Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge Publishers and Netgalley for granting me access to an eARC!

*4.5 stars*

"I gave up everything to take my sister's spot. Not because I wanted to win---but because I was willing to bet my life on saving others."

After the publication of "A Tradition of Tragedy" (a novel about the Blood Veil curse and the seven families who participate in it - this was such a great worldbuilding element), the unknown city of Ilvernath is put front and center of the world. People who want to see and those who disagree with the Blood Veil Championship come to visit its spell shops and ruins to watch as the age-old curse unfolds with 7 new champions from each of the 7 families (the irony of 7 is not lost on me). The winner of the Blood Veil curse's family receives control of the most powerful and highest magick in the world.
In the past, the devilish and secretive Lowes family have won nearly every tournament, and this year, Alistair Lowe believes he is ready to continue that tradition. However, each champion participating this year has something to bring to the table, or maybe even a way to end the tournament permanently.
But this story is dark and told with blood.

This book was a dark, twisted version of the Hunger Games with the addition of magic and curses. I had very few issues with this book, and I am so glad I was able to enjoy it. My only issues with it were:
- The worldbuilding, while lacking in the world aspect, was nice - I wish the authors had shared a LITTLE more about the world outside of Ilvernath.
- The title - none of the characters were villains, per se. They didn't WANT to kill one another (besides Gavin, of course). It would've been more fitting for the "Blood Veil Tournament", or something like that.
- The pacing was a little off. The beginning was a little slow. I wish there had been less focus on setting up the plot and more on the actual plot (which would've actually given us a complete ending - that cliffhanger is manageable, but kind of cruel). The ending was really fast - so fast, we didn't even get to finish the tournament.

Everything else was top-notch though. I enjoyed the four POVs we got (Isobel, Alistair, Gavin, and Briony) and the Ilvernath world building was good - we got the structure, the rules, and the consequences. All of Us Villains is definitely a mind twister and fast-paced. I couldn't put it down!

The Blood Moon has risen, and the Blood Veil is about to fall. Join the Slaughter Seven, champions of well to do Ilvernath families, as they compete to the death to secure their family access to high magick, the most powerful resource in the world. Once secret, a tell-all-book has thrust the Tournament into the spotlight and has given their seven teens a chance to accept their fate or rewrite their future.

All of Us Villains is a dark, delightful exploration of power-hungry people and the victims in their crosshairs.

This book, for being so heavily compared to Hunger Games, had such a unique story and magic system. Power hungry families nominating their own sons and daughters to die at the hands of their friends? Incredible. This book did not shy away from being bloody and gory. The magic system, spell stones and spell jewelry, was a really cool concept. Despite being written by two different authors, the entire plot of novel felt cohesive and had plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged.

We follow 4 of the 7 champions as they prepare for and start the Tournament and having multiple perspectives really helped the novel along. The characters felt dynamic and individual. I wish we got to meet the other 3 champions on the same level but respect the decision not to as well. The authors did an incredible job developing these characters and humanizing them within such a dark struggle. I just wish there was more diversity in the characters.

Start to finish, this book was an explosive start to a new series and I will be on the end of my seat until the sequel comes out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

With a title like All of Us Villains and a description saying it’s like Hunger Games, my expectations were pretty high. And unfortunately I was let down. The characters are intriguing, but the story itself was a bit lacklustre for me; it was kind of boring. A lot of how the kids are all pretending to be something they’re not and I was hoping for more action. That said, the ending has me wanting to know what will happen next as I was not expecting that twist. I do wish there was more Alistair and Hendry; they were the two I found most interesting.

This book is the Triwizard Tournament crossed with the Hunger Games. A magical competition, seven champions, a fight to the death. Are six destined to die? Or can destiny be changed?

I enjoyed the descriptive fantasy world and fast pace of this book. It was a sort of magical dystopian. However I ultimately found it less gritty and emotionally gripping the Hunger Games and other dystopian novels which seemed to inspire it.

All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman

9781250789266

400 Pages
Publisher: MacMillan – Tom Doherty Associates
Release Date: November 9, 2021

Fiction, Sci Fi & Fantasy, Teens & Young Adult

Each of the seven families must change a champion to represent their line at the Tournament. With the arrival of the Blood Moon, the Blood Veil falls, and the games begin. The champions must fight to the death until only one remains. A twist when the tournament begins that could end it all.

The authors did an amazing job writing this story. The characters are well developed, and the story moves quickly. The story is told in multiple points of view. I cannot wait until the next installment. I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoyed the Hunger Games and Harry Potter.

4.5 stars - I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. I have to say, I had pretty high expectations going into this book because I thought it sounded incredible right from the get-go and my expectations were honestly exceeded. I thought this book was amazing and I cannot wait for the next one already.

This book follows four different POVs of vastly different and yet compelling characters. The characters were all so unique and surprising in their own ways. Just when you think you have an idea of who might be the good guy or bad guy, everything gets turned around and you’re left questioning their actions and motivations for doing the morally grey or downright questionable things they do. For a book whose title indicates the presence of villains, it’s very fitting how up and down the characters can make you feel about them. I loved every different POV and found so many of the characters compelling.

The story follows a group of people forced into a tournament where they each represent their families in trying to get the most powerful magic within their control. It is a death match, one which won’t end until either the time runs out and everyone ends up dead, or until there is only one person standing who ends up the victor. They’re are magical landmarks and relics besides which have helpful properties that can give each competitor an edge.

All together, I loved the story, loved the characters, and even loved the dash of romance thrown in. I don’t think I’ll be able to wait until the sequel comes out because I honestly can’t get enough of this book already.

HOLY CRAP ON A CRACKER. THIS BOOK IS SO INSANELY GOOD.

I just finished this book, it isn't even out yet, and I NEED THE NEXT BOOK. I don't understand how Amanda Foody and Christine Herman created something this great.

For this book, think of a mixture of the Wizards of Waverly Place sibling magic competition, mixed with the Hunger Games. The magic system developed in this book is insanely interesting--a competition to the death with a champion from each of the seven powerful families decides who maintains control over the region's supplies of high magick.

The authors tell this story through four different characters who are all representatives of different families: Alistair Lowe, Gavin Grieve, Briony Thorburn, and Isobel Macaslan.

Normally, with this many points of view, I tend to find fault or underdevelopment with at least one of the characters, but that was not the case here! I LOVED all of the perspectives, but I will admit that my favorites were Alistair and Gavin.

For a book solely focused on "villainous" characters, I think the authors did an amazing job humanizing the villainous qualities. Every chapter opens with a quote from A Tradition of Tragedy, the anonymously written book that unveiled the story of the tournament to the public. I really, really liked those quotes and if A Tradition of Tragedy was a real book, I would be its first reader!

Everything that occurred during the tournament was written so well that I could picture myself really being there, watching it all unfold.

I think this book could truly become iconic and I am really happy to have been selected to review it. I was in no way disappointed.

All of us Villains is a weird one. It's aggressively advertising itself as a "what if"- following the bad characters from series like The Hunger Games. The book is boasting itself as outwardly subversive, but it falls short of that in many ways. Amanda Foody did a great job with morally grey characters in past books, but this one sets up all 4 characters are complex and well rounded, only to shy away from them being actually bad when the story calls for it. By the early middle of the book, none of the characters want to actually kill anyone or participate in the tournament, so you can imagine how quickly the stakes drop for a death game when the 4 most powerful/bloodthirsty characters stop wanting to really play it.

I also found the main romance to be a letdown like many others. The book DOES NOT advertise being queer, but the early stages set up for an amazing romance between the two main male characters and then brings out an instalove pairing that was insanely underdeveloped. I am wondering if maybe this will NOT be the case for book 2...Luckily despite the very bad canon romance, All of Us Villains seems to be unafraid to play around with various pairs and make a lot of the relationships interesting..so we shall see.

All that said, the characters are REALLY cool, and I was glued to the page despite it all. Even when they are not being real villains, there's just so much juicy dramatic backstory and character drama. These characters really STICK OUT to me - if Foody cleans up her second part of this series, they are cool enough to cement themselves as classics. The friendships and rivalries, as well as the epic betrayals and family drama, had me coming back for more every time I got frustrated with cishet snore fests or the character's morality shifting.

Foody REALLY knows what tropes readers of fantasy want- if she can wrangle the brilliant ones she's playing with and not shy away from taking them to all of the way.

I found myself rooting for this book despite disappointments. It was addicting. It was right there ready to be a 5-star book, and it contained one of my new characters book characters. I really think this is worth your time if only for something cool/different/unique/standout for YA. Its got so much potential.

At minimum, it's worth it for how intense and thirsty Gavin/Alistair is while also being confusingly tender and very sexy. I hate this argument normally but if this series ends up being gay it will become so much better and we have a 50/50 shot that it happens.

All of Us Villains is an amazing, complex book that features a set of teenagers that are forced to fight each other in exchange for power for their families. Unlike many books, All of Us Villains uses many different POVs and navigates through them all but flawlessly. It's a dark story filled with strong, morally grey characters that all have their own changing motivations and history. I read the entire book in one day, I just couldn't put it down. It'll keep you on your toes and have you rooting for a different character every chapter. I cannot wait for the next book!

4 stars
This was so good! All of Us Villains started pretty slow, but once it picked up, I literally became obsessed. I'm already awaiting the sequel. To start, I loved the world building of this book. I've seen it compared to The Hunger Games a lot because it has the "competition to the death" trope. Although The Hunger Games popularized this trope, it didn't invent it, and All of Us Villians spins a new and exciting take on it. I also loved the magic system in this book, although it took a while to fully understand. That leads to my main complaint for All of Us Villains, which is just that it took quite a while to really pick up. The actions doesn't really begin until at least the 40% mark. Before that the characters and their relationships are just being set up. This is done quite well, and shows a good starting point before all the character arcs and betrayals, but I don't think so much time needed to be spent on world building. Personally, I found the magic system a lot easier to understand when I was seeing it in action (in the tournament after the 40% mark). But now that I've gotten that complaint aside, once this book really picked up, I could not put it down. It does such a good job at creating a dark and mysterious atmosphere, and the character dynamics, ahhhh. They're so good. The romance was a bit rushed, but cute all the same, and an important set up for the end of the book. The best aspect though, was the friendships, alliances, and betrayals. This book does, in my opinion, a perfect job at crafting morally grey characters. They aren't impossible to root for, but they aren't anywhere near perfect either, and are willing to shed blood to see end results. And I know I just mentioned it but I'm going to say it again, the betrayals. They're sooo good. This book has the perfect amount of twists and turns to keep the plot interesting and readers on their toes. Honestly, the second half (and ending specifically) of this book were so good that I wanted to give it 5 stars, but I feel like that would be unfair considering how long it took for me to become invested. Still, it was absolutely worth the read, and I am incredibly eager to see where this story goes from here. I highly recommend All of Us Villains to fans of dark fantasy's, the betrayal trope, and morally grey characters.

Okay … so… WOW!! I loved this book! Books centered around Games or Trials etc are my absolute favorite, I could read them all day, and All Of Us Villains will be going up in my top ten favorites! The multiple POVs really helped to gather insight into everything that was happening, and it kept me on the edge of my seat. I look forward to more books by this author!

OKAY, WOW!! WHAT A BOOK! Fans of The Hunger Games, Legend, The Inheritance Games, and it's incredible. This was a fun, somewhat gory, book! I loved Alistair and all the characters have distinct personalities. This one will get your heart racing and you will end up staying up all night until you're done reading (at least that's what happened to me. I ADORED THIS BOOK SO MUCH AND I WANT MORE!

Of course, is this only my personal opinion on the book and just because I give this rating to the book doesn’t mean, that everyone will have that opinion.

„Hunger Games“ meets the vibes of „Vicious“ and a little bit of „Beautiful Creatures“!
This book was right up my alley. After I started it, I couldn’t think about anything else than continue reading it after work.
I was in the mood for a dark fantasy with morally grey characters and this book delivered everything and even more. We got multiple POVs, and to my surprise: I was interested in reading all of these. Normally, there is one POV I would rather skip than read it, but this wasn’t the case while reading „All of us Villans“.
The characters are interesting and definitely not flat! They have a lot of depth and flaws, which are unveiled during the story. Everyone has their unique history and past.
I don’t want to say anything about the plot because I am worried to spoil it during this excited „rant“, but I can tell you this: I was hooked and can’t wait for the sequel! If the synopsis made you curious about the book: read it!
I can’t wait to have a printed copy in my hands and to reread it. This will 100 per cent be a book some of my friends will receive as a gift, so be prepared 😀

Conclusion
I loved everything and can´t wait for the sequel.

I give 5 from 5 Stars

For more bookish stuff check out my Instagram (@bloggerinthejogger)

4.5/5 stars

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and it did not disappoint! Ever since AOUV was announced, I was so excited to read it. I'm incredibly thankful to the publisher and netgalley for granting me an arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

The one thing that really made this book stand out was the characters. Each character was very complex, and their motives were very clear. You could see how each characters' motive influenced their actions. All the characters also had very apparent flaws.

Next, the worldbuilding. Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman have crafted an incredibly detailed and interesting world. The magic system was also brilliant. It took a bit to comprehend, but once I understood it everything made a lot more sense.

The plot and romance were also very good. The plot twists surprised me. The only complaint I had with the romance was that it felt a bit insta-lovey. But I still really enjoyed it!

The pacing- this is really where I had some problems. The beginning of the book was kind of slow, and then it sped up a lot. It felt like it ended way too soon.

Overall, I really loved AOUV and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and just general dark fantasy!

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the Earc which was delivered in exchange for an honest review.
I don’t think I was the target audience for this book.
The premise of seven villainous teens squaring off in a magical fight to the death sounded amazing, but I felt like it spent too long building up to the action, only to deliver a payoff that felt a little lacklustre and rushed, with a twist that I’d seen coming from the first time the villain skulked onto the page.
The premise itself was good, and I did like the magic system. I enjoyed learning about the world in the build-up, but I think things fell apart quite quickly when we entered the tournament and the characters started pairing up. It all got a little insta-lovey, if I’m honest?
The characters didn’t feel quite morally-grey enough in some places, then were very dark in others – I can’t say that I felt particularly connected to any of them? Alistair seemed interesting, and I like his bond with his brother, but the others I could take or leave.
Also, four main characters and they’re all white? In fact, I think all the major characters were white – though I might have missed something. I think we can do better than that.
I think this is largely a me thing. As I’ve said, not really a young adult anymore and while occasionally I do still stray into it for something that sounds juicy, I’m hard to satisfy. I appreciate that’s a me thing, though, and that if you’re younger or like YA, this might be a good fit. Little disappointed that I didn’t enjoy this more.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5

I was drawn to this book by the amazing cover first, and then with its description of being like the Hunger Games but with magic and told from the POV of the victors—I mean HELLO I’m sold.

✨It was an easy, well written, and fast paced read full of some of my favorite things—multi POV, interesting world building, a little bit of enemies to lovers romance, an unbreakable deadly curse, and more. I thought this whole world was very intriguing—how high magick is controlled; the role of spell rings, spell casters and spell makers; the Blood Veil curse and the ill fated family Champions—and it was really enhanced by the multi POV. Put this on your TBR list—it’s so good and I’m already excited for book 2!!

❤️Publish date is November 9, 2021 ❤️

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

📚Summary📚

Once per generation, the 7 ruling families must each select a family member of age to be their Champion in a competition within the Blood Veil to win the rights to control high magick. This time, however, the competition is not held in secret—it has been published to the world in an anonymous tell-all book, and now draws tourists and potential sponsors that change the nature of the game.

There are 4 perspectives:
✨Alistair, a Champion raised from birth to be ruthless.
✨Isobel, a Champion thrust into the spotlight by an apathetic family.
✨Briony, a would-be Champion who jealously wants to switch places with her chosen sister.
✨Gavin, a cast off Champion who no one thinks will win.

How will the Champions survive now that the game has changed?

Thank you so much Tor Teen and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!
“Every twenty years, we send seven teenagers into a massacre and reward the one who comes out with the most blood on their hands”
Every twenty years seven powerful families of Ilvernarth send one of their selected member to a tournament where they fight each other to death. Only one emerges victories. The victor would award their family exclusive claim over Ilvernarth’s high magick, a claim that expired upon the beginning of next cycle, when the tournament began anew. Historically Lowe family dominated because they were wicked and powerful, or were they?
I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH. All the characters are amazing. I hope the author write a novella A Tradition of Tragedy. Full of alliances, betrayal, jaw-dropping twist and morally grey characters, this book is gonna keep you hooked from the very first page.
I will be buying this book when it gets published.

If there was a perfect book for the dark gothic reader this story is it. This story is pure dark magic. It gave me wicked Hunger Games mixed with the Adams Family vibe and I couldn’t put it down.

The story starts out with a dark bang, and it doesn’t let up. There is magic of course, but also brilliant tactics, bold action, snide and sassy dialogue, and more amazing characters then the reader can handle.

The premise is that one young person form each of the top magical families must fight to the death in a series of difficult and devastating games every twenty years. As a reader you go into the story rooting for one of the characters, maybe two but by the end you may have flipped your allegiance and are so involved you are shouting at the character as you are turning the pages… or at least that was me while reading.

I couldn’t have loved this story anymore then I did. I know it is going to be a favorite for years to come and I hope I get to transport back into this world again soon. This story brightens my dark black heart, LOL. I NEED this one my shelf in physical form. Top read of the year for sure.

I received an ARC via NetGalley and Macmillian-Tor/Forge and I am leaving an honest review.

3,5/5 (round up) I have mixed feelings

"Per old superstition, a champion's body is always buried face-down. If they attempt to cloaw their way from their grave to seek vengeance, they will only dig deeper into the earth."

The promise of this book was a mixture of hunger games sprinkled with magic. The plot didn't disappoint : magic, teens fighting to death, betrayals, twists and turns.

What I liked :

- The multiple POVs
- The twists, predictable but still had an effect
- The characters are likeable
- The plot, and the worldbuilding even though it was confusing at some part
- The dark atmosphere

What I didn't like :

- The number of times "crimson" was written - sometimes multiple times per chapter ?? that was quite irritating
- I was expecting "real villains" so I'm a bit disappointed
- It felt a little too slow getting to the actual tournament (about 50% of the book I'd say)
- Sometimes the dialogues were cliché
- It's really white

Despite everything, the ending intrigued me enough to look forward for the sequel.

Would I recommand it ? YES

*****5 Stars!


“The Nightmares had not taught him to fear the dark. The nightmares had taught him to become it.”

First I would like to thank Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for allowing me to read an arc of this book. I am honored to have been given the chance to read it and give an honest review.

All of Us Villains is a story that follows a group of young champions chosen to compete in a tournament to the death. At the coming of the Blood Moon a champion is chosen from each of the seven families residing within the remote city of Ilvernath, they are chosen based on their strengths and talents, each champion risking their lives to win a very desirable prize. Exclusive control over a secret wellspring of high magick, the most powerful resource in the world--once thought depleted long ago. This year's tournament is much different from the last, due to a salacious book published exposing secrets of the tournament and the families tied to it, the seven chosen champions are thrust into the spotlight. With all the changes comes a choice; accept their fate or rewrite their story completely. Despite their choice, the blood staining their story is unavoidable.

This book caught my attention the moment I saw the cover, not only did the beautiful artwork pull me in but the title. As a lover of the villains of stories and morally gray characters, I knew this was going to be a book I would really enjoy. After devouring the book page by page, I was not disappointed! This book lived up to all my expectations and then some! Not only did the end of every chapter keep me on the edge of my seat and wanting more, but the absolutely amazing cliffhanger made me long for more! Each and every character was unique and fascinating to read, there was one character in particular that really clawed his way into my heart and that was Alistair Lowe. It was so intriguing uncovering each and every character’s thought process and feelings as they went along their journey, Alistair’s especially. I loved how not every character was what they seemed to be, depending on the rumors that followed them and their families. The character development in this story was very well done and the slow burn enemies to lovers romance was another favorite aspect of mine.

I felt so sucked into this clever and twisted world, I really enjoyed learning the families of Ilvernath traditions and stories and how they all resonated to their champion in particular. The magick system in this world was another thing I really enjoyed, it was very unique and interesting how it worked for each character. I really like the thought of carrying around crystals and rings filled with spells and curses and how after time one needs to recharge their crystals for them to keep working. I can’t wait to learn more about the magick system in the second book!

The pacing of this book was very well done, it read so smoothly and was fascinating and at times unpredictable. I found myself easily lost in the story eager to find out what will happen next. In fact, All of Us Villains has been one of my favorite books that I’ve read so far this year!

If you’re a lover of villains, morally gray characters, enemies to lovers and magick all wrapped up in a Hunger Games type setting, then you will absolutely love this book! I will be giving out a very high recommendation for this book to all my fellow book lovers. I am anxiously awaiting the sequel to his wickedly charming tale!