I've heard All Our Villains described as a magical Hunger Games. Well, this sequel picks up right where the first one left off and it hits the ground running! There's no shortage to suspense and thrills in this book, and you can bet on an abundance of twists and turns. Trying not to give much away, I think fans of the first book will definitely come away from All Our Demise satisfied, though I do find myself wanting a little more closure with some of the characters. All in all, a masterful, suspenseful and action packed story guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Well done! Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me this review copy.

I have written and deleted this review several times. All of Us Villains was the best arc of 2021 I had. One of the best books of 2021! I’ve been looking forward to All of Our Demise all year and…..I was incredibly disappointed. So many things didn’t add up.

1. It feels like there are these great scenes with a ton of filler in between. It made for a pretty boring read unless you have the time to just read threw it all at once. Which I did not. A GOOD book will make me prioritize it over housework or exercise etc. this book did not. It ended up taking me at least a week to read.

2. The “romance” was essentially a repeat of book one, so it made it feel forced. Enemies to lovers for the same reasons. Grow close because of unexpectedly becoming ally’s, betrayal (or perceived betrayal). It made zero sense that if Allistair was incredibly betrayed by Isabel that he’s grow feelings for another champion so quickly. I think a more authentic relationship would have been a brother bond. Allistair lost his brother. Gavin felt like his brother had given up on him. It would’ve been more meaningful to have a sibling relationship grow between champions instead of the same exact love story from book one.

3. Briony, Isobel, and Finley choose to participate in a trial over saving Reid’s life…but prioritize a press conference over completing the next trial? In what world does that make sense? They were willing to let someone die to finish this relic but it wasn’t enough to hold off on a press conference?

4. The blood veil never should’ve dropped. The whole curse division/government plot should’ve never happened. I think the authors wanted to create more drama to the story. They needed an excuse to make this a duology instead of a stand alone. It should’ve been a standalone. There was filler in book one that could’ve been taken out and then finish breaking the curse, all in one book. It was jsut weird that there is this big competition fight to the death, but yet these characters can just go visit mom or whatever?

5. Why do we not get Finleys pov? I’d understand Reid sort of but we get the others pov and it doesn’t really make sense. I thought the whole time Finley was up to something because of it.


I liked the media excerpts at the beginning of chapter. I was glad to see isobel face her selfishness. I grew to like Reid, even though he did awful things, similar to Allistair.

This book wasn’t for me. The first book was so original and this was not.

Book one was a great read and this one was no different. It was nice to catch up with the characters! It's full of action and great twists! This one we were able to get to know all of the characters a lot better! It's a story full of suspense, action and tension! It will be great to see where the next book goes!

Every year when the Blood Veil rises, the seven families of Ilvernath compete in a tournament to the death. The prize? The control of the vast wellspring of high magick. Currently in the thick of the tournament, the current competitors have learned that the curse of the Blood Veil can be broken. And now the tournament itself is breaking all around them.

As the curse gets closer and closer to breaking, the champions have to make a choice. Do they work towards breaking the curse or continue the tournament as if nothing has happened? Alliances will shift. New relationships will form. All we know is--the tournament will not have a happy ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Teen for an advanced copy of All of Our Demise to review! I read All of Us Villains in basically one sitting last year, so I was excited to see how it ended. Especially since the first book ended with such a cliffhanger!

If you loved the dark, foreboding nature of the first book, you'll absolutely love this one. All your favorite characters return, each one just as morally grey as the last one. They're all faced with choices they never thought they would have, especially that of ending the tournament forever. Even though there are a lot of points of view in this book, I didn't feel like any of the characters were more developed than the other. They all felt like well-rounded and complex characters, which is a point for the story! It's hard to do that with so many different narrators.

The action! This book picks up immediately where the last book left off and doesn't let up on the action. Foody and Herman also give us plenty of plot twists to keep us on our toes. Plus, the world building is expanded in this book, giving us even more of this magical society the authors have created. I would read more stories set in this world for sure!

My only complaint is that at times, some of the elements feel a bit repetitive. Honestly, I think that's partly because the book is a little on the long side. Combining some of the events might have helped to cut down on some of the repetition.

All in all, if you're looking for an action-packed ending to this duology, you'll love this finale!

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan-Tor/Forge for an eGalley of All of Our Demise.

I read All of Us Villains last year and found the premise and characters quite compelling--and All of Our Demise definitely frayed my nerves even further and left my nails bitten to the quick.

That said, this installment felt a little long/drawn out? In AoUV the plot and pacing felt more focused in on the tournament and champions and their role therein; while in AoOD, the world expanded to an extent: acknowledging the impact the tournament (and all its potential destruction) was having on the town and even the country/world through the media coverage and political machinations... And it almost felt like there were too many pieces on the board, too many dangling threads requiring explanation, development and resolution? And all that was in addition to the individual character arcs continued development and all the twists and turns happening within the tournament itself and the champions quest to destroy the curse. I definitely feel this was a realistic representation (relative, given, you know, magic). But I also found this changed the pacing of this book quite significantly versus the first installment.

Altogether, I still enjoyed this read and found the ending remained true to the world Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman built--not quite perfect, a little bittersweet, but with an edge of hope. 4 STARS

One of my most anticipated reads of the year. I enjoyed this sequel almost as much as the first book. Definitely did not disappoint!

A deliciously villainous end to this monstrous duology.

From the remnants of book one, All of Us Villains, the tale was far from over. As All of Our Demise wrapped up the threads that bound our competitors to the Blood Veil’s thralls, the book kept me craving to know what choices our villains would make next. Whether some would kill or be killed, choose to live by fear or by hope, fight to save the competition or fight to end it. I was kept on my toes and taken down storylines I could not have imagined, though I greedily devoured.

The stakes were high, the pain inflicted on these characters excruciating to read at times, and the romance was blazing with tension from all sides. The first half of the book had a slower pacing than that of the second half, which caused me to not give it that fifth star rating. However, the ending was like bittersweet poison I want to read again and again.

This book will haunt me for weeks to come, and I will enjoy every second that I get to reminisce on the final story of my villainous friends: Alastair, Hendry, Gavin, Isobel, Reid, Finley, and Briony.

ALL OF OUR DEMISE, by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn-Herman, picks up right where ALL OF US VILLAINS ended, with the Blood Tournament in Ilvernath already underway. For the first time ever, the usual rules are breaking all around them. The remaining champions had the largest roles to play, naturally, but several unexpected twists were now dealt in as well.

"Then you should know by now--all the fucked-up fairytales in Ilvernath are true . . . "

The character development continues to be phenomenal in this second book. We learn so much more about each of the champions--and their home lives, before--that I found my own opinions changing over time.

". . . they were the ones who'd experienced first hand the price people were willing to pay for power . . . "

This duology has been compared to The Hunger Games--with magic--and while that's not off-base, I felt it was so much more. Ilvernath is one town that has what no other has--high magic. The question becomes, at what price?

". . . Unfeeling. Cold. Resolute.
Exactly as Ilvernath had made them."

Each of the champions may have come from different families, but they had all learned that "life was inherently unfair".

". . . they had more than a common enemy: they shared a common cause. And they were ready to fight for it . . .

Alliances are forged, broken, changed, and a new "champion" has unwittingly been entered. With the old rules guarding the tournament crumbling, it's easy to see the depths of greed and obsession the outside world will stoop to in order to gain control of this unique magic.

Those whose lives are on the line mean nothing to others. I couldn't help but feel for each of the main characters in some way.

"We've done the rest of this alone, haven't we?"

A fantastic, unique magic system with multidimensional characters. The lines between "right and wrong" have been blurred for so long that there is no distinction in the eyes of many, merely shades of gray. Do these young adults have any chance against those odds?

HIGHLY Recommended, following ALL OF US VILLIANS

this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022 and my god did it not disappoint. after the events of the first book, things are messy, the tournament can be broken and save the rest of the competitors but we have come complications from the others who don't want it broken for their own spoilery reasons. it picks up right where we left the first book off, and the whirlwind pacing of the book was so well done - each time we thought things were okay something else came about and threw everything. the character development from isobel, gavin and alistair?? 10/10 - their stories and growth made so much sense and i have so many things i want to say but are spoilers so i won't. one of the things i absolutely loved about this was that we had our main plot and the slightest romance subplots and this is what i'm here for in a fantasy book.

anyway, i think this is going up there with my favourite duologies. thank you to netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars rounded up.

After not loving the first installment in the series, I had much more fun in this second book. Some of the things I struggled with were fixed but mostly it was my expectations that were different. While I think the first book suffered from being mis-marketed (if you’re comparing yourself to the hunger games I expect complex political nuance, which neither installment contained) having different expectations for the sequel made it a more pleasurable reading experience.

Things that worked for me:

Improvements in both pacing and character work! While the first book felt very tell not show in regard to characterization, this installment does a better job providing depth to some of the characters and their relationships. I think Briony and Isobel’s friendship is wildly underdeveloped and this took away from some of the impact the authors wanted.

I loved the media snippet intros of each chapter, getting glimpses of how the tournament looks from the outside POV was very interesting.

Gavin’s POV. I must confess I found him insufferable the first book but seeing him interact with different characters made his arc and internal monologue Much more interesting to me.

Things that didn’t work for me:

Similar to the first book, the romances did not completely work for me. One of the new pairings i enjoyed more than others but with no time passing between books in world, it didn’t quite read believably.

Brionys POV. She was the least enjoyable character to read from for me. I think it comes down to the majority of her interactions/thoughts focusing on Finley and his not being a POV character. If we had the other side of their interactions I think i would have enjoyed it more! Additionally she did not seem to have a strong connection to the other POV characters other than Isobel (which wasn’t even explored that much we heard so much about how they were best friends but I never felt it) so her POV felt separate to me, again especially with Finlay not having his own chapters. While it may have complicated things, I think an expanded list of POVs would have improved the story (mostly Finley but I would have also like me to read from Hendry and Reid).

The government subplot. While there was some build up to it it didn’t feel fleshed out enough and wrapped up quite conveniently.

All in all an improvement from the first installment and I think many readers will enjoy. Thank you TorTeen and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/4

This was better than the last one.
I went into this with very low expectations, the first book often felt to me like nothing happened and the characters didn’t feel flushed out at all. I went into this one low key wanting everyone to die, so imagine my surprise when by the end, that was no longer the case.

The pacing of this one was better, stuff actually, consistently happened, perhaps too much at times. The whole subplot with the government and the serial killer thing felt like it was added in last minute and I didn’t feel like it contributed much to the story overall because this isn’t a story that needed bureaucratic antagonism. Between that and the frequent early tangents recapping the first book, the first book which I felt was all set up for this without a real plot of its own, I stand by my assessment this should’ve been one book: one long, edited down for consistency and pacing, adult book instead of YA, and I think the series as a whole would’ve been a lot more enjoyable that way.

But yeah, this felt much less like it was spinning its wheels dragging the passage of time kicking and screaming, and I had fun. Fun was exactly what I needed right now

It was amazing to dive back into this world. Sinking back into these characters was like sinking into your favorite comfy chair. I loved getting to go deeper into Isobel’s head. See her turmoil from all that took place between her and Alistair, and how she deals with the guilt.

It is hard to think about the fact these kids are in fact kids. Everything that is thrown on their shoulders to deal with most adults would not be able to handle. There is so much going on behind the scenes as well, and now that the curse is starting to fall apart, they are starting to see that not everything is as it seems.

While I really enjoyed this book, I found it harder to lose myself in it like I did in the first book. But altogether this duology was an absolute masterpiece.

I liked this even better than the first one. However I'll start this off by saying this book seriously needs a tw for torture, there was one scene that made me feel really sick and I almost just stopped there. I'm glad I didn't, because the book was really good if I just ignore that one part. I remember reading the first book and being like ?? where is the queer rep? Well book two fixed that. Thank you! I'm pretty satisfied where all the characters ended up although I'm still not really sure what the point of Finley's character is. Sorry Finley. I don't remember book one that well and might go back and re-read it but I understood everything happening in this book pretty well.

As twisted and heart-wrenching as one can expect from a book with such a foreboding title.
The brutal continuation of family legacies steeped in magic and soaked in blood during which our dynamic cast of complex characters' unlikely alliances, betrayal, and sacrifice drive this story to its explosive conclusion.

I thoroughly enjoyed this immersive world that Foody and Herman created and am sad to have come to the end of it.

This conclusion to the All of Us Villains duology matches the first in its exciting exploration of villainy and humanity. Picking up were All of Us Villains left off, All of Our Demise follows our champions as they form new alliances and break the rules imposed on them to change their stories.

The plot is clearly well thought out and effectively spaced across both books of the duology so that the pacing in the second is just as exciting as the first. I was fully immersed in All of Our Demise, so much so that I still have a bit of a book hangover-it’s easy to get lost in this world and hard to leave. There were some POVs I preferred over others, so the pace seemed to slow down a bit, but there was little I felt should have been left out. While the story is not complicated, it is complex. The rules of the magic and tournament are quite straightforward, but still offer opportunities for twists and surprises that kept me on the edge of my seat. At times, these rules feel clearly contrived, but I don’t think it detracts much from the overall effect.

I found the characters to be the most compelling part of the story, though the plot is an exciting backdrop for their development. I loved to see how the characters changed over the course of the book and the series. As they struggle with their inner demons and with the betrayals and surprising alliances of the other champions, it is clear that they are not innocent, nor are they totally the villains the world paints them to be.

I would recommend this book to a high school student who enjoyed The Hunger Games but also appreciates more horror and magic. It’s atmospheric, exciting, and propelled by complicated characters that I grew to love. There are some truly creepy scenes that might be difficult for some readers, but the All of Us Villains series doesn’t hide what it is- readers know what they’re getting into going in and the series delivers deliciously.

Old alliances have been broken, new alliances formed enemies become allies, and maybe something more. The curse will soon be over one way or another. The only question is who will survive? Because not everyone left will make it to the other side.

All Of Our Demise picks right off where All of Us Villians ended, and is nonstop action-packed from beginning to end. I love that all of our characters are so unpredictable in their decisions. At every turn, we are constantly surprised by the decisions they make, and how they react to what's happening around them.

I thought this was the perfect ending for this duology. We really dig deeper into the characters and what motives them, and even though their world is falling apart, they can make meaningful connections and do what needs to be done to save the world. Even if that means someone gets locked in a dungeon until they see the truth in what needs to be done.

This duology is going into my favorite category, and I can't wait to see what both of these authors will come out with next!

All of Our Demise is the epic sequel to All of Us Villains, which introduced a captivating competition-centered duology where a champion from seven magical families competed. The story continues to be narrated mainly from four of the characters: Allistair Lowe, Gavin Grieve, Briony Thornburn, and Isobel Macaslan. Each character is complex and unique, which I loved as each reader can therefore find at least one, if not all, to root for in the story. There are other characters, as well, such as, Reid and Allistair’s brother, Hendry, along with other amazing ones that make up this duology.

In this story, Alistair and Hendry’s brotherly bond is explored in further detail and it was easy to connect with it. Alistair opens up more to Gavin in this story and it was nice to see the added depth to each character. Isobel is continuing to fight and survive to the end. Briony struggles with her family and relationships. Reid’s secrets and Finley’s struggle with his family and Briony. With obstacles being thrown into the tournament, curses to break, and alliances constantly changing, this story continues to try and find an end to the competition.

While many novels that I previously read have included twists and turns, there are not many where I fully could not predict most of the ending. The journey that this duology took was a nice mix of the expected and unexpected where there were a few surprises. They all made sense for the story, so I enjoyed that they were written in this manner. There are betrayals, alliances, friendships, family relationships, and romantic relationships all explored in this story.

Overall, this story begins a little slow as the aftermath from the cliffhanger ending has time to put the pieces together. The general pacing remains slower compared to the first novel as there is a large emphasis on the character development. The “bad” and “good” characters are never what they seem for some and are what you would expect for others. This portion was well-done, but there were a few pieces that I wish were explored in further detail, such as the government. As this is the final novel in the duology, it is sad to leave these characters behind.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Teen, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

So many of us have been anxiously awaiting the release of All of Our Demise by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman! With the shocking ending to All of Us Villains, I was also excited to get my hands on the conclusion to this duology!

The plot is a little hard to discuss without majorly spoiling you all, so I will just say that the book picks up right where book one left off.

While I did find the novel a bit slow, I was thoroughly impressed with the book as a whole. The aspect of the novel that I enjoyed the most were the villainous endeavors the characters experienced. Too often, I find books that advertise morally grey characters, usually have a redemption arc, which is disappointing. I want truly villainous characters who are ruthlessly evil! In this regard, All of Our Demise did not disappoint! There is deceit, betrayal, and even torture…not that torture is something to be excited about, but you know when a character engages in it, they are a genuine villain. In my opinion, some of the things the characters did in the book were past redemption, which was refreshingly unique.

Furthermore, I think part of the reason why I found the book a little slow was due to the fact that there is extensively complex character development. If you’ve read the first book, you know the novel switches between multiple POVs. By the end of the second book those characters are almost unrecognizable! I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that not only pulled off phenomenal character development, but which did so for more than 4 characters!

Likewise, there was just the right amount of unpredictability that I felt surprised by certain events in the book. I wouldn’t necessarily say that it is shocking, but it was still unexpected.

Overall, this book definitely lived up to the hype. Between All of Us Villains and All of Our Demise, Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman wrote one of the best YA duologies of all time!

Although this book was better than book one. I didn't love it as much as I was hoping to. For me it just felt like it was missing something. The world was great and the characters were amazing. But the story at large was just lacking.

All of Our Demise by Amanda Foody; Christine Lynn Herman

Is the epic conclusion to Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman’s New York Times bestselling All of Us Villains duology.

“I feel like I should warn you: this is going to be absolutely brutal.”

For the first time in this ancient, bloodstained story, the tournament is breaking. The boundaries between the city of Ilvernath and the arena have fallen. Reporters swarm the historic battlegrounds. A dead boy now lives again. And a new champion has entered the fray, one who seeks to break the curse for good... no matter how many lives are sacrificed in the process.

As the curse teeters closer and closer to collapse, the surviving champions each face a choice: dismantle the tournament piece by piece, or fight to the death as this story was always intended.

Long-held alliances will be severed. Hearts will break. Lives will end. Because a tale as wicked as this one was never destined for happily ever after.

The All of Us Villains Duology:
#1) All of Us Villains