All of Us Villains is an incredible start to a new series that could be viewed as a darker take on the Hunger Games. Just imagine: a tournament to the death where the winner gets to control magic for the next generation. Normally a secret, seven families name a competitor, but this year a tell-all revealed the tournament thrusting the competitors into the spotlight. The story is told through multiple POVs which all feel distinct and so well-developed. Readers will be obsessed with this brand new series. Be sure to check out All of Us Villains today. Highly recommended!

I really liked this book. I did take a long time to finish it and felt it worked best reading in big chunks so that you could really appreciate the world building.

I also thought it ended at an interesting point and can see the sequel being a really pacy and action packed read. This first installment laid so many plans down and explained backstories and also had good little character arcs within it.

The different pov's were good too - when books have you changing allegiance depending on which pov you're reading you know that it's been used well.

I did guess a few of the reveals and I can see that this is very much in the tradition of some other YA heavy-hitters but I still very much enjoyed this world and its morally grey characters.

I can't wait to read book two! My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. I'm really sorry it took me so long to write this review.

Features:
- true morally grey characters
- chaos chaos chaos
- multiple POV chapters
- an ancient curse
- Hunger Games vibes
- allll the magic - spellstones, relics, curses galore


I absolutely ate this up. From the very first sentence I knew it’d be a 5 stars. The writing was perfection with the tone of a dark fairytale. The characters were incredibly written and were probably the most accurate morally grey personalities I’ve read in a while!

The relationships were messy and you really can’t trust anyone and get I grew to care for some of these characters so much. No one is a hero, but their actions are usually justified, no matter how evil they may seem.

The spellcasting aspect was fascinating and so interesting to read about. The authors did an amazing job at crafting this world and I can’t wait for the sequel!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the authors for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Probably not the full list of TW so please look them up if you’re sensitive to anything!

TW: death, child abuse, violence, lots of blood, self-harm

This was such a fun and enjoyable read that didn't try to do too much and rattled along at a great pace. The characters were easy to get on board with and each had their own foibles, which made sense in the narrative. This being a book about villains, everyone had a distinctly grey morality, without ever veering too far into out and out 'bad guy' territory and the relationship interactions felt authentic. The plot was simple, being based upon a tournament to the death, lending a Battle Royale/Hunger Games quality to the narrative - always a fun concept and it was executed well here. Overall, this was a very accessible world with just enough exposition to explain certain things without bogging down the narrative too much. Was it earth shattering? No, but was it a highly enjoyable ride? Absolutely!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

After the publication of a salacious tell-all book, the remote city of Ilvernath is thrust into worldwide spotlight. Tourists, protesters, and reporters flock to its spellshops and ruins to witness an ancient curse unfold: every generation, seven families name a champion among them to compete in a tournament to the death. The winner awards their family exclusive control over the city’s high magick supply, the most powerful resource in the world.

I really enjoyed this idea of an old curse as a secret and how it was kept a secret from everyone. The way the book started with how the world has changed and become obsessed with this curse-tournament. I found the little aspects of paparazzi and other people's behaviour so well presented in this circumstances.

The book has multiple POVs and at the start I found them very useful and interesting, but as the story was developing I was a little bit confused by why some characters were chosen as POV. All the characters are flowed, some more than others. Some background stories make sense to bring to life so flowed characters, but some others just didn't really make sense to me... How did those people become so mean/flowed?

The ending was very powerful and made me want to read the next book immediately.

All of Us Villains promised Hunger Games but with magic, and it surely did deliver on that.

I adored the atmosphere of this, it was so dark and gloomy and truly immersive. Honestly, my biggest complaint is that I wish the authors leaned into it more. While the characters were three-dimensional enough, at their core, they were not really evil or villainous - most of them just barely qualified as morally gray, in my opinion. Frankly, this probably comes down to me having expectations that just didn't match the story, but the way that this book has been marketed, I had been expecting a lot more dark and twisty deeds done by the main characters.

That being said, this was still a very engaging story that kept me on my toes throughout most of it, and I am interested to continue this series to see where it goes! I have high hopes for the second installment and truly hope that the characters lean into their villainous traits a bit more as the story progresses. I really, really want all of them to be villains.

The books premise sounds so very interesting - a dark YA story of seven magical families who must send their chosen champion to compete in a hunger games style tournament to win exclusive control over a wellspring of high magick. Sounds like it will be thrilling and action packed?

Instead I felt that nothing actually happened for at least 200pages. The characters all seemed to blend into one as none of them have any distinguishable characteristics and instead are all carbon copies of one and other. They try to make the story a bit interesting by throwing in some 'hard choices' when friends have to chose between winning and friendship but the characters are so flat it has 0 impact.

Overall I wouldn't really recommend this and I have no desire to read the follow conclusion.

I have chosen to not post this review on my social handles as I feel like it's strongly negative.

💍All of us Villains💍

💍By Amanda Foody and Christine Herman💍

🤫spoiler free review

This book had just hit my radar when it turned up as our @goldsborobooks November book.

I was so excited to see it! Technically the Goldsboro subscription is my husband’s but he kindly let me at this one first!

After the publication of a salacious tell-all book, the remote city of Ilvernath is thrust into the spotlight. Tourists, protesters, and reporters alike flock to its spellshops and historic ruins to witness an ancient curse unfold: every generation, seven families name a champion among them to compete in a tournament to the death. The winner awards their family exclusive control over the city's high magick supply, the most powerful resource in the world.

In the past, the villainous Lowes have won nearly every tournament, and their champion is prepared to continue his family's reign. But this year, thanks to the influence of their newfound notoriety, each of the champions has a means to win. Or better yet--a chance to rewrite their story.

But this is a story that must be penned in blood.

🩸🩸🩸

Told from the POV of various champions, this book is The Hunger Games with magic. The children of the families bound by the tournament curse are raised to be villains - to do whatever it takes to win and secure the high magic for their family.

I really enjoyed this story. It was great seeing the different points of view of the champions, getting to know them from the perspective of the other champions as well as from their own perspective. No one is quite who they seem and they are all in a desperate situation.

It’s hard to say more without spoilers so I’ll just say this book has come in right at the end of the year as one of my top reads! I hadn’t realised it was part of a series so I was a bit gutted when it didn’t all wrap up but that just means I’ll have a sequel to look forward to!

Quick mention of how gorgeous this book is! I love the cover and blood red edges!

All of Us Villains was a fun, action packed thrill ride. It was one hundred percent giving me The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter, and in what universe would that not be a lot of fun?! It doesn’t quite explode in the way that those two titles did, but it was still an enjoyable read.

I had fun getting to know the different POVs and watching the dynamics between the characters during the tournament. I also really liked the magic system, and how the authors had turned magic into a commodity in this world.

The main reason it didn’t score higher with me is purely because I felt the ending was a bit disappointing. It ends in a frustrating place, but not in the frustrating cliffhanger way that leaves you wanting more, it felt more like a whole story was chopped in half to make it a duology. It just felt a bit unfinished and sloppy. I would still recommend this and I will definitely be reading the second book to find out how it ends though!

Still one of my favourite reads. I loved this more than I thought I would. Huge credit to the author. I’ll definitely be on the watch out for the sequel!

When I read the description for All of Us Villains I was intrigued and I had to read it. I loved the magic system in the books as it was different from other books I have read. The world was beautifully created and loved travelling it. I really liked the characters and the relationships that they had with each other.. I am looking forward to the next one.

Christine Herman and Amanda Foody are auto buy authors for me at this point. I read the plot of this and was instantly hooked. This sounded like a revamped version of The Hunger Games! Every twenty years, families who reside in Ilvernath have to offer up a family member who will be involved in a fight to the death., the prize being a type of high magic that no one else will have access to. This would change their lives. The characters Alastair, Isobel, Gavin and Bryony are fantastic. They are all so different. There are so many twists and turns and evil schemes.

This was a really good YA book to get me back into fantasy after a few months. I really liked that this was co-written by two different authors who I am equally interested in. It really brought the story to life. I enjoyed the different point of views. The cliffhanger at the end has got me looking forward to book 2

VE Schwab fans eat your heart out! I loved this! The only way it would’ve been better was an adult version with even more real death and gore! I enjoyed the use of multiple P.O.V.s and how that was used to keep the narration flowing. Best example of how to actively use the narration timeline as a tool; finding out contestants at the same time as the characters made it much more exciting and fantastical. It had a compelling unique magic system that added to brilliant worldbuilding. One of my favourite arcs from the past year!
I received an arc copy for review and leave this view voluntarily

This book was so incredibly pretentious, powerful rich kids compete for more power. I found it difficult to care about any of the characters. Sadly not a book for me.

I received an e-arc of All of Us Villains from Orion Publishing Group and Netgalley. Even though I have been gifted this book for review, all opinions are my own.

This is my review of All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynne Herman

This book was an exciting and great start to a new series. I have read a book by Christine Lynn Herman but have never read a book by Amanda Foody. I have not enjoyed young adult fantasy much, but this was enjoyable, and I will continue with the series. This was recommended if you enjoyed the Hunger Games and magic. If you were intrigued by the concept like me, then this story is for you. This was lucky as the Hunger Games is one of my all-time favourite series. The cast of characters was enjoyable to read about, and the plot was well-paced and an exciting read.

Highly recommend it if you enjoyed reading the Hunger Games

A solid 3.5 star read, shame about the controversy surrounding one of the authors. The book had characters with depth and the plot moved along at a nice pace

When I saw the cover and read the synopsis of All of Us Villains, it just screamed dark academia with morally gray characters. It really sounded so promising. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations at all.

One thing that it failed to deliver is to live up to the word "villain." It was pitched as "The Hunger Games with magic," so I was expecting characters who were dark, cunning, and cold-blooded antiheroes, but despite those flaws, I would still root for them. However, they weren't. They were just kids who were putting masks to please their families.

On the other hand, the first half was a slow start because it was more of the backstories of the characters. While it was nice to know their backgrounds, there were not much development happening. The second half picked up and there were enough actions which was similar to The Hunger Games. Meanwhile, although the world building and magic system was quite established, it needed more details to be more satisfying.

Overall, it was saddening that this book just wasn't for me. Maybe I'm more accustomed now to ruthlessness of grimdark fantasy that was why I found this novel lacking in that area. Some readers actually quite enjoy this novel, so take this review with a grain of salt.

I really enjoyed reading this one. It starts out a bit slow but definitely picks up once the competition starts - which was my favourite part. It's definitely one of those books which I could not put down as I constantly wanted to know what happens next. The magic system was pretty cool but I did feel that the world could have been fleshed out better.

The characters were pretty great too.. I loved all the various character dynamics that we got. Although, I did wanted more villainy from them. My favourite was Alaistair - he was just precious and I am pretty excited to know what happens to him. The romance was somewhat unnecessary but it didn't bother me a lot. What bothered me a bit was the change in Briony's stand on the competition. I just don't think that people beliefs change as fast as Briony's did. Also, she has about a week of some research and the word of person ( Whom she didn't know that well) to go on and all of a sudden she thought she could break the curse where no one has succeeded in 800 years or so. That's a lot of assumption, risk and trusting on a person you don't know very well. I think it's possible but I don't think it comes across as a believable. Especially because her entire life all she wanted was to win the competition and now she suddenly wants to break it. It felt kinda abrupt to me.

Overall, filled with magic, mayhem and betrayal, this was still a very enjoyable read. I am definitely looking forward to the sequel and conclusion of this story.

3.5 ⭐

Thank you to NetGalley and Gollancz for the e-Arc!

This story consumed me, I don't even know how I got hooked but I am DYING TO READ THE SEQUEL!!!

It was such a wild ride, so addictive, a true page turner. I wasn't expecting this at all, that tagline on the cover really does it justice: Hunger Games with magic ✨

There is an aesthetic to this book, a dark academia-esque, wicked forest, doom and gloom sort of vibe that made my skin prickle. The uneasy atmosphere and vivid worldbuilding elements were captivating, the entire time I was relentlessly trying to figure out a way to save my beloved, wicked faves.

I knew going in that this story was meant to be fun, was meant to clearly be inspired by The Hunger Games, was supposed to be a bit campy and silly and over the top and it was executed perfectly. None of the nauseating YA pining or overused enemies so lovers lines. No cookie cutter characters and generic world.

True wickedness was present here, it turned my stomach and gave me goosebumps so a big bravo to the author duo for pulling me into this gruesome world and making me become lost in Ilvernath's bloody history,  twisted families and impossibliy bloody events.

The balance of 4 POVs worked excellently,  the pace was well executed and kept me turning the pages late into the night, the magic system was well crafted and unique.

Of all 4 main POVs I most liked Allastair the monstrous and Isobel the princess, their dynamic was so carefully constructed, believable and nuanced.
Grieve was an unexpected addition, reading an underdog POV is always satisfying, especially in this case because it has a twist to it.
Briony pissed me off to no end,  she needs to work out her hero complex and I expect some very messed up things come her was soon.

The only thing I have to criticise about this was the overuse of the word "villain". It was mentioned a comical number of times and more often that not it felt like an awkward choice of word for someone to use it when referring to themselves.

Overall, a truly enjoyable popcorn read that has left me desperate emailing the publisher to end my 6 month wait for the sequel early.
I am so impressed with how complex each character's family dynamics were, with the natural diversity and inclusivity, with the authors not pulling any punches. THIS BOOK IS BLOODY GREAT.