This book drew me in from the first chapter, and it kept me turning pages because I had to know what happened next! There are some hunger games vibes but with a darker undertone, which I really enjoyed. Overall, I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it.

This book had me hooked from the first chapter. It was so entertaining and I just kept flipping the pages because I had to know what was going to happen. I would describe this book as the Hunger Games with a magical setting with the vibe of a V.E. Schwab book. I loved every single second of it.

A fantacy world were normal people and magic live side by side, and a tournament for the most powerful to fight to the death. Who wouldn't love that? Reminded me of Six of Crows, though the characters sometimes felt to simular for the different perspectives making it hard to tell who's perspective it was. Despite the great premis it felt a bit slow at times and dull which was disappointing, As much as i wanted to love this book it isnt my favourite though hopfully it will grow on me as it is fun in parts.

What am I supposed to do with myself now?
This is the best book I’ve read in a while. The character development is fantastic. I feel both horrified and worried and wishing that these characters WON’T be villains, and that’s maybe one of the most intriguing things. Sometimes we think of ourselves as one thing when others see us as something else entirely. We may be the heroes in our own story, but that makes us somebody else’s villain.

I cannot WAIT to see where this goes, hence the despair at there being no title and no exact release date for the next one yet.

With Reid, who is not a champion, I could definitely see something brewing.
All of the POVs are so different, and allegiances are constantly changing.

If you liked The Hunger Games, it’s true you’ll probably love this, and even though the tournament is similar the magic system is so intriguing, and we’re seeing the tournament from multiple perspectives.

How far will they go for power, or for revenge, or for what they believe is right and necessary??

Ahhh I loved this so much!! I absolutely loved the writing style, and it was just a really good reading experience overall.

The first time I heard the pitch for this book (Hunger Games but everyone is the villain) I was sold! And although there are a few things that I would have changed about the plot/characters, I really enjoyed reading this one.

A curse has plagued the town of Ilvernath for centuries, requiring the seven most prominent families in town to send a champion to fight to the death when the Blood Veil falls in order to gain control of the high magic in the area. The tournament this generation is different, after someone revealed the town's hidden tournament to the world, and now the city and champions are thrust into the spotlight and everyone is asking who will win, who will die, and can this centuries old curse be broken?

I think the authors of this book really did a great job creating the atmosphere of Ilvernath, especially in the first third. The way the town and Blood Veil were described really helped to set up an ominous feeling and a sense of dread. I found myself really getting worried about what would happen during the tournament and the fates of all the characters.

I also think it was a really smart choice to have the story told from the perspective of four different champions. I enjoyed being the heads of the characters, and I didn't find it too repetitive. My favourite POVs were defiantly Alistair and Gavin's because I am a sucker for villain and power hungry characters, I really liked the juxtaposition between the two (one who has been seen as a villain their entire life vs one who become the villain during their search for power).

The things I did not love was the pacing - I felt that it was kind of stunted towards the middle and then super fast towards the end- and the romance, which I wished wasn't even there. But overall I still really enjoyed reading this and I am interested in seeing where the sequel goes!

Yup, this is very much “The Hunger Games” fantasy edition, but it does many things right that other wanna-be similar stories failed to do. Not least of all, it’s been long enough since “The Hunger Games” released that the similarities were fun instead of annoying. On top of that, the authors did great work in creating a fully fleshed-out world in which this type of magical battle royal makes sense (as much as kids fighting to the death ever can!). They also peopled their world with a cast of character who were all distinct and interesting.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this ARC.

I enjoyed this story. At first, it reminded me of Hunger Games and I wasn't super keen on another story similar, but it ended up being unique and it's own.

I'm usually not a fan of more than 2 to 3 point of views, but this was actually not that hard to keep track of. I found myself becoming invested in each characters stories and didn't care who's point of view I read since I liked them all.

The magical system was interesting so that was cool. I didn't think that all of the characters were Villans though so the title could of gone a different way.

The ending really picked up and I'm excited to see where the sequel will go.

I know this was super hyped up and that made me a little nervous going in, but I have to say, i had a great time with this. I've always been a fan of villain stories and morally grey characters and the competition element just elevated the story to new heights.

Source of book: NetGalley (thank you)
Relevant disclaimers: None
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.

One of the under-advertised of getting old is that your likelihood of being cast in some kind of teenage deathmatch goes way, way down. I mean, I guess I could still get Squid Gamed? But, in general, I think I can take comfort from the fact that my involvement in sadistic murder tournaments is going to stay spectator-side.

Anyway, All Of Us Villains is basically The Hunger Games with magic, for people who secretly thought that the best part of The Hunger Games wasn’t its attempts at socio-political commentary, but the brutal will-they-won’t-they of whether teenagers would butcher or kiss each other.

The basic setup here is that there’s high magick and common magick in the world (and holy God, do I have a personal hatred for magic-spelled-with-a-k): common magick is sort of day-to-day type spells and curses, and high magick is change-the-world type stuff that is in very limited supply. One such supply belongs to the seven great families of Ilvernath, except its locked behind a curse that every twenty years requires a chosen teenager from each of the seven families to murder the shit out of each other in a magical deathmatch. The winning child then secures the high magick for their family for the next twenty years.

I can’t lie, I struggled slightly with this premise—not, I hasten to add, because I’m not here for all the bloody adolescent murder fests YA can throw at me, but because it’s just so transparently engineered to create a Hunger Games situation. I honestly wasn’t even completely sure of the actual stakes: like, what does high magic actually, um, do? And why is it good to have it? I mean apart from it giving you nebulous powerfulness. In Ilvernath? On top of which, there were a few elements to the setting and setup that just didn’t fully gel for me: for example, a recently published book about the Underage Slaughter-Off has brought a lot of media scrutiny to the town, which means there’s a lot of publicity around the contestants and paparazzi following them round, and this is apparently important (and is tied into the backstories of two of the characters) but I found it slightly weird and forced. As if All Of Us Villains wanted to tap into the celebrity aspect of the tributes’ lives in The Hunger Games, but hadn’t really anything specific to do with beyond the reference. Plus there’s a random government person hanging around, trying to make alliances with some of the families, and this may become more relevant in the second book, but I found it just inspired more questions than it answered. Like, if the Twenty Year Child Massacre Cycle has been going on for centuries why is the government getting to get involved NOW? Also what the hell kind of government is this anyway?

In any case, despite these questions and some internal resistance (which were as much to do with me as the book itself) All Of Us Villains did, y’know, get me. Especially once the death show started. Even if the premise is a little blunt, a little shaky, the book does a really solid job at establishing the internal rules of its world—how magic works, what spells do, what curses are—so that it’s always clear to the reader what’s going on in the spell-flinging action sequences, what the consequences for various character choices might be, and how rules are broken when they are. More impressively still, it manages its large-ish cast and even larger supporting cast very deftly.

There are seven participants in the Magic Hunger Games and the narration cycles through the POV of four them, each with their own well-established history, motivation, flaws, strengths, and vulnerabilities. They all have their own reasons for wanting to win or survive (given the only way to survive is to win) the tournament and it’s hard not to root for, well, all of them to be honest. It might just have been me, but I did feel the two male protagonists were had slightly more depth and shade to the two women, or perhaps their tropes were simply more recognisable?

Gavin Grieve is from a no-hope family that nobody takes seriously, and the sacrifices he makes for the power to compete are genuinely quite harrowing. And Alistair Lowe is from the most successful family of child killers—having been conditioned for his role in the tournament since the day he was born, he has been taught to see himself as a monster. I feel a bit of a sucker for falling for him as hard as I did but, while I cared about the others, and felt a certain degree of empathy for Gavin with his in-world equivalent to a lower-class background, there’s no escaping the fact that Alistair is the most charismatic and complex character in the book. To an almost unbalancing degree. By contrast, Briony is motivated by a desire to prove herself a hero: a perspective that is gradually dismantled over the course of the narrative, but she felt the most one-note off all the POV characters. Isobel, too, is a likeable character, and I admired how cynical and ruthless the text allows her to be, but her problem is Alistair Lowe. They bounce between being rivals and allies, and have burgeoning romantic chemistry, but while Isobel can mostly hold her own, she’s less interesting when she’s with Alistair. Which feels like a really messed up thing to say but, err. It’s true?

Of course, that leaves three of the seven participants much less well-articulated. I can absolutely see why this decision was made because seven POV characters would have been simply too much. It does, however, take much of the tension out of the book: clearly you’re more likely die if you don’t have a POV, and the lack of POV from the most explicitly antagonistic character strips her of any nuance or complexity, making her feel more like a plot device than a person. Finley Blair, the handsome noble one, is also the only Black character among the seven so it feels a bit … something … that he’s also not a POV character. Although I will say, protagonists aside, the supporting cast is comfortably diverse, and I think there’s some implication that several of the protagonists are queer.

And I’m now starting to worry my thoughts are making me sound as if I was more negative towards the book than I actually was. Because please don’t misunderstand me: I enjoyed the absolute bloody hell out of All Of Us Villains. It is an unabashedly dark and fast-paced story about CHILDREN MURDERING EACH OTHER for heaven’s sake. How could it not be a rocking good time? More seriously, though, it’s coherent magic system alongside its complex characters, and its delicate exploration of familial abuse and the roles we are cast into versus the roles we choose for ourselves, all elevate it above its inspirations. Obviously comparing books against each other is not a helpful way to look at them—unlike a teenage murder show, it’s not a competition—but this ended up being a lot more to my personal taste than The Hunger Games. That’s not a value judgement about quality: I just happened to like this more.

Also. Alistair Lowe. Dammit, I would gladly commit murder to keep that poor kid safe. Not that he’s not perfectly capable of doing his own murders, of course.

This book was very enjoyable right from the start! It was intriguing, fast paced and each character captured my attention. Sometimes multiple POVs can be hard to keep track of, or one is less interesting than the others, but that wasn’t the case with this book. It’s hard to say who I enjoyed reading the most.

The twists were very good, especially the late ones and I’m ver excited to see what happens in the sequel.

requested it off netgalley a while ago, the competition to the death is what intrigued me got me curious bc it reminded me of the hunger games ofc also bc it has magick and it seems like its in a modern world. theres 7 competitors but we only have the point of view of alistair , isobel, gavin, briony , finley and elinor and another kid we dont have their povs. most of the book is them preparing for the blood veil tournament, the weeks leading up to it, and each family announcing their champions and gettin sponsers. we also meet reid mactvish which is one of the spellmakers that helps a few of the champions and we meet alistairs brother hendry. all of them seem mean and villanous but considering what they are going thru and their family and the pressure put in them and the things they ve to do its udnerstandable that they arent likeable and seem evil. i liked knowing more about the world and the magick and reading about the characters which were interesting to read about. i liked alistair and esobel the most i think. sometimes briony annoyed me bc she was tyrin to keep the tryin to destroy the curse of the tournment a secret which i understand if she has told them from the beginning the other champions wouldnt have believed her and they didnt when she told them which made more drama and people got killed :c some scenes were intense, theres some twists i didnt see coming too. that ending tho.. cant wait for book 2

It's here! The novel we have all been waiting for (read: the novel that I have been waiting for!). Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman have teamed up to create a new fantasy series for fans, and it all starts with All of Us Villains.

Unbeknownst to many, there is magick in our world. However, the strongest magic is hoarded by seven magickal families. Every generation they come together for a bloody tournament to decide who will wield the most power.

This year it is time for another Blood Moon, which means there are seven new contestants on the line. Traditionally this has always been a battle to the death, with the sole victor deciding the win for their family. However, these contestants don't seem content to follow the rules.

“But that was what this alliance led up to. Not a kiss stolen in the dark, or a priceless gift given without being asked.
A duel.”

Wow. All of Us Villains really did manage to pack a punch, didn't it? I can't say I'm surprised, given that we have The Shadow Game and The Devouring Gray authors working together. I honestly think I loved everything about this novel.

Picture the Hunger Games with magic, family politics, and more personal grudges between the contestants. Now you have a solid idea of what is in store in All of Us Villains. I didn't realize until now that I needed a magical version of The Hunger Games, but now I can't live without it.

All of Us Villains is split into several perspectives, giving us a chance to know most contestants before the Tournament begins. Naturally, it also follows these perspectives as the battle wages, giving us a chance to see the blood and desperation they face.

“You want to know something funny?' he asked. "In a choice between staying here or going home, I'd still choose here. With you.”

As with any split perspective novel, there are some characters that I immediately took to, while others I found myself stepping back and pondering. Together they make a complete whole, and I really enjoyed figuring out how the pieces were going to fall together.

The magical system in this world is brutal and dark, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I kind of love it. I also enjoyed the more modern twists, such as having paparazzi and the like. It was a bit surprising, but I think it made the story stronger on the whole.

However, that ending was straight-up mean. Am I really expected to wait a year (at least!) before finding out what happens next? Obviously, the answer is yes. But I'm going to be counting down the days for the release (and the book doesn't even have a name yet, so it's going to be a hot minute).

A truly immersive magikal setting.
The characters are true villains - there is so much to love and hate in them.
Can’t wait for the sequel!
4.5 stars

Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman’s All of Us Villains reads like the Hunger Games crossed with Harry Potter, but the tone and voice of the story combined with unlikable characters make it fall short of both.
The tone and voice of the story is both fairytale and juvenile—almost sing-song in places. It feels at odds with the seriousness of the premise, although some readers may enjoy the juxtaposition. To some extent, this maybe explained by the fact that the book is intended for a YA audience.
The characters are also problematic. None of them is particularly likable, and while I might be willing to root for an unlikable character who is still competent and deserving of success, I found myself turned off by the characters embracing their identities as villains. I suppose this shouldn’t be a surprise considering the title, but it felt (to echo my point above) both juvenile (in the sense that words like villain and rotten and evil are tossed around as though they had no serious ethical valence) and underwhelming (they weren’t even particularly competent or interesting villains).
YA readers who enjoyed Harry Potter and the Hunger Games and who read less for character and more for the idea or premise of a story will be the most likely audience for this book.

I went into this book not knowing what to expect. I absolutely loved Amanda Foody's Shadow Game trilogy, but I haven't read anything else by Christine Lynn Herman yet. What I got from this book, though, went beyond my expectations and, really, threw me for quite the loop.

Here's a quick breakdown of everything I loved (and didn't) about this book:

- The writing: on point, no complaints. There's really not much to say other than it didn't bother me at all. It made for an exciting read. The lush descriptions were right on with what I've come to expect with Foody, and now Herman, too.

- The plot: a familiar premise with a unique spin. The whole Hunger Games-style tournament was pretty cool and worked well in this story. Honestly, though, with a title like "All of Us Villians," I was expecting a little more... villany. Some of these characters were obviously not just super nice people, but it wasn't *quite* as dark as I was expecting. In general, though, the story was super intriguing, but also hard to get into at first. I will admit that this book did drag at some points.

- The characters on the other hand, really make this book. While at first, it is quite difficult to keep everyone straight, their development over the course of the book makes this a very worthwhile read and the epitome of a character-driven story. Once I had a grasp of each character, they really did stand on their own well. They had varying personalities and voices and worked well together within the story. Alastair Lowe is for sure the best part of this book and I am very much looking forward to more of him in the sequel.

- The magic like the characters, was hard to keep up with at the beginning. It's a very expansive system with different kinds of spells and lots of rings used to carry around those spells. Once you catch on, you really start to notice the cool things about it, but I admit I was lost for a little bit in the beginning, though. The world-building, in general, follows the same pattern.

Overall, this book had a little bit of a rough start for me and a few moments that didn't quite meet my expectations, but it was still all very intriguing and exciting and I am looking forward to the sequel.

"Survival could make villains of any of us"
This book was very easy and addictive to read, although I do think that the constant betrayals and murders and plot twists were occasionally unnecessary and served only as an easy way of making the book readable. The central romantic relationship also felt very forced and I didn't find myself rooting for them in the way that I usually do as a hopeless romantic.
The world and history in this book is very complex and interesting and while I can appreciate the world-building tactic of just shoving us into the setting forcing us to learn on our own, I would have loved to actually learn and read more out of personal interest.
Finally, this book is shelved as "LGBTQ+" on several online stores/review sites. I do know that there was one bisexual character, but this was not at all a central aspect of the story and was mentioned on no more than three occasions. It was not meaningful representation, so I do not think that the book should be marketed towards queer readers who are looking to see themselves in literature.

Thank you to Tor Teen for providing me with an e-ARC of All of Us Villains in exchange for an honest review!

I spent 99% of this book being in love with Alistair Lowe.

Other than that, I don't know how to feel about All of Us Villains. Maybe it wasn't enough villain for me, as I expected it to be. Sure, there's betrayal & blood & fun, but the only thing villainous about Alistair Lowe are the times that he repeated that he's a monster.

I did enjoy the romance aspect & I will say there are some fun action-packed scenes, but for the most part, this book was just fine.

At first I thought All of Us Villains had too many POVs and perhaps started earlier than it should have. Once the tournament starts, alliances are formed and things start coming together in a flawless way. The characters are beautifully complicated as they face the tournament, where they know only one of them can walk away alive. Family pressure, conflicting feelings, sneaky hope that takes root and forces the hand of more than one character to create a shocking outcome each time. The very last sentence has solidified my commitment to this world and its characters, and I can't wait to see how everything unfolds in the sequel.

I just couldn’t connect to the characters with this book sadly. It’s not the book, it’s me.

The story itself was brill, a Hunger Games style competition to gain strong magic with the addition of treacherous families. I think my biggest problem was finding it hard to relate to a set of families that happily send their children off to the tournament? There was only really one parent who seemed to care about her daughter and I just found it hard to place myself in the shoes of those competing.

Again, it’s not the book, it’s me. I still found it entertaining to read! 3.5/5