where 7 people go in, but only 1 comes out.

What really had me hooked were the characters, especially the two male protagonists, Alistair Lowe and Gavin Grieve. Both characters hated each other; Gavin especially hated Alistair for certain reasons, but there were small moments that added some tension between them. And little interactions that were quite normal but made me feel like… am I shipping them? Sadly, one of the boys already has a love interest (which I don’t ship) but things might change in the second book. *fingers crossed*

The other two protagonists were Isobel Macaslan and Briony Thorburn. I didn’t like Isobel; she was alright at first but as the book progressed I liked her less and less. Briony on the other hand was very interesting to me (just not as interesting as Gavin and Alistair) and I loved reading everything she sacrificed for her theory.

I enjoyed reading how this tournament affected the champions' lives even before they started the tournament. Unlike the Hunger Games where people are chosen at random, the champion is chosen by their family. Whoever is the most ruthless, most skilled in magic, and most mentally and physically capable of winning the tournament. Some of these characters wanted to be their family’s champion- to either make them proud or to show the world what they're capable of. Other characters were forced to take this role, as they have been preparing for this tournament since birth.

Since this book is a tournament with only one winner, I was waiting for a lot of betrayal and backstabbing but a lot of that didn’t happen. The end did take a turn (for the better) and it describes the title a lot more. When the ending came I was actually really happy because I wanted that plot twist to happen, and it actually happened. So now I’m even more excited for the second book.

One thing that did confuse me was the magic system, but that’s expected. A new magic system is always a struggle. But also the setting and era. When I started reading the book I imagined something inspired by the mid 19th century, but as I kept reading there were mentions of technology and photography, and other modern things. Another problem was how slow-paced it was in the beginning. The last 75% of the book was the most captivating and fast-paced to me.

Overall this was a great Y.A fantasy novel, with incredible tropes and characters. I really hope the second book can be even better.


*Thank you Netgalley for the digital ARC*

I admit I had a hard time delving into this book with the first few chapters. The pacing at the beginning was quite slow and you had to familiarize multiple POVs with their background. But when the story started to pick-up, you're totally in for the read.

If you're a reader like me who does not like slow paced books, just bear with this since it'll be really awesome once the competition starts.

Oh. My. Goodness. This was a RIDE and I enjoyed it more with every page. It's appropriately referenced as "The Hunger Games + magic," and I appreciate that it's not just a retelling OF The Hunger Games. This is an imaginative and interesting competition story, which is a weakness of mine.

For a book marketed as a bloodier The Hunger Games, it was really lacking in the maiming and killing.

The premise of All of Us Villains is good. I was captivated by the synopsis and the magical tournament aspect and all that it entails was really intriguing. I kept seeing reviews calling this dark and bloody, but I think we read different books? None of the characters acted ruthless or unapologetically maniacal enough to be considered villains like the title suggests. I also struggled with the multiple POVs, most likely because I wasn't invested in any of the characters other than Alistair.

The pacing felt off as well. It started out pretty slow and the action doesn't really pick up until the tournament actually begins...which is almost halfway through the book. Then once the action started, it felt like the pacing and plot were moving too fast.

All in all, I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting but it wasn't this. I love both these authors so I was really disappointed that I didn't enjoy this.

Foody and Lynn Herman's All of Us Villains takes the (now) classic "teens fight to the death" trope, pushes it onto its side, warps and darkens it just enough, and lets the reader see what happens next. The worldbuilding is wonderful; I love magic-systems that feel both organic and well thought out enough that the reader can quickly follow along. The characters are developed well also; the protagonists all reflect their upbringings and choices surrounding the Tournament with skill and authenticity. It's hard not to end up rooting for (some) of them as the story progresses, but as Foody and Lynn Herman pointed out in the title, it's not "Some of Us Villains."

An interesting idea of how social media would affect the classic "magical families hiding in plain sight" troupe. The story uses a published book instead of social media, but the idea holds true and social media play a large role.

Once upon a time, there was a small town called Ilvernath. Seven powerful families resided in it and every twenty years they'd send one of their own to compete in a tournament to the death in order to keep control of the town's magic supply.

This year, the seven contestants all start the bloodbath as planned, but then something changes. Could it be, that they're not villains after all?

All of Us Villains was one of my most anticipated reads this year. The cover, title and blurb all drew my attention, even more so than the comps. Still, I really did want to see how the Riverdale comp played into it, and at least that part was satisfying to a degree.

Ilvernath is a cute, spooky town and the atmosphere was on point. The world building wasn't grand, but for this story it didn't need to be. Perhaps it'll get expanded on in the next book.

But my issue is with the characters. I only liked Gavin from start to finish, the rest not so much. Despite almost half a book of backstories, I couldn't get myself to care about them.

Maybe it's because I was expecting actual villains who'd do anything to win that I'm disappointed, I don't know. But it's clear before they even get into the tournament that some of them really don't want to be there.

And the characters who was meant to be the biggest villain of all - ended up being the biggest softie (with a random evil scene here and there, it barely counts).

There are seven contestants, and we only got PoVs from four of them. I can't say if this is a good thing or a bad thing, since it's possible I wouldn't care about the remaining three either way, but it would be nice to see what was going on in their heads during all the shifting alliances.

So, because I wasn't attached to the characters the book didn't have its desired impact. That's disappointing. But, it was still easy to read and decently entertaining.

I didn't mind the pacing too much. Even though it feels like the authors spent too much time trying to develop the characters at the start and then suddenly remembered that the main event was supposed to begin, so they scrambled to do it and as a result certain parts of the tournament felt rushed.

Then there's the abrupt cliffhanger ending...that's definitely one of the worst parts of this book. Not because it's painful or makes you want to rip your hair out in frustration from not getting to see what happens next for another year, but because it feels incomplete.

This is a book that doesn't stand on its own, which is fine, but then it's supposed to make you want to read the next one and it doesn't do a very good job.

If I do read the next one it'll be for Gavin, and Gavin only. If anyone wins it better be him. And it's because of him that I'm choosing to round my rating up to three stars. You go Gavin, you got this.

*Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*