Thank you so much, NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Teen, for the chance to read one of my most anticipated read of 2022.

TW: gore, murder, torture

For the first time in centuries, the bloody tournament is breaking, the boundaries between the arena and the city have fallen, reporters swarm the battlegrounds, a dead boy now lives again, there's another champion and the curse is almost collapsing, ready to destroy everything.
In this bloody and intense sequel, new alliances are forged, secrets revealed and the champions find themselves faced with a choice: try to dismantle the tournament and curse and save everyone or fight to death until only one remains, as the story intended?
As for Alistair, he knows his choice. He will do anything in his power to save Hendry and get themselves their own happy ending, escaping Ilvernath and leaving their abuses and traumas behind. But when Gavin asks to ally with him, trying to dismantle their own curses, everything changes and the champions find themselves in two group, each of them with their own secrets, lies and goals.
What will happen to them? Who will survive?

All of our demise starts right away after the ending of All of us villains. Isobel is cursed and kidnapped, Hendry is alive and with a cursed Alistair, Briony and Finley survived the first pairing and everything is changed in the tournament. Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman did an oustanding job with these two books.
The magic system is *chef's kiss* and I loved every single thing, the setting, the stories, the pairings, everything is amazingly described and skillfully written, but one of the things I loved the most in these books is the characterization.
These characters are brilliant, complex and intricate. Thanks to the multiple POVs, the reader is able to understand them, Briony struggles with her sister and family, Isobel's desire to live, Alistair's lack of faith in everything and everyone around him and the deep love that bonds him to his brother Hendry, Gavin's desire to win and to change how the world, and his own family first, sees him, Finley's doubts and love for Briony and for his family, Reid's intentions and goals.
Every single character is flawed, deeply human in their doubts, desperation, desires, goals and choices.

Alastair is definitely one of my favourite character and he's convinced of everything others tell of him, of what his monstrous family forged him to be, the role he was put into and with Isobel's betrayal and Hendry's coming back to life, his own life is torn upside down again, especially with Gavin's presence and the unstable alliance they forge to help one other. It was such a pleasure seeing Alastair slowly reveal his true himself to Gavin, also thanks to the deep love that bonds him to Hendry and how the trio fight to free themselves from the curses, choicing each other again and again. Alistair's accepting himself and his pain, his desire to live and be free and who he really is, with his crosswords and being goofy, with his own feelings and bonds.
Gavin was a surprise, because I loved understanding him more in his pain, his desire of beeing seen and accepted, his strained relationship with his family. It was also hoping for a certain ship and my wish was absolutely granted. A rivals/enemies to allies to lovers? I'M IN!
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Isobel's fighting to live, trying to understand the right course of action, between her will to finish the tournament and save herself, her loyalties, Briony's betrayal and friendship and Reid's new presence in her life, between lies and secrets, pain and kidnappings and theories and saving each other. On the other side Briony and Finley try to break the curse without killing every single champion, fighting for their own futures and each other.

Between enemies to lovers, allies to enemies, rivals to allies and to lovers, this book is incredible and it has everything. The characters grow a lot, learning to accept themselves, their feelings and mistakes and complexities, embracing their worth and learning to distancing themselves from what they family taught them or they and the media thought of them. They know each other and themselves better and what their families did to them for power.

One of the relationship I loved the most was Alistair and Hendry's and their bond is the best, leaving the reader shattered and broken. The characters fight for themselves and then slowly for each other and the future, becoming allies and then friends, while battling doubts, insecurities and pain. The characterization and growth is incredible and Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman wrote a duology filled with everything and more: Blood, family's expectations, brotherhood, friendships, sacrifices and mistakes, queer love, the desire to live and be free from society's and history's shackles...
This book is the perfect conclusion. Intriguing, bloody and brilliant.

I liked this book much more than AOUV (although I did give that a 4.25/5) and I know exactly why. Let's get into it!
First of all, I love these characters so much. I do have my favorites (cough Alistair like that's a surprise cough), but every single one of them is phenomenal. I love Briony's struggle with her family and need to win, Isobel's desire to survive, Gavin's need to prove himself, and Alistair's lack of faith in the world around him. AOUV set the stage, but AOOD makes every single one of them a star. I'm so obsessed with how each of them grew. I knew exactly what I wanted for each of them, and that's what we got. It's so interesting seem them learn about themselves and each other while trying their best to remain living, and Foody and Herman are just so good at character development.
In terms of relationships: HA. I called it from DAY ONE before Foody said anything. I knew it would definitely happen because of Foody's Instagram, but That One Couple seemed GLARINGLY obvious to me and they had SO much chemistry. To put it simply, "Crawl there, ****" and "F*ck yourself, ******" is the greatest exchange on earth. Seriously though, I adored these two and all of the others. Given that they all have to kill each other, it seems like it would be hard to adequately develop some somewhat feasible relationships, but I adored all of the couples. In addition to this, I thought the relationship between the Slaughter Seven and the media was so interesting as well as their friendships with one another and the volatility of them. All hail Herman and Foody for That One Couple but also the general book.
I would say the element I liked much more in AOOD than AOUV is the world-building. I knew the book would be like the Hunger Games, but I was expecting more high fantasy in an earlier time period. I was really surprised to see a more 80s/90s-ish world when I first read AOUV. However, AOOD really solidified everything in a way I loved. I felt like I knew and understood much more when I read it, and the way they manipulated the magic itself was so interesting.
With plot, I will say that I guessed at least a few twists. However, it wasn't a "that's so predictable" thing, it was more of a "oh my god that's exactly what I wanted from this". Foody and Herman really did an amazing job on this one, I have precisely zero complaints.
I'd definitely recommend this for anyone who loved AOUV, or even people who thought it was a bit lackluster. AOOD really blew me away, and I was obsessed. Again, this is like another really dark Hunger Games book, but more about media and family than the government. It's an amazing read, and I'm so grateful to have gotten it!

All of Us Villains was one of my top books I read in 2021, so you know I did a happy dance when I got approved for an ARC of All of Our Demise! I’m going to keep this review very high level and unspecific for anyone who hasn’t finished book 1 of the duology yet, while silently judging you for not having read it…

I really enjoyed this book!! I love the characters and world that the authors have created and while I would say this book is not quite as action packed or full of as many WTF moments, there were still plenty of plot turns that took me by surprise. While the ending isn’t what I had expected (and in some cases hoped for), I was completely satisfied with the way things wrapped up. The pacing was a bit slow in the first half of the book and there were some spots that felt repetitive, most notably in all the inner dialog and personal reflections, but this was still a fantastic read. This duology definitely ranks among my top fantasy series and I can’t recommend it enough! 4.5/5⭐️

Thanks to @TorTeen and @NetGalley for the DRC. All of Our Demise will be out on August 30!

When I finished All of Us Villains, I could not wait to get my hands on the sequel; to say I had high expectations would be an understatement. And All of Our Demise did not disappoint! I quickly grew attached to each and every character despite their morally gray decision-making, and the way their relationships developed was so satisfying. This series continues to be an irresistible tangle of enemies and allies, rivals and lovers, and sacrifice and betrayal- it is a must-read YA fantasy.

The absolutely perfect conclusion to an incredible duology by a pair of friends who write enemies all too well. I loved this -- the ending was entirely surprising and I... am so disappointed in the outcome, in part, but as a reader, not as a reviewer. I wish things went another way, but I think it was so, so brilliantly done by Foody and Herman. Thank you so much to the publisher for the advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

First and foremost this was probably my most anticipated follow up this year and I am forever grateful for the ARC.

It wasn't as tightly woven as the first book and meandered quite a bit in ways that weren't necessarily interesting or character building so much as character pairing towards a conclusion. Not everyone that got it deserved redemption and the one person I thought truly did had their character completely assassinated at the expense of other characters. I'm being vague as to not spoil but that's how it felt for me. The growth in this book wasn't earned so much as recognition that broken people will find other broken people and then stitch themselves together more for convenience than sacrifice. The stakes were just not high enough for me nor was the mythology really here the way it was in the first. Maybe it was the competing narratives outside the constraints of the tournament.

Anyway, that said, it's still a satisfying conclusion that will undoubtedly make many, many people happy.

Wildly unpredictable, extremely gory, and full of strange and wondrous magic, this follow up to All of Us Villains lives up to its name in sheer body count and horrifying twists. You'll root for this twisted group of young magicians to get it together (and attend a lot of therapy if they make it out alive).