First and foremost: @netgalley please please PLEASE get your audiobooks to have better audio quality. I cannot stand the echos and grainy sound.

Onto the actual review!

“Killing is easy,” Alistair murmured. “It’s the afterward that’s harder.”
“But it’s the afterward we’re fighting for.”

I would kill for Alistair as well y'all. Feral for that guy. I'm still not convinced that this couldn't have been one book, but even with that, I'm glad it was two.

Brb while I go and reread it with an actual copy in my hands so I can actually enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, let's get into it.

When I finished the first book, I was M A D because I didn't know it was a duology and it ended so abruptly. That being said, this book had everything in it I felt I could have asked for from the first book. I feel the decision to split this story into two books wasn't the correct one, but in the end, I am very excited with how the story turned out. I will say due to split, I felt like the second book had a chunk of filler in order to make up for the first portion being separated. It felt like this first book was the first third of the story, and this second was the last two thirds.

With that out of the way, I enjoyed the story. I loved the character development (especially that of Alistair.) I will say, despite enjoying the character development, I would have loved to see more development of the families themselves as well as more introduction with their lore. Why were their stories what they were? What was the magic, and why did it change? Were curses not meant to be stagnant, or only those of this level? I felt the curse could have been expanded on a bit more as well as the lore.

Without to much of a spoiler, the ending felt... almost like there's another book coming. While a neat little bow was put on the individual characters, there is a particular instance that is not addressed and everyone is to tired to question it. Understandable, but as a reader, I felt the authors were trying to say something here, but it never was quite said.

Over all, 3.5 stars (rounding up to 4) as I enjoyed the ride and loved the characters, but I felt that the authors had raised questions we didn't get answers to, and I personally prefer a tidy and wrapped up ending.

All of our demise is the follow-up and conclusion to All of Us Villains. This series features a wide cast of characters and a well developed system of magic. Unlike the first book, the many voices of each character becomes less distinct and hard to distinguish. The plot wraps up in a dark and bloody conclusion that wraps up all loose ends nicely. A solid fantasy that very clearly draws on the themes from The Hunger Games.

This was a great second book and I loved it just as much of not more than the first. So grateful for the arc

Thank you so much Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Hermann and Tor Books for an advanced copy of all of our demise. This was the amazing sequel to one of my favorite reads of last year and I was so excited to receive this book. This book delivered everything I was expecting and more. I absolutely love this book. The series is always going to be one of my favorites and I am so happy to be a part of it early. If you love fierce competition fight to the death‘s with magic this is a book for you. Everything you think could possibly go wrong with this tournament did but it ended in such a way that was a beautiful testament to the series. Obviously I wish a certain thing could have been avoided but it was still the perfect ending for the series.

The character growth and characterizations were incredibly strong in this final second volume but that was offset by a plot that felt well trodden and without enough surprises to keep readers invested. There were several logic and plot holes that were problematic but in the end, you read this for the wonderfully nuanced and broken individuals in their untenable situations.

The tournament is breaking, with visible fractures in the central stone attesting to the magic unraveling. But the participants are divided: do they break the curse by destroying the artifacts - or do they continue to slaughter the other combatants in the hope of gaining the ultimate power and glory for their families? For everyone other than Alistair and Gavin, the answer is obvious: end the madness and stop the deaths. But Alistair must win the tournament to preserve his dead brother's spirit and Gavin needs the magic to remove his curse - both the physical one and the one following his family's inability to ever win. As teams begin to pair up, it becomes obvious that something greater is going on outside of the tournament grounds. They may not just be fighting to survive each other but also something far more sinister in a government that wants control of that last source of powerful high magic.

As mentioned, the plot holes or logic issues became far more apparent with this volume. We never did get much in the way of world building and just had to accept on faith that no one ever figured out what these teens did and how to destroy the artifacts to end the curse. One could argue that plot devices like that were not the focus of the book; rather, the book is about each of these flawed individuals and how they deal with their families and each other. It is very much about relationships and there is much devoted to their thought processes. In many ways, this is almost an anti-YA book since it is more show rather than tell. It's about the people, not the action.

The issue many will have with the series is that it is fairly predictable. We know early on what must be done to save them and so it is only a matter of how they will accomplish that. What that does is make it inconceivable that anyone would not help toward that cause rather than trying to kill everyone and win. We're given plot devices that force the hands of Alistair and Gavin but it often feels too much like a deus ex machina rather than an organic twist of fate.

Those expecting this to be a mean girls redux of vicious teens destroying each other likely stopped reading at the first book. Nearly every one of the main characters sacrifices themselves in some way to help the others and so a nobility is found in all. But at the same time, they were so flawed that at times it was hard to root for any of them as they vacillated between decisions and generally got in their own ways. This made them much more human but at the same time far less heroic.

In the end, I did enjoy the series. I felt it could have used more humor and less biting sarcasm to offset the heavy gothic overtones. As well, more organic qualities and less very constructed plot points would have been welcome. Note: I listened to the audio version and the narrator did an excellent job of giving each character a unique voice. Despite the number of POVs, I was never lost or unable to determine who was speaking. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

3.5 rounded down, an overly long climax with an alright payoff. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an AudioARC in exchange for an honest review.

All of Our Demise picks up right where All of Us Villains left off. Our champions are attempting to break the curse of their families by paring up relics with their specific landmarks. With the spell makers against them and their numbers split on breaking the curse after recent events will it be enough to break the tournament forever? Or is the cycle meant to repeat again?

I really really really wanted to like this as much as I did the first one, but it was LONG, drawn out, and not as villainous as I had hoped it to be. The trials they face throughout the book are actually the best parts, but all the filler in-between gets a bit mind numbing. An arc for a certain character we were reintroduced to at the end of All of Us Villains didn't go the way I had hoped it would, which may feed even more into my wish for better villains. The families of these kids deserve so much worse than what happened to them, and I hope they get to someday reap what they sow. Finally, the romance bits felt a bit forced, but they often can when it's a life or death situation. I myself have never been in such a situation so I can't speak to how people imprint on each other in these times of trauma or high adrenaline.

In conclusion, not a bad finale; but it didn't really pack the punch you'd expect from a final book either. Maybe I'm still just so in love with The Devouring Gray and The Deck of Omens that I wanted more from Christine Lynn Herman. 3.5 stars rounded down. Recommended for lovers of the first book, the hunger games, and even Harry Potter. Age recommended for 12+.

With every protagonist morally gray and some close to black, All of Us Villains blew me away. This sequel was absolutely one of my most anticipated reads this year.

This is one of those reviews where I can’t reveal too much without giving away spoilers. I’ll start by saying Alistair remains my favorite character, and my heart ached for him. He’s been told his whole life he’s a monster, raised to know he’ll have to kill people, and told bedtime stories about his relatives and the heinous acts they committed. Someone he trusted, and you can count on one hand how many people attained that status in his life, betrayed him in the last book. As you can expect, this isn’t something he’ll let slide. Still, I only wanted good things for him.

If I thought the first book contained shocking twists, it had nothing on this one. Some I had an inkling of, others not a clue. Alliances are formed and expected, which is pretty much the only way to survive the tournament. Then came a hint of a surprise pairing – and I nearly jumped with joy. I was totally on board with this relationship, and it was one of my favorite parts of the book. But my lips are sealed.

To get readers to cheer for a bunch of villains says something about the talent of these authors. Character development is outstanding and one of the strongest aspects of this duology. Be prepared – not everyone survives, but that’s something to be expected in a tournament based on death. I’m sorry to see this series end, but I count it as one of my favorites in the YA fantasy genre.

I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was a great conclusion to this villainous duology. I felt like everything was wrapped up nicely but also left it open for future spin offs as well. I’d love to catch up what they are all up years down the road. Overall this series was really well done and I think the magic system is very clever.

4.5 stars

I liked this one a lot more than I liked the first one. I feel like All of Us Villains was very much setting all of the characters up to be villains, and showing us how terrible they are, but then in this one they are more fleshed out and you get a better understanding of why they are the way they are. It did touch on that somewhat in the first book, but I really felt it in this one.

I would have given this 5 stars, except that I did not at all like Reid's story arc. Like, I was so curious about him at the end of the first book, but then I feel like with this one, his arc was too easy. Like, he very much seemed like a morally grey character in book one, but then he sort of has a redemption arc, but I didn't find it believable. I also didn't love the amount of falling in love with the other champions bit. I get that this is a stressful situation and emotions are high, but you don't need to be falling in love with each other. The only relationship I was okay with was Alistair's, because it felt right for his character. I was so very intrigued by him in the first book, because he is so obviously playing the villain that he has been raised to be, and I loved how his story ended up in this book.

Overall, I think this was a really great conclusion to the story.

Betrayal. Heartbreak. Death.

This duology is giving dark YA fantasy vibes and I was here for it.

Picking up right where All of Us Villains left off, in the middle of the tournament with questionable alliances and a blood veil that is breaking apart. Those who remain must decide to work together and break the curse or battle to the death.

A conclusion, All of Our Demise, almost gave me everything I wanted from the duology as a whole. Do I think they could have been one book, eh, yeah probably. There were some slow parts in both books that could have been cut to make a more intense and suspenseful read. However, I feel like it was written the way it was because it was very character driven. I was fist pumping the growth these characters went through!

The absolute heartbreak is so many ways, I had to pause a few times to let what happen sink in. A battle to end this curse together, so many relationships are tested. I found it easy to connect to them and feel for their situation and couldn't wait to see how it would unfold.

The narrators did such an amazing job with this one! Thank you so much Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio for the advanced gifted copies!

What a fabulous conclusion to this duology!
The story will keep you on the edge of your seat!
The world that the authors built was amazing and I couldn’t get enough of it!
It’s a very engaging audiobook and the narrators do a wonderful job! Billie Fulford-Brown, and Raphael Corkhill did a brilliant performance portraying the characters and all of the scenes. The variety of tones and inflections used were great.

Every twenty years in remote city of Ilvernath, seven teenage champions from the seven oldest families in the city must secretly battle to the death for control of the last store of high magick in the world. One year before the next tournament, someone published a book, exposing the tournament’s secrets.

My favorite part of this duology is that everyone is kind of terrible. There’s no good guy or bad guy in this story. They’re all kids, trying to survive the horrifying gauntlet of expectations laid down by their families. There is no deus ex machina coming to save them. No one could survive a situation like this and not be a little villainous.

All Of Demise’s main theme centered around the oppressive weight of familial expectations - good or bad. Each character is forced to reckon with their family legacy, the failings of their parents, and the stories (or lies) they tell themselves to survive every day.

As someone who works with teenagers, I see this reckoning on a regular basis. Even after 16 years, it’s never easy to see a young person struggle to find their own identity and happiness under such a heavy burden. It’s a complex and fraught situation, even for the most well-adjusted teenager. I appreciate how Foody and Herman translate this struggle into the world of Ilvernath’s bloody tournament. The characters often had to make difficult decisions, making many mistakes, but the authors never fell back on blaming the youth of their characters for their decisions. I wish more authors would treat their adolescent characters and readers with such respect.

Billie Fulford-Brown and Raphael Corkhill’s performances were truly impeccable. There are two specific characters that I would have never connected with as a reader if I’d simply read the text alone. Their performances really transformed the story.

A brilliant conclusion to the story and I have already ordered a copy for my own bookshelf.

I really wanted to love this sequel, because I did enjoy the first book. But man, did it drag out. I won't say who for spoiler reasons, but the only character I ended up caring about ended up dying. So that was a lot of fun. But even without that, none of the characters really appealed to me. Finnley is okay, only because we don't learn much about him. Briney is sweet but annoying most of the times. Alistair is awful; there I said it. Gavin is... fine?? I liked him more in this book I think? Isabelle is okay, I guess. Hendry is the only boy I care about and he's already dead so... what's the point?

Anyways; hated the Stockholm syndrome bit. Hated how they made two characters fall in love because I didn't like either of them. And the book just felt way too long and drawn out.

Overall... not my cup of tea but still not bad in the long run.

I DNF'd the audiobook at about 10%. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, which I read a physical copy of, but had a difficult time with the narrators voices and the volume and clarity. Their voices were nice to listen to, but I needed the volume way up in order to clearly hear and understand. I fully intend on picking up a physical copy of this book and continuing.

The epic conclusion to the All of us villains YA fantasy duology that sees enemies form uneasy alliances in order to help break the curse that has held their families captive for years.

Full of action, magic, some romance and a little more gore than I'm typically comfortable with. This book is a darker version of The hunger games with some unique twists and betrayals. Longer than I wanted it to be at almost 19hours, this book could have used some editing in my opinion.

Otherwise I liked it pretty well and enjoyed the dual narration by Billie Fulford-Brown and Raphael Corkhill. Much thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

All of Our Demise is the second and final installment of All of Us Villains. Book 2 was just as action packed and surprise filled as book 1. Though it was a sometimes rough and heartbreaking path to take, I'm glad we got an ending to this story.

I thought there was a great conclusion to the story and I absolutely had to read it to find out what was going to happen. The ending turned out exactly how it had to. That being said, I didn't love it as much as the first book. I felt there was so much going on, that some of the details just got lost. I loved the characters in book 1, but in this one I didn't so much. Overall, though, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves stories filled with magic and mystery.

I listened to the audiobook and felt the author did a great job with the narration.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

A satisfactory conclusion to this Hunger Games-inspired duology.

I enjoyed the magical system and setting of this book almost as much as I did in the first novel in the duology, but this installment was really overlong and almost tedious at times. Either there really wasn’t enough material and the editing needed to be tighter or it should have been split into three books instead of two.

A lot of the issue here is the pacing. This was a hugely successful element of the first book, but here it was really uneven. There were parts of the novel where I was riveted and other parts where I’m sure I could have skipped 50 or so pages and missed nothing important. All the endless “I trust you…no I don’t…yes I do…no I don’t” was obnoxious and thematically useless after it happened 20 or 30 times between the same sets of characters.

The magic gets a touch convoluted toward the end of this one as well, though overall the setup was still good in this respect. In all, it’s certainly worth a read to see how the story ends, but this is a significant step down in quality and entertainment value from the first book in the series.

Audiobook readers: This book was a good fit for the format, and listening rather than reading by sight helps with the fact that the book is overlong and uneven in pace. The narrators do a good job, evocative without getting hammy or overwrought.

I need to start this review by saying that I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED THIS BOOK!! I started All of Us Villains about a year ago expecting an out of this world epic enemies to lovers’ story and this conclusion DELIVERED! I think this duology contains one of the best enemies to lovers’ stories and there is that.

In All of Our Demise we follow our heroes (or, well, villains) as they compete in the second part of this death tournament - their initial alliances broken, all of them left to fend for themselelves That is, until new alliances emerge, some of them unwilling but necessary. I loved how the authors managed to write two completely opposite sides, one of them trying to break this terrible curse, the other trying to win it by killing their opponents, but you somehow root for them both? Despite not both of them being able to win? Magic.

I loved learning more about these characters - Alistair is still hands down my favourite. His motivations, his past, everything he does just makes sense when you know his whole story and I know I'd have done a lot of the things he did in his position. I obviously also adore how he and Gavin really understood each other - how Gavin never had people rooting for him and loving him unconditionally and then perfectly understood Alistair's actions BECAUSE Alistair felt that for his brother, Hendry. And how Alistair saw there was more to Gavin than his terrible reputation had to say. I just really, really loved their dynamic okay!
This quote says it all: The Grieves had raised Gavin to die. The Lowes had raised Alistair to kill.
I hoped from the get-go that we'd learn more about Reid since he was also a very wicked but endlessly interesting character and we GOT it in this sequel as well! His dynamic with Isabel was another amazing kinda enemies to lovers’ story and I rooted for it loads more than I did for Isabel and Alistair in the first book. Basically, I am whipped for great and gritty enemies to lovers, okay.
I also liked how Briony went from a self-proclaimed hero of sorts to actually realising her mistakes, her faults, and trying to help everyone without pretending to be perfect about it. While her and Finley's story was my least favourite (just because it was a second chance and we didn't really see a lot of them dealing with their feelings and falling back in love, it all kinda happened during duress), they were still amazing to read about and I loved how they went from allies to lovers to lowkey heroes for everyone, in a way.

The plot flowed easily without any snags, there were constant twists and surprises that kept me on the edge of my seat – let’s not talk about that finale that was somehow both heart-wrenching (I somehow saw a death coming but not THAT death), heavy (because these characters have been through so much together), and hopeful. I love how Foody and Herman didn’t stray away from the uglier and grittier parts for the sake of a traditional “happy” ending. These characters went through something horrible and traumatic – the consequences would be there for years to come (if not forever) and while they are learning to move forward, everything is not suddenly peachy. They remember and still try to live on.

Another thing I loved was how the authors tackled the very present casual sexism so often present in every day news and papers - while Gavin and Alistair were praised and seen as broken bad boys of the tournament despite doing some terrible things, the girls, Briony and Isabel, were not shown the same courtesy, going as far as being seen as manipulating, conniving, and downright despicable. Despite, ya know, not really doing anything worse than Gavin and Alistair. I loved seeing that and it rang so true to the double standard we see so often in our world as well.

All in all, All of Our Demise was an explosive and epic conclusion to the Villains duology! I already know I'll be going back to this story again and again - both for the deliciously wonky moral compass, morally grey - if not at times downright villainous characters, and the love stories that won me over! SPOILERS AHEAD!! Be it the guys (who I had a FEELING might end up together from book one onwards AND I am so happy I wasn't wrong, because they make one of the best enemies to lovers’ stories I've ever read) to Finley and Briony and Isabel and Reid (I was SO rooting for them ahh!!). Also can we talk about how Gavin and Alistair went from "I hate you and I will kill you" to "I will still kill you, but I hope you admire the skill with which I do it" to "mutual understanding", "maybe I actually like him", "oh god did I ever hate him or was I just attracted to him", "OH GOD HE BETRAYED ME, it was all a hoax" to "nah, I actually adore and love him so much" in the end. It made me so soooo happy!!

All of Our Demise - and the Villains duology in general - is an amazing, dark, and bloody YA duology that will capture your heart and not let it go till the very last page and onwards. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys morally grey characters who would do anything to the people they love and fans of GREAT enemies to lovers’ stories! You won't be disappointed!

I have been waiting extremely impatiently for All of Our Demise even since I finished All of Us Villains a year ago. I reread the first one before I started the second, which was helpful but the authors do a great job getting you caught up to speed, so you definitely do not have to. All of Our Demise starts off right where All of Us Villains left off, which I also loved. (Have you ever started a sequel that started in a weird place and you are just so baffled it completely takes you out of the story? Ew, I hate it.)

Read this series if you love
✨Fast paced fantasy
✨LGBTQ+ representation
✨Stories about how families tell stories - I think you could argue that this duology is about breaking generational trauma

The audiobook is beautifully narrated, and really adds to the story. I wish that the @netgalley audiobook player could speed up without creating an echo sound. I think I might have liked this book even more if I had read it or could have spead it up a little!

Thank you to Netgalley and @macmillanaudio for my review audiobook!