All of Us Villains is being marketed as a magical version of The Hunger Games, and to some extent that's an apt description. Seven kids from the seven great families compete every twenty years. The family of the last kid standing holds the exclusive rights to the towns reserve of high magick until the next competition.
But this year's batch is different. The seven champions thrown into the ring have gone to incredible lengths to prepare for this tournament, but they're starting to rebel from the inside.

Still I feel like comparing this exclusively to The Hunger Games is selling it a lot short. Chapters switch between each champion, revealing each one's backstory, trauma, and unique motivations. For so many characters, they are remarkably distinct, and remarkably well-named.

I was not prepared for this book to end on a cliffhanger. For some reason I thought this would be a complete story. But I am eager to read the sequel as soon as it's available.

Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman’s All of Us Villains arrives with considerable hype and although it has a lot of promise, ultimately fails to deliver. This is a shame as both authors as very well-known names on the YA dark fantasy scene. On paper this was an eye-catching high-concept story, with a great plot hook and may well sell very well, but it was just too slow and it took ages to happen, told via multiple points of view which were so similar I struggled to tell them apart. Admittedly I am about 35 years older above the age of the target audience, but I have a feeling many will be frustrated by the lack of action and a book which was just too talky and the frequent online comparisons to The Hunger Games are misguided as the Suzanne Collins novel did not feature magic. The basic hook of All of Us Villains is that every year one teenager from the seven most powerful/oldest families in the land must fight to the death and winning means that the survivor’s family controls the oldest form of magic for the next twenty years, until the next fight. There is added spice in this latest battle as an anonymous author has written a book about it, meaning that the rest of the world is not aware of the contest which had previously been kept as a city secret.

The story moves between characters are Alistair Lowe, Isobel Macaslan, Gavin Grieve and Briony Thorburn who have all been bred for this moment in their life and like horse-races there are favourites, also-ran families and plotting to obtain the strongest magic, make secret alliances or do the dirty on the weaker families. As three of the families have no POV narratives you can guess they do not have much chance. As I have already said, the book was well past 50% before the contest truly started and when it did it was seriously anti-climatic and it was very obvious which characters we were supposed to get behind and in the end I did not care as they were all too bratty and similar. I found the world building aspect of the novel, particularly the magical elements, to be more interesting than the characters themselves. Having said that I’m sure fans of the likes of Sarah J Mass, Victoria Aveyard, Leigh Bardugo and others who write dark fantasy will enjoy it. AGE RANGE 13+

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really unique, atmospheric take on a Hunger Games-esque magic competition. Unfortunately, I'm DNF'ing this because I just couldn't get into it. I'll probably try picking it up again later....could just be a case of right book, wrong time.

Where do I even start??
Can I give this glorious book more stars??
Can I use a Here to There spell and travel to 2022 to get Book 2 faster??
But let's start at the beginning.

We'll never get free
Lamb to the slaughter
What you gon' do
When there's blood in the water?
The price of your greed
Is your son and your daughter
What you gon' do
When there's blood in the water?

My first thought about this book was: Young Villains in a deadly game for the price of winning the power of high magick for their family?
Yes, please. Give me everything. I'm here for this!

And in my opinion writers Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman deliver. The writing is brilliant, the different POVs from the main Champion's views give amazing insights not only into their families but their troubled characters and the magic system is fresh. I also loved how casually representation of LGBTQ was woven in and how there's a slow burn with a twist. And there's this one side character who... *spoiler*

When you tear it all apart, it's just DNA
Destroying what we fear
Hate is such an ancient game
When we're all that we have left, yet we aim to kill
Pretending that we're made of steel
Living in a battlefield

What I also love deeply is that both authors shared their writing playlists for this book which makes for such an amazing experience. The two pieces of lyrics I shared in the beginning and just above this part of my review are from the songs I think fit the book the most. Because parts of the lyrics are just - so this book!

It's rare that I fall so fast for a book but All of Us Villains has everything I love and more. And I can't wait to read more about the curse, a certain cursemaker and how everything turns out in the end for our Champions. With all of this being said, I only have one thing left:
I need the second book of this duology asap!!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
(Lyrics pt 1: Blood // Water by Grandson, Lyrics pt 2: DNA by Clairity)

The cover? Beautiful. The dedication? Hilarious. The story? Wicked and bloody. POVs from 4 characters? We love to see it. Men wearing rings? What more could you need.

I throughly enjoyed this book. Each character had something different to bring to the table and as soon as you thought you had them down they did something completely out of pocket.

I enjoyed the magick system and the modern day setting without it being overbearing. I will say it is YA so it wasn’t as dark and villainous as I was expecting but still took some dark turns.

Also a dark brooding man who is also clumsy, amazing.

Think a dark version of Hunger Games but with magic.

These authors wrote this story really well: it follows four POVs that, while I didn’t always like all of them, I found their situations and choices intriguing. The story was engaging the entire way through and kept me guessing (even though I still have my theories on where this will go for the second one!).

I look forward to the next one!

The Hunger Games but bloodier plus magic??
As soon as I read the description I knew I needed to read this book. I have read also The Shadow Game trilogy by Amanda Foody and loved it!

I love the multiple point of views and the unique magic system in this book. The only thing I hoped for was for the characters to be more of a Villain, hopefully that will happen as the series goes on?

I'm usually not a super fan of multi-pov books because I find I can get lost easily, but I loooooooved ALL OF US VILLAINS! From a craft standpoint, the third person POV is perfectly executed, and each of the voices were written in a way that I had no trouble remembering whose story was whose. If you like viscerally descriptive writing, morally gray characters, and a sort of Hunger Games-esque fight-to-the-death tournament vibe, this one is definitely for you!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC. My opinion is my own.*


I am sitting here, trying to figure out what to type because I am at such a loss for words. Maybe I will recover. But it is not looking good since I have been sobbing for a while.


This book has been one of my most anticipated reads since I knew it was coming out. I have never read Amanda Foody’s work but am Christine Herman’s number one fan.


I am not familiar with multiple POVs. At first, it wasn’t very clear, but everything became more in sync as the story went on. Because of this, I did feel it was a little slow at first, but man, oh man, did it pick up!


All the characters were chefs kiss. But of course, we all have our favorites, mine being Alistair, Gavin, and Isobel. All of their stories were so complex, though—every single competitor. The competitor's own POV chapters make you bond and feel for each of them. But, unfortunately, they were making the competition for the reader even more gruesome.

Compared to The Hunger Games? book is The Hunger Games gone dark. Even darker than you could imagine, which is what appealed to me. I like the gruesome and grotesque of this competition better.


The magic system, WOW. It was one of the most intriguing and very well-thought-out magic systems I think I have ever read.


THE ENDING THE AUDACITY JUST… I want to shout and cry and cry some more. But, at the same time, I wanted to throw my kindle across the room. I am utterly broken-broken into a thousand pieces. I don’t know when I will recover. But don’t the best books leave you feeling this way?


I am too emotional to even think about how long I have to wait until book two. It still hasn’t been processed yet.

All of us villains is a young adult fantasy novel that is told in 3rd person in the POV of 4 characters. The city of IIvernath has a tournament to the death and of course these 4 characters are competing. In this case All of us Villains can definitely be compared to The Hunger Games. The twist is that they are villains. I liked the premise of this book and was excited to read it especially as I have loved everything Amanda Foody has previously written however I found the writing to be boring and it was a chore to read. I didn’t have an urge to continue and will not read the sequel. I do thank NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I would still recommend this book to people who only read young adult fiction as you will probably find it compelling.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Teen for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review. All of Us Villains takes everything that you loved about The Hunger Games and turns it on it's heel. Don't take the title for granted, the cast is 50 shades of morally gray that will delight any villain lover. If you find yourself starting to think that the villain's plan or reasoning makes sense, this book is perfect for you!

Well that was an ending. Loved it. Want to read it again already. Highly recommended if you like human, inept, very dark grey (slightly black), 'forced to be' villains.

All of Us Villains

Full feature for this title will be posted at: @queensuprememortician on Instagram!

4.75 stars.
One of the things I loved most about the Shadow Game trilogy by Amanda Foody was its examination of heroes and villains, good and evil. I was delighted to see this theme appear again in ‘All of Us Villains.’
Pitched as a Hunger Games with villains and magic, I was immediately hooked. It is such an exciting story that ends on a cliffhanger, I can’t wait for the next book! It’s extremely intricately plotted, with so many twists- I was convinced at a few points I knew exactly what was coming next, but was always very surprised. As well as that, it was very well paced, and so gripping.
In regards to worldbuilding, I thought it was fantastic. There were no huge info dumps but the world was so immersive and well thought out, I was fascinated! The whole book is an extremely interesting study of tradition and family, which I’m so excited to go deeper into in the next book.
I loved the characters in this book- there were four POVs, which balanced the story really well, and all had an interesting and distinctive voice. I was concerned with the number of main characters originally, but soon realised that I needn’t have worried. Each character had their own story interlinked, and had their own backstories and motives- they were amazing to read about. I also loved the relationships developed between all of them. All the characters are morally grey, which I adore.
As well as that, All of Us Villains had some of my favourite tropes (One bed trope, rivals to lovers, I have to kill you, betrayal, and more), and though it isn’t a romance book, it has a healthy dose of romance, which I really enjoyed.
Overall, I would definitely recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I was so excited to finally read All of us Villains. The description sounded really promising and reminded me of The Hunger Games. Now, after I have read the book, I can tell you that the story did not disappoint and that it was so much better and more magical than The Hunger Games.

First of all, I loved the worldbuilding and the magic system because they created a very dark and thrilling atmosphere. It was something completely new and exciting and I just couldn’t stop reading.

But my highlights were the many complex and morally grey characters. The book is written out of four different pov’s. First, I was afraid that I would confuse the different narratives and that I wouldn’t enjoy all of them equally as much. I’m glad to say that this wasn’t the case. I loved all of the characters and every narrative brought something important and new to the plot. My favourite character was Alistair because he was the most mysterious one in my opinion, but I also enjoyed reading about the other characters.

I don’t want to say too much about the plot because I don’t want to risk spoiling someone. So please go ahead and give this book a chance. If you liked the Hunger Games and enjoy reading about morally grey characters and magic, you will certainly love this book as much as I did.

Oh this book was WICKED, but in a delicious, delightful way. I devoured this, and can;t wait until I get my hands on a paper copy. All those who need another helping of the Hunger Games, this is it folks! Teens fighting to the death every twenty years in order for their family to control magic. The characterization is fantastic, and you will find yourself rooting for everyone. This was SO GOOD.

If one of the victors of the Hunger Games published a tell-all book, the result would be All of Us Villains! Shocking and enthralling, unique and suspenseful, All of Us Villains is the best kind of wild ride, and I am eagerly anticipating the sequel!

Woah, I definitely cannot wait for book #2! I just knew this could not possibly end where it was at around 92%.
The best way to describe this book is Hunger Games with magic! I loved the premise of the story and the slight mystery to keep me reading. This book was equally character-based as it was plot-based.

The Hunger Games with magic?! Yes please!

I was looking forward to this book so much so I was thrilled to receive an ARC from NetGalley. It grabbed me from the beginning and I couldn’t put it down. Every 20 years the 7 great families of Ilvernath put forth a champion to compete in the great tournament. The last champion standing secures control of the worlds high magick for their family. In the past the tournament has been secret but this time the secrets out and the world is watching.

I highly recommend this book for fans of the hunger games and fantasy novels, I’m already looking forward to the next one!

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRRtpvR5/

All my regards to NetGalley and Tor/Forge for the digital advanced copy in exchange of my honest thoughts. All opinions posted in this review are my own

I swear to God I literally screamed out loud in a Norwegian restaurant when I saw that my NetGalley request had been approved. This is one of my most anticipated release of 2021 and having the ARC in my hands felt like a dream.

So what is this book about?

Described as The Hunger Games but with magic, All of Us Villains tells the story of seven descendants of the cursed families in Ilvernath to fight in the Blood Veil tournament, in order to gain the exclusive control of the high magick. This book is told in the perspectives of four different villains combatants: Alistair Lowe, Isobel Macaslan, Gavin Grieve, and Briony Thorburn.

General thoughts

This book slaps. It slaps so hard that my brain is left in shambles. The writing is incredibly captivating and the worldbuilding in quite complex and intriguing. This book is heavily characters-driven and honestly, the way Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Hermann developed their characters is quite extraordinary, given the fact that this book is only 400 pages-long and all four characters are pretty much very complex.
And that ending, THAT ENDING blew my soul away. Amanda Foody has no rights to leave the readers on the cliffhanger like that. The fact that I am left with this ending and the book is not even out yet is criminal.

Things I like

The worldbuilding:
I have seen reviews saying that the magic system of this book is not strong and explained well enough. I don't disagree. However, the world of AOUV captivated me. Of course, there are unexplained gaps in the magic system, but I am optimistic that we will know more about it in the next book of the duology. Otherwise, some lack of clearance doesn't annoy me that much

The concept:
I had read many Hunger Games knock-off, but none can compare to this. The concept of a one-survivor-tournament with the addition of curses and spells, relics, wicked families and amazing characters, this book is way more than just a simple knock-off

And finally, la crème de la crème - Alistair Lowe:
I love villains, I really do. Morally gray or just plainly bad/cruel, I love them all. The best way I can describe Alistair is that he is a mix of Victor Vale (Vicious) and Aaron Warner (Shatter Me) but at the same time it doesn't feel right to fit Alistair in a box like that. Alistair is the champion of the Lowe family - the one whose 3/4 of the tournament victors came from. Alistair is described as a violent and wicked monster, following the cruel reputation of the Lowe family. I can't say much more about him without spoiling, but later on in the story we see more of Alistair's and the Lowe's secrets, mostly after (view spoiler). In conclusion, I would kill without hesitation for my black hair gray eyes dumbass Alistair Lowe, who is more boy than monster.

Things I don't like

The romance and Alistair's softness:
(view spoiler)

Other characters:
As said before, this book is characters-driven. The plot is heavily driven by the characters. Maybe one of the reasons why this book is not a 5/5 for me is because of the other 3 main characters. I don't like either Briony nor Gavin. Isobel is a little bit better but I still don't like her that much (maybe that's the reason why I don't like the romance) Don't get me wrong, all their arcs are just amazing, but they are highly unlovable for me.

Plot twists:
I predicted all the plot twists without effort. I don't even try to guess them, they are incredibly easy to guess because they are just right in front of you. Incredibly cheap, (view spoiler)

Overall thoughts
I rated this book 3.5/5. I really likes it although it's nowhere near perfect. I highly anticipated the sequel of the duology (it would probably kill me but okay) and this book might by a sign for me to read Ace of Shades