Okay so this gave me absolutely everything I wanted. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about these characters since I finished reading.

I went in blind to this book and think you should too so I won’t give away any of the plot.

I mean, talk about a page-turner!

This book was not a good read for me. I did finish the book however, I can truly say I was not entranced by the plot nor the story to fully keep my attention. In full transparency, I was going through finals week in college as well as working full time so this may have been why I was not focused on this book but I could not see myself in any of the characters. I did not connect with even one character and that connection means a lot to me. Its what makes a good book, a great book.

Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman’s All of Us Villains is perfect for fans of dark fantasy and morally gray characters. Alistair, Isobel, Briony, and Gavin are complex characters, and each has their own reasons for their questionable actions. I easily found myself emphasizing with each character’s situation. The book was everything I expected and more.

If I did not have previous life and work commitments, then I would have finished this book in one setting (in the end, I finished reading the book in 3 days). Fair warning, though, All of Us Villains’s ending will leave you wanting to read All of Our Demise to find out how the story ends. Thankfully, the publication date for All of Our Demise has been pushed up, and we’ll have our answers in August!

Many thanks to the NetGalley and Tor Teen for the e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

This book was what I wanted Hunger Games to be. Magical and morally grey characters that you loved to hate. I didn't know who I loved or hated more. Very excited for the next installment.

All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody & Christine Lynn Herman - 4 ⭐️

This YA fantasy with a Fight to the Death Tournament was everything I wanted it to be! It is multi-perspective with lots of Magical elements.

The story was really character driven, and I thought the choice of narrators was great as they all gave a good balance of personalities. There wasn’t any morally grey or completely evil characters, which I thought suited well because the authors really showed just how young and scared these teenagers are (something I think always lacks in fantasies like this), you’re not left thinking “Wait, how old are these characters?!” every few chapters.

One downfall I had was I didn’t think the magic system was introduced properly, and it took until about 50 pages for me to get invested in the story. Despite this, it delivered a perfect amount of unsettling creepiness while still staying within magical realism.

*4.5 stars* This book was really great! It was gritty, had a super interesting premise, and moved relatively quick. The characters were all unique and I definitely found myself rooting for them, which was conflicting at times. I can't wait for the next book in the series as I'm really invested in what happens to all our POVs!!!!

This was an amazing Halloween read! So thrilling so creepy and a fabulous introduction to thriller books for teens and young adults. I am personally not the biggest thriller fan but I absolutely adore this book! The partnership between Amanda and Christine created literary genius! I cannot wait to see what they come up with next

Hmm. This is one of those books where I reeeaaallyyy wish we could give half stars. This is a solid 3.5 for me. The world was impressive and interesting but honestly I could have used a little more world building. The atmosphere was great but I don’t think we got enough backstory - I still don’t fully understand why the tournament is a thing and why it has to end in death? Hunger Games but darker and with Magic is what everyone keeps describing this as and honestly the best explanation for the tournament seems to just be for the sake of making this a hunger games rip off. Hopefully we learn more in the sequel, along with a better ending because this one was very unsatisfactory and wrapped up nothing.

I did really love the characters, the moral ambiguity, the trauma of being raised for slaughter by their families. This is a really interesting world, I just think some of it is still too ambiguous. I definitely will read the sequels.

Well this was a fun romp! The magical system and world-building for the story was very fascinating and the Hunger Games-esque set-up of the trials faced by the characters in the Toiurnament definitely upped the stakes. Among the characters, I really liked Isobel and Alistair and that last few chapters had me screaming because I did not expect THAT. However, I am super excited where the rest of the story goes, now that the true nature of the Tournament has been exposed.

Books with multiple authors I think sometimes suffer from some inconsistency, but in this case, the multiple POVs helped mitigate a lot of those discrepancies. The different families made for an interesting conflict, though Isobel was easily my favorite character. Parts of the story felt a bit half-baked at times, but I was still entertained. It was a super fun YA book, though not anything particularly groundbreaking, and I'm excited to see where they take this story next.

this was stunning! although i didn't connect with the characters, and i certainly thought their dark, villainous sides could be darker, i did enjoy this for what it was: an atmospheric, thrilling, fun book!

I thought this was excellent. I loved the world building and the characterization. Villainous hunger games with some harry potter styled magic. I can’t wait for book two!!

All of Us Villains is a magical adult Hunger Games, with a ton of flawed and interesting characters. This fun and immersive play on the dystopian genre builds a world full of magic, intrigue, family dynamics, and surprising alliances. Each of the old magic families in the town picks a champion to compete in a magic-to-the-death competition. The winner secures the power of the highest magic for their family to control. This year, a tell-all book has shook the families by divulging the secrets of the game and the magic to the outside world. The game is now even higher stakes since it is being scrutinized by the government.
Each of our champions has a different backstory and different reasons for needing to win. While I don't think the plot comes together as well as the first Hunger Games book, it is really about their characters finding their way in this famous arena. I am definitely in for the second book!
Recommend for anyone who likes the darker magical tales like The Magicians by Lev Grossman.

Definitely worth the read, especially for lovers of frenemies and political schemes. This is a story penned in blood and underlined with magic.

The word-building was pretty good, but quickly abandoned for the tournament part of the book which honestly somehow felt more boring than the rest of it. The character's progression almost always took the most obvious and expected path. Lastly, I don't think the authors manage to sell me on the rotating perspectives every chapter. the only two characters that I remotely cared about were Alistair and Isobel, whom ended up being a bit of a let down anyway. It ended up being a chore to finish the book and was unclear until the end that it was going to have a sequel.

i didn't enjoy this book, and DNFed it @ 72%. i don't think it's fair to review this book based on that. it felt like a knock off of the hunger games.

Calling this book a combination of the hunger games and Harry Potter feels like a very apt description (but picture only certain parts of Harry Potter like the triwizard tournament and finding the horcruxes).
I did like the multiple perspectives the book used bc I felt like I really got to know the characters and in the end I’m actually a fan of all of them. Even tho at the beginning reading povs from 5 characters was confusing and honestly so was the magic system in this book ???
The title suits the book and it is a dark book (labelled ya but I feel like older teens only 😂) some of the events at the beginning were jarring and unpleasant for me but I do understand the purpose of them in terms of book plot.
I will read the next one even tho I don’t feel too passionately about this one.

*review will be published on Nicole's Book Thoughts on 4/13.

All of Us Villains follows several teenagers on their quest for the strongest magic in their world while they fight to the death in a sealed magic competition. When I first heard people talking about it, they were pitching it as a darker version on The Hunger Games and I said SIGN ME UP. To be completely honest I didn't LOVE The Hunger Games. I thought it suffers from pacing issues and I just didn't have enough opinions on any of the characters to want to keep reading, but I had such high hopes for this. I mean how could I not? It's got backstabbing, characters who don't care who they hurt, everything I need.

What I liked:
This book does pacing extremely well. I was flipping pages so quickly. I didn't want to stop I just wanted to know what would happen next. The competition didn't start until way later than I expected, but I honestly wasn't mad. I enjoyed seeing the characters prepare for it. It was something I think worked really well, especially since it puts you directly into the minds of the characters and you can see their thought processes. And the characters work to secure their spot. There's one in particular, Gavin, who I thought was immaculate. I honestly would have preferred if this book came from only his perspective. He was awful, mean, and didn't care about anybody. And that's what I wanted. Give me evil!

What I disliked:
Honestly the rest of the characters were where I think this book fell short for me. I hated the romance. I personally believe it had no place in this book, and I know I'm in the minority on that, but I couldn't do it. They progressed way too fast, and kept throwing me out of the story. The only redeeming part was their ending. That I appreciated. But the other characters I feel fell flat. Both Alistair and Briony felt like they had so much potential but were left to be caricatures and just a plot device rather than an actual character.

Would I Recommend?
Yes! It's definitely a different type of book than what I've found to be popular. I think it has great potential, and I think the sequel will fix some of the problems I had. So if you like YA and want to get into dark books, this is your perfect choice!

This book is amazing!!! 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. 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). I highly recommend it!

Hunger Games but make it darker and make them villains. What does that leave? A great book! What more could you ask for?

I really loved the world-building and characters within this book.

I cannot wait for book 2 to come out!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Teen for the review copy!