ALL OF US VILLAINS by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman is a novel I got from NetGalley, and ended up buying a hardcover for my shelf as soon as I could. By a third of the way through, I was hooked. This isn't a book I wanted to rush through, for fear I'd miss even one comment, so I took my time. It was a book that I wanted to focus on completely, where normally I alternate between 2-3 books at once.

". . . Villainy in the modern age was a delicate balance.

Originally described as the Hunger Games, with more blood and magic, this book was so much MORE, and I feel took things to a very original level.

". . . Blood before all . . . "

In the small village of Ilvernath, seven families have long had the tradition of a blood moon tournament, once every generation. Seven competitors were chosen, and the one that survived had the honor of their family being in control of the last source of "high magic" that the rest of the world thought long gone.

"The only part about the tournament that makes it a fairy tale is that it's definitely gone on ever after."

Only this cycle is different. Someone from the town wrote a book just prior, telling all about the town's previously "secret" traditions.

"Do not judge the champions too harshly. Survival could make villains of any of us."

Seven teenagers, armed with curse/spell stones, and their own knowledge of magical spells are pitted against each other--either until only one remained, or three months had passed....

What I enjoyed the most about this book was the intricate characterization. Each of the seven chosen "champions", along with many other characters, were so well fleshed out throughout the length of the novel that I never had trouble mixing any of them up--despite the rather large cast.

"The nightmares had not taught him to fear the dark. The nightmares had taught him to become it."

Everything from the individual family dynamics, the feelings of the competitors themselves, and the unique magical system was something I couldn't get enough of. I never felt as though something was missing, although I always wanted MORE. (This, to me, made a novel I would eagerly re-read, and one I needed to have a physical copy of).

"We're raised to call them champions, but I would argue there's a better word: sacrifices."

I know at least one other book is coming out in this series, and I can't wait for more news on that.

"Monsters couldn't harm you if you were a monster, too."

This was a story I was completely captivated by, with an ending that left me screaming for more. Is there any higher praise?

Highly recommended.

Thank you to the publisher Tor Teen and to NetGalley for this advanced copy!

Full review to come once I can actually process my thoughts, but for now to make things simple: this was a wicked masterpiece.

Now that I can form thoughts: this was absolutely diabolical and perfectly evil. I love that we got key character's points of view, and all of them had drastically different personalities. Everyone had a clear motive, secrets, and were highly multifaceted. The pacing was done very well and kept me interested the entire time.

I really enjoyed the magic system! It was a new twist to some things that have been done before, and I loved that each curse/spell had an exact name and a lot of them were pretty catchy! Also the descriptions of the environment and objects/actions were so vivid that I could picture things clearly, but weren't so wordy to bog the story down. And that PLOT TWIST AT THE END? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT FOR BOOK 2? I NEED ANSWERS.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this new series by Amanda Foody. This is one of the few novels of the year that lived up to all the hype leading up to it! I heard people saying this book was like Harry Potter meets the Hunger Games. While I agree that's true, it also felt like an entirely unique take on both the magic and battle to the death motifs. Foody did an incredible job with her characters, leading me to understand their motivations and root for each one in turn.

I was nervous that a book like this would make me feel anxious or depressed at the situations its characters were put in, but the author did a masterful job of keeping me curious and invested in the story. There were certainly moments of extreme violence and sadness, but nothing that tempted me to put down the book. While the ending was a cliff hanger, I also thought it was brilliant! I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment in this series.

I would recommend this book for readers who enjoy dark fantasy, dystopia, and magical realism. I would recommend it to mature teens with the warning that there are depictions of extreme (and gore-y) violence. 5/5

Hunger games with magic meets Game of Thrones. This was the high fantasy book I needed to pull me from my reading slump. It was terribly fun to read and it was a quick read at that! I could not put this book down.

First let’s start with positives. There was literally no down time in this book. It had no chapters that I felt were filler, it did not drag, and was very fast paced. Every detail the author shared was intentional and moved the story forward. The characters were interesting. They all (like the title of the book tells us) have a dark side, but it’s a very grey area. It’s not always clear who is good and bad in this story; it changes so frequently. That’s most of the fun of it though is trying to guess the characters motives and see what they would do next.

A few negatives to point out because I did receive this book via Netgalley for my honest, unbiased review. I compared it to the hunger games, but I’d say it wasn’t as in depth as the hunger games world is. I love good world building and while I am intrigued by this world, I want a little more answers to questions such as why the world is the way it is. It’s also unique that it’s kind of set in a modern day world where most high fantasy books take place in a fictional world/time. That was a bit of an adjustment. If you are a fan a True Blood, this verse reminded me a lot of it: where fantasy and commonplace/time meet.

Some of the plot twists were a little predictable as well, but honestly that didn’t make them less enjoyable. I still loved finally figuring out who the true villain is and I will be interested to see where their story goes in the next book.

All and all, I am waiting anxiously for the next book in this series. It was a great start and I can’t wait to see where it leads.

Soooo so so so good!!! I need book two NOW!!!! That ending was not okay to leave us hanging like that! This is a book for all lovers of morally grey characters. I mean all we are learning about is one villain after another.. yet there is one character in here slightly less villainous than we are led to believe and another character who is determined to change everyone’s fate.
Just ahhhh soooo good, I will definitely be rereading this before the next installment is out so I can surround myself with my sweet little villains one more time.

Yes yes so much yes.

All of Us Villains follows a group of teenagers who have been sucked into a fight to the death to represent their families and win the prize that their ancestors have killed for, for generations: exclusive access to high magick for the next twenty years. The story follows four of the seven champions as they attempt to deal with the pressure that they’re under, the constant threat of death, and the possibility that they may be the ones to finally make a change and stop the killing.

I had such mixed feelings for such a large part of this book but, by the end, I was completely obsessed. The plot is surprisingly difficult to explain and there are a lot of elements that make up the whole story, but these were well explored and fairly easy to understand the deeper I got into the book. The combination of four separate perspectives also threw me initially but, as each of their stories got more and more intense, I was grateful that I was able to see such a large part of what was happening within the tournament, and figure out whose perspectives I could really trust.

As can be expected from a book titled ‘All of Us Villains,’ there are a lot of morally grey characters in this book. The ones that you assume are true monsters from the beginning may take you by surprise, and the ones who want to play the hero or redeem their family names may not be as good as you think. It was confusing for me to jump between loving and hating certain characters all the way through, but I loved how difficult that made it to guess exactly who would redeem themselves in the end and how the tournament would play out. That being said, I have definitely developed a slight obsession with Alistair Lowe that made it a little difficult to root for anyone going against him…

This was a really fun read. There were definitely some very gory parts, but not as many as you’d expect from a Battle-Royale-esque book, so it was mostly just a pacey fantasy with hints of romance and a lot of tactical ploys. The ending has left me completely on edge and I’m desperate for book two already, so I’d absolutely recommend if you don’t mind waiting a year to find out what happens next.

I tried so hard but after reading about 75% I just couldn't continue. It just wasn't for me. I also rated the audiobook the same. The povs were a bit confusing as well.

"All of Us Villains" is something that lies halfway between the Hunger Games and the Fate/ series -- twisted magic families raise their children to compete in a tournament to see who can control the only High Magick remaining in the world for the next 20 years. Then it begins again. The tournament is a curse, and the only way through is to keep doing it over and over again -- or to try to find a way to break the curse.

The concepts behind this book are fantastic, and there's some character work I genuinely like in this. Foody and Herman are great at making these characters complicated, extremely messed up by their upbringing -- Alistair was my favorite, with his deep-seated traumas from being raised to be terrorized into thinking of himself as a monster, but the others all have a similar push-pull where you don't necessarily like them at all, but you do understand why they're like this.

That said, I had trouble staying engaged with this book for long stretches. This is kind of a two-part thing. First, there are four point of view characters, so there is a LOT of switching back and forth and going over the same plot points from slightly different perspectives, especially early on. I wished this part had been gone over more tightly; I feel like there could have been ways to tune these sections so they cut between each other to show the selection simultaneously instead of finish one, start the next, finish that, start the next, etc.

The second part is that a narrative choice that's done repeatedly throughout this is to backload the relationships or story reveals until they serve the plot instead of setting them up early. This both makes the front half plod a little more and means that some of the work just isn't done up front when it is needed to pay off later. For example, the ruined relationship between Briony and Isobel is referenced, but we don't find out what it is until super late and then it's treated sort of as an exposition dump. I think the emotional entanglements of the tournament could have been a lot stronger (not just for them but for all the characters) if we saw the characters interacting and knew how they felt about each other going into it -- it would have more payoff than them making decisions to make alliances/betray each other/kiss each other/whatever and THEN have a page talking about how the characters used to date, or a page talking about what one person did to the other before. I think it would have been a read I couldn't put down if the authors had invested me into the relationships between the characters by showing me them in action *before* they had to go fight each other to the death.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading this, and as the story ends right at the point it feels like the plot is actually getting starting, I'll probably pick up the sequel to see how it plays out.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was hooked when I saw this book advertised as Hunger Games with magic. I also am a huge fan of Amanda Foody's work. However, I became a bit disenchanted when it turned out to be a story about privileged white kids fighting for control of the magic for their wealthy families. The writing was just ok, and I just couldn't connect with any of the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and TorTeen for the advanced reader's copy (arc) and for authors Amanda and Christine for the wonderful story and world of Ilvernath! The cover makes a lot more sense now.

The overall concept wasn't new but it certainly held its own take in tournaments and magic. The level of betrayals and critical decision making of each focal characters were surprisingly good and refreshing. The magic system isn't as polished as it should be but that's a forgivable first-book pass. I was only hesitant on being fond of the following: curse/spell names, vague action scenes (not so descriptive and flowing), character relationship progressions, lack of tournament engagement (that I suspect would be salved by the next book).

Overall, 3.9/5

#AllofUsVillains #NetGalley

I really liked the premise of this book but I think that the pacing and the character development felt a little off to me. The first half of the book I struggled to keep all the characters straight and to figure out what the real “story” was- and then the second half moved so quickly and ended so abruptly I felt like I was missing the final chapters or something. I am interested in reading the sequel but this was only 3/5 stars for me.

This book was gripping and reminded me a lot of The Atlas Six! I loved the multi POV and the magic system was so interesting. The writing was really good as well. I learned to care for all characters and root for them all in certain points. I think it could've moved a tad faster to reach the competition early on, but I didn't mind the build up after a while, since it allowed me to be even more invested by the time the contest began. I cannot wait for book 2!!!

All of Us Villains was highly entertaining and fast paced, fulfilling the promise of “The Hunger Games but with magic.” The world is fascinating, taking place in a magical world that blends modern technology. Each of the characters are compelling, and the dynamics between are wonderful and probably my favorite part of the book. The mechanics of the magic and the history of the seven feuding families was a little clunky sometimes, and there is a lot going on that is sometimes overwhelming. But it is certainly a fun read and I am definitely going to be reading the next in the series whenever it comes out.

Seven families do battle over the right to control high magic. One member of each family (I assume they are teenagers although I don’t recall their exact ages being mentioned) participates in a tournament in which the last one alive is the winner. What the rest of the people in this world are doing is not specified. There isn’t a lot of world building here. The magic system is conveniently flexible, so when a problem arises there just happens to be a spell for that. You also can’t count on people being dead when you think they have been killed.

We are introduced to 4 of the participants and their families at great length. That introduction and back story takes up 40% of the book. No time is spent with the other 3 families, so I just assumed that their candidates exist to be cannon fodder. The tournament finally starts and it consists of the participants forming and breaking alliances in varying combinations. They occasionally sling a spell at each other. None of the participants is at all villainous, they are self-doubting, anxious softies. Since this is the first book of a series/trilogy?, the book ends with nothing being resolved. I probably won’t continue with the story.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

All Of Us Villains was a really great read. The magic system was intricate and fascinating yet easy to understand, and I loved the idea of the tournament. However, the best part of this book was the characters. The main characters were so multi-faceted and had such much depth, that even though they were trying to kill others for most of the book, the reader couldn’t help but sympathize. Alistair was my favorite character, and I loved the development he went through during the story.

Enjoyed this book quite a bit
Felt like hunger games with magic but still different enough that I enjoyed it

In this wickedly captivating first book of the All of Us Villains duology, bestselling author Amanda Foody designs a world somehow equally familiar and original.

Essentially a cross between The Hunger Games and Disney's Descendents, this tale of dark sorcery and family obligation sees seven young spellcasters pitted against one another in a fight to the death to reclaim exclusive control over the coveted High Magick.

But when a mysterious spellmaker changes the rules of the game, our heroes must choose between acting on their own selfish desires or working for the greater good, and taking advantage of an opportunity to end the cruel game forever.

And sometimes their choices are truly villainous.

This lighting-paced pageturner was just my cup of tea, with a colourful cast of complex characters, fully-realized magical mechanics, and more gore than an 80s slasher flick.

And despite some negative reviews that the characters just weren't villainous enough to justify the title, I found their morally ambiguous tendencies to be even more interesting than a "bad to the bone" approach.

In short, I just can't wait for the sequel!

I got so far into this but unfortunately I lost steam about 2/3 of the way through. I was super intrigued by the magic system and the moral dilemmas that had been set up, but I didn't love all of the POV characters enough to want to cycle through them all. I found myself annoyed when I was switched off the ones I actually liked.

A villain version of The Hunger Games!? Heck yes! I was immediately hooked from the first chapter and I couldn’t decide which villainous character I wanted to root for more. Absolutely adored!

"Monsters couldn't harm you if you were a monster, too."

I would die for Alistair Lowe. That's it; that's the review.

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