Well this book took me on a ride; did I love it or hate it? I'm still not sure.
All of Us Villains caught my eye because it promised to be a hunger games inspired tale...but with magic and all the contestants are bad guys. What more could you want out of an October read?

The story follows the POVs of the seven families who have to compete in the Blood Veil tournament; a contest that determines which family controls the source of high magic for the next 20 years. They must put forward one of their children as a champion to fight to the death, with the winners family having access to the power and influence the magic source affords.

So what I liked about it - the world building was interesting! I love reading about new magic systems and the one used in this story was unique and easy to follow. You take magic and place it into objects in its raw form or as curses or spells to use later. In a story about children fighting to the death, naturally the sheer number of destructive curses detailed throughout this book was impressive.
I also really enjoyed reading Alastair and Isobel's POVs. They were both by far the most developed and engaging characters (special mention to Briony and Gavin who had their own unique plots) and I'll be honest, I'm a sucker enemies to lovers and their tension DELIVERED.

Things I was not so much a fan of - the chaos of the plot for one. I felt like there were a lot of ideas left undeveloped in this story, and by the end many of the key storylines didn't have a meaningful resolutions in favour of being left open for the inevitable sequel. The story itself felt ambitious and in trying to achieve all of these crazy twists and turns left the flow of the story a little all over the place.
If that's the way you roll then by all means, but I think especially with there being so many POVs that with the fast paced and short chapters I wasn't able to connect with every character the way I'd want for a plot where you need to root for them all to survive.

I will say they most definitely all felt like villains. Nobody was the secret lovely person of the group in the end.
I'd definitely recommend this to teenagers looking for a little murderous drama to read.

Thank you to Orion Publishing Group and Netgalley for the ARC!

I whizzed through this in 2 days! I'll admit I found it a little hard to get into at the beginning, just because I think if you start out with lore it can feel a little like a history lesson rather than immersing you in the story. It spoke a lot about a house considering it's never mentioned again. I understand it was trying to make their family seem scary but it doesn't seem to fit for me. Once I got into the characters, my reservations fell away because it was so interesting seeing the story from the different perspectives - normally so many protagonists would seem overwhelming, confusing. But in this instance, the characters are all so clearly separated and described that it was easy to keep up and understand them. I love the idea of all their different motivations and how they changed based on the events in the book.

I also liked how this book felt modern enough to relate to it, but steeped in history/magic of the families. And their different relationships with magic! All so good. I can't believe I now have to wait to read the next one for whoever knows how long. 4 stars!

Lots to love about this book and I was intrigued to see where it would lead. In a world where there is a pocket of magic, the control of the High magic is determined by a fight-to-the-death tournament of each generation. There are seven key families and thus seven champions to partake in the challenge - each teen is equipped with spells and curses to help them win.

I loved the creativity of thought and detail put into this new world and the tournament. This kept the story unpredictable and exciting. I also enjoyed the different characters - their complexities and moral dilemmas, It made them feel real, understandable and relatable. I couldn't wait to read what happened next and who would survive - since each has clear strengths and skills - and as the relationships between champions began to evolve.

My only complaint is that book 1 didn't finish with any finality. I understand the intent is to become a series, but it felt like the book ended mid-chapter, leaving me quite unsatisfied and concerned that I will have forgotten a lot of the necessary detail by the time the next book comes out. The Hunger Games was a good example of closure for each book.

The Hunger Games meets Caraval in this incredibly exciting novel that everyone needs to pick up the moment it comes out. Now going into this story I had no idea what I was getting myself into. All I knew was that I loved the sound of the plot and that loads of people really enjoyed the previous books written by the two authors behind this novel.

Starting off with the writing. This novel was easy to read and included multiple POVs from 4 different characters, if you are a long-term reader of my blog you will know already that I love multiple POVs. I couldn’t really tell the difference between the two authors which I really liked, I don’t know what that says about their personal writing styles but I didn’t feel like it was two wholly different individuals tackling different parts of the story. It felt like a very strong collaboration. I felt the authors did a great job of differentiating the 4 main characters, they didn’t feel the same at all, I also felt their writing of magical fight scenes and the use of magic in general in this novel was written really clearly and easy to follow as it definitely could have fallen into a trap of being confusing and not making sense.

In terms of plot, I had so much fun reading this novel. I have never personally read the Hunger Games books but I’ve seen the movies and I read and loved Caraval and I felt it had the horror and desperation of The Hunger Games alongside the more whimsical and beautiful magic of Caraval. The plot drew me in super quickly and is one of the major highlights of the book. I thought I knew early on what was going to happen, certain parts of the book are predictable, but I felt that it really pulled me into a false sense of security it used that against me as I thought I knew where it was going. One of the key points I wanted to mention is that the authors raise the stakes considerably within this book. All four of our main characters have something happen to them within this novel that has you screaming for more, wondering how they are going to fair in the tournament and what this may mean for their place within this deadly battle. I was super impressed with how they didn’t hold any punches and going into the novel you had no idea who was going to win or what the outcome was going to be.

I really enjoyed the characters within this novel. I enjoyed all the POVs equally. I really enjoyed exploring their backstories and how what happened to them in the past shaped how they approached the tournament. I think the most interesting character of all was Alistair, he had so many layers and was a walking contradiction and I really liked being in his head and understanding more about him. I also loved learning about all the different families and how they function within themselves as a family unit and within Ilvernath as a whole. You had the terrifying Lowes, the intelligent Thorburns and the overlooked Grieves.

The world building itself was not on the Lord of the Rings or Wheel of Time level but I felt there was enough mentioned and explored which allowed to fully understand what was going on within the novel while also leaving it open to learn more for book 2. I really enjoyed learning about how magic works in this world and I loved the setting of this being our modern day. I loved how this fantastical competition bled through into the modern world of social media and celebrity and I enjoyed exploring how that translated into our world with the tabloids and the influencer culture. It was super super interesting!

Overall, I thought this was an incredibly dark and enticing novel that everyone who loved The Hunger Games but wants a fantasy version of it should read.

As anyone who skims the synopsis might note, the (hyper-compelling, admittedly) core concept of All of Us Villains is one that screams handle-with-care at any attempt to tell such a tale, but I think the authors managed it commendably well from the story's savage start.

The history constructed for the town of Ilvernath and its vicious heritage is convincing in validating the blood-stained tradition that haunts the townsfolk of this magick-hoarding corner of a vaster, magick-hungry world, and there's surely no shortage of variety when it comes to the values and scruples of the champions and their clans. In terms of heinious acts, All of Us Villains has it all and then some, but truly villainous characters are in scarce supply - the vileness of any motivations mask the vain hopes and coveted ambitions they're holding onto, made clear by the abundance of confused confrontations and humane acts that these conflicts catalyze.

The visceral visuals of the book never stutter or stumble; once the curtains are raised and the slaughter commences, the tournament speeds along amid cut-throat viciousness and violent cruelties as attacks are coordinated and curses are hurled, alliances are betrayed and hexes are botched, and things hurtle along towards the book's hair-raising cliffhanger. The sole beef I do have with the narrative is that amid all the chaos of bloodshed and vindication there some very hurried turns and suspiciously convenient solutions that crop up during climactic scenes (Alistair alone has more than one massive change of heart that seems to come out of nowhere) - but besides these minor hiccups, All of Us Villains is solidly more hit than miss in carrying out its brutal ambitions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion for kindly passing on this ARC! 💫

Who wants to be a hero when you can be a villain instead.

If there’s one thing I like it’s a dark story that is still easy to read. All Of Us Villains is a lore rich book that manages to avoid the pitfalls of either being too heavy on the set up or just info dumping. This builds naturally and steadily, creating a deep world both recognisable and fantastical.

The characters aren’t out to save the world or be the hero, they just want to survive and save themselves. And the tournament which forces seven champions to murder each other isn’t the only game being played in the city of Ilvernath. I can’t wait for the second book to see how it all plays out and who, if any of them, come out of this alive.

i found this book quite hard to get into but when i did it was an enjoyable read. I liked the premise fo the story and how it was almost a hunger games in reverse which really intrigued me. The characters were developed well, although some more than others and the storyline came together well. Overall it was enjoyable and I look forward to more from this pairing.

Oooookay, that was a bore. I got as far as 36% with a lot of skimming, but omg this was bad. Nothing interesting had happened yet. I was promised a bloody villainous hunger games and they take half the book to introduce the players? Yeaaaah, nope. This is not the book for me.

DNF at 36%

All of Us Villains can basically be described as The Hunger Games... but with magic. Unfortunately, that is really all it is. The concept of this book was largely appealing to me as a fan of fantasy literature but this book felt stretched and stale trying to imitate something that was at the height of its popularity a decade ago.

There were a few things I liked about this book: the magic system was interesting - even if it was a little redundant since it was never really properly explained, the names of spells were dropped along with the casual remark that this was obviously better than a 'class two' spell or a character couldn't possibly perform a 'class eight' spell in a way that felt condescending, like as a reader we should just know what these characters were and weren't capable of or what spell was best.

I also largely liked the characters, particularly Isobel and Alistair, and their relationships with one another. However, the attempt to make them all 'villains' fell a little flat as they easily slipped into being basically regular characters. Even the most "villainous" of them all, Alistair, doesn't really have anything "evil" about him - he does kill two people in this book but one time this act makes him vomit and the second time he does it largely out of self defence. The rest of the characters are more like characters ripped straight from The Hunger Games, fuelled by desperation and fear of failure rather than necessarily being "evil". The book tried to push a narrative on the reader that just didn't hold up.

It genuinely was a shame that the authors felt that this needed to be longer than a standalone novel since this was the main reason that I was so disappointed in this book. The first half was setting up the story and creating relationships between the characters which would have been more interesting if they had been revealed throughout flashbacks or through dialogue once the tournament had begun. Once the tournament did begin, the pace picked up ever so slightly but never really reached a point where it was actually tense. Near the end of the book, it was very difficult to remain engaged since the tournament does not end in this book but it ends halfway through. There's not really a final showdown, there are a couple of unanswered questions but overall the ending just feels weak and unsatisfying.

I will probably read the sequel (I believe it is intended to be a duology) for a sense of closure but it did not need to be stretched across multiple books. It felt like a lot of this book was filler and therefore it was difficult to remain engaged or feel any kind of tension. I gave this book 3 stars as it was largely mediocre and average.

Oh my goodness! This is the most excited I've been over a book in ages! Honestly, I've been struggling to get back into reading due to pandemic and related stresses, but this story dragged me right back in. The book very much does what it says on the tin. Magic? Check. Hunger Games? Check. Violent and villainous? Check check. But what I loved more than anything is the complex and detailed world of magic and its rules. I've always enjoyed reading about different magic systems and have not come across one that relies so heavily on spellstones yet. It makes me want to dress in all black and drape myself fully in glittery rings and stone-laden necklaces.

In this world there is common magick and high magick. Common magick seems to include all sorts of magic, including petty spells and the notsopetty ones. High magick has been almost entirely depleted (sounds familiar) but it still exists in the city of Ilvernath, where our story is centered. Each generation (so about every 20 years) seven families have to select a champion to take part in the Blood Veil, a gruesome and deadly tournament from which only one champion emerges victorious. The victor's family then gains control over the high magick in the city.

The chapters are told from the point of view of four characters competing in the tournament. Unlike in the Hunger Games, the champions in this case seem to have been prepped and trained their entire lives. It's a bit as if a book was written from the perspective of District 1 and 2 characters in the Hunger Games. With magic, of course.

But this year's tournament is a little different. A tell-all book was published, bringing the once-secret tournament onto the forefront of the presses and tourists alike. People flock to Ilvernath, pester the chosen champions and even the government gets involved.

Normally I find it difficult to read and enjoy books that feature chapters told from different perspectives. Mostly because I find some characters boring or because the writing style for each of them is too similar, or because it completely takes me out of the excitement of the plot. But I really, really loved it in this case. I really loved (and hated, at times) the different characters and the changing of perspectives did not slow down or impact the plot negatively at all. I also found myself growing very, very attached to some of the characters. I'm super invested!

The only negative I can find is that this is part of a series and ends on a cliffhangers. I didn't realise it was part of a series when requesting the ARC (my bad), but in this case it only makes me want the sequel more. I can't stop thinking about it. Please publish more.

I really wanted to love this book. It was billed as Hunger Games with Magic so it should have been just what I was looking for. Sadly though, it didn’t live up to my expectations. It’s a shame as there was lots that I liked. I loved the idea of the seven families having access to the only real magic left in the world and having the tournament to decide which family controlled it for the next 20 years. I wasn’t sure about setting in a real world setting but I did come to enjoy that part of the book. I also loved the idea of the curse and the whole magic system which I thought was worked out really well.
I think that it was the characters that let it down for me. They never really felt like villains, not even Alistair and it just didn’t seem dark enough for me. They never seemed desperate enough for characters who are going to have to fight each other to the death. And apart from Alistair and Briony, I didn’t really care about any of them. The world building seemed quite weak as well. I got a real for the actual town but the locations of the other parts of the story seemed unclear to me.
I feel disappointed as I wanted to like it more. Thank you Net Galley and Orion Publishing Group for my ARC but this one wasn’t really for me.

Morally grey characters? I'm always here for them!! Sadly it wasn't for me (and I hate that).

The city of Ilvernath is holding its tournament to see who will have control over the magick supply and the families who live there are offering up their champions again. But since a book was published with their secrets, it's all out in the open this year for everyone to see!

Let me start off by saying that the characters were fab and I really liked the idea of the tournament to the death. It was a bit gory and violent as you would expect (or hope!!)

Now. I am gutted at my rating. Absolutely gutted that I didn't gel with this. I think it was the pacing. There was a lot of set up. A lot. I felt like it didn't get going until the halfway mark and then it galloped off at speed! So to sum up, I'm mad at myself for not liking this.

In the remote city of Ilvernath, high magick—the most powerful resource in the world—is controlled by just one family. But claiming this magick exclusively as their own is no easy feat. Every twenty or so years a blood moon appears in the sky, bringing with it a curse that sees seven families name a champion who must compete in a tournament to the death. The bloodshed is the city's best kept secret… That is until the publication of a scandalous tell-all book that thrusts the city into the spotlight.

Tourists, protesters and reporters flock to the streets, taking over the spellshops and ruins to bear witness to this ancient curse that brings nothing but death.

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 champion 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.

Hailed as the Hunger Games with magic, All of Us Villains is a multi-perspective fantasy novel that delves into the lives of the seven champions and their families. Each champion wants to win, to bring glory and high magick to their name, but they know only one can prevail. This makes for an intriguing story filled with heartache, pain, and misery but also love, friendship, and hope.

Each chapter is told from a different character’s point of view and you really get the chance to know each family and understand the powerful dynamics at play. They’re all complex and multifaceted people, each hiding secrets and fears unbeknownst to anyone else. Usually I’m not a fan of so many perspectives in one novel, but it really worked for the story Foody and Herman were trying to tell.

The plot was interesting and the concept of the curse was tantalisingly dark and twisted. I loved the blood moon and I could see it rising in the sky of my imagination, signalling the start of the nightmare. The magick made the story unique and it was genius to showcase the aftermath of the city's despicable secret getting out into the world. At the start of every chapter, an excerpt of Tradition of Tragedy took centre stage, giving the reader inside knowledge into past tournaments. I loved this little detail and I thought it was executed perfectly. It always teased at information in a way that didn’t ruin the tournament itself.

As intriguing as the plot was, I feel as though it was let down slightly by the overall world-building. I wanted more information on high magick and how Ilvernath still held so much of this rare and powerful resource. In fact, there wasn’t much information about the outside world at all. I would have loved to have seen more of it and I think it would have put things into perspective. It would have allowed us to understand why these families were so willing to send their children to die just to claim it.

Another element that pushed this novel away from that coveted five star rating was the villainy—or lack thereof. With the title of ‘All of Us Villains’ I expected a lot more, well, villains. One or two characters were morally grey but none of them struck me as downright evil. Their decisions all made sense and most of the characters were trying their best to be as nice as they could be in the situation they were in. Allies came together and lives were saved which was completely the opposite of what I was expecting. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing when you think about it, but it didn’t live up to my expectations. I wanted a little more corruption.

At the end of the day, All of Us Villains is a unique and magic(k)al novel which highlights the complexity of people and the hopes, dreams, and nightmares that haunt their every waking hour.

All Of Us Villains by @amandafoody and @christineexists 🩸

Out November 11th!

“Their story had never been destined to for a happy ending”

Wow. Okay, this book exceeded all of my expectations in the best way. I was gripped from the very beginning!

This is The Hunger Games 2.0, yet more complex and with much more intriguing characters.

Every 20 years, one member of each of the 7 rival magick families are chosen to compete in the blood veil. And only one of them can survive…

…or can they find a way to change the course of their fate?

It’s told from multiple POVs, so you can’t help but root for them all individually even thought you know the inevitable is bound to happy - which makes the read even more emotionally engaging!

I love each and every single one of the characters, and the narrative is gripping and well written. Plot twists and unexpected alliances keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.

The magick systems are complex and intricate, from ancestral curses to death pacts - nothing is what you would expect.

Adventure, romance and betrayal make up this thrilling new world, and I cannot wait to find out what happens next!

The only way to describe this book is The Hunger Games meets magic, and oh my, the magic system is complex and exciting!

Firstly, I loved that this was set in a small town. It really gave a lot of depth to the characters and their family histories which helped to understand where the plot line was going.

Each of the characters were really distinctive, and I really appreciated the way their lives and histories intermingled in such an intriguing way. They all have flaws and internal struggles, but watching them develop was so exciting.

This book is definitely darker than I anticipated, but everything was written so artfully and the descriptions were vivid and rich. It started off slow as the magic system and the families were introduced, and then it just gripped me.

Finally, that cliffhanger of an ending should be considered illegal, because I am both shook and in desperate need of the next installment.

(Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review).

With a rather slow start and lots of character building, this went from slow burn to gripping. In a small town high magic is controlled by one of seven founding families. When a blood moon rises it signals the time for a fight to the death for seven chosen champions. One from each family is chosen and pitched against each other to the death. This cycle is different though as the secrets of the town have been leaked to the wider world in a book A Tradition of Tragedy. This time there are more things at play including the press and families manipulating the teens and all seeking to control the high magic at the end of the blood veil. This is the first in a duology and when you reach they end you will immediately want to read the second book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

If you enjoyed the Hunger Games and love magic, curses and flawed main characters then you’ll really enjoy this one.

The book follows four characters who are part of the main seven families who must fight to the death every generation in order to control high magick. The victor of the tournament’s family are in control of this magic for the generation and if no one wins, all competitors will die and no one is able to access the magic until the next competition.

These characters are complexed and flawed with great development and I loved that you could see their internal struggles.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book and although it was similar to Hunger Games, it was unique enough that I can’t think of another book that I could compare it to. I loved the storyline and the four different perspectives, I felt immersed in the world and I can’t wait to see where the story goes.

I did find the pacing to be slow in the beginning however I do feel it’s necessary for the backstory in order to understand the characters and the storyline better. I do also think the romance was slightly rushed and feel as though there could have been more buildup with the tension.

That being said, I rated this four stars and I can’t wait for the next one!

I received a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review thanks to NetGalley and Orion Books.

This book is very much a magical version of ‘The Hunger Games.’

It took me a while to get into it as there’s so many characters to follow.

I found it really interesting and intriguing. However, some of it I found difficult to imagine but I think it would work well as a film!

The ending was so abrupt! I don’t understand why it cut off suddenly, it’s feels like a chunk of the book is missing! I know it’s part of a series but that cliffhanger was so sudden!

I was really enjoying it but that cliffhanger has really annoyed me! It’s stopped right when everything is about to unfold.

The positives of this book were the magic system and central premise (I'm a sucker for the fantasy competition trope) and the multiple POVs were done well, which is notable for a book with 4 main characters. However, where this book fell short was the pacing; the main competition is built up for almost half of the book and when we finally get to it, this is the highlight of the book but the ending abruptly cuts off the story when things start to get exciting. I know that this is the first book of the series, but it felt like a strange point to end the book, to the point where I wasn't sure if my ARC copy was missing chapters! I was also a little let down by the characters, although this may be more due to marketing and my expectations. With the title, I was expecting some actually villainous characters as the protagonists, but the reality was that they were morally grey at best, doing what they could in their circumstances. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but teenagers doomed into a death competition by their society felt like ground already covered by The Hunger Games, which this book will inevitably be compared to. I had been excited for this book to distance itself and feel more unique by having more traditionally 'evil' protagonists, but unfortunately this wasn't the case.

(Many thanks to Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.)

All of Us Villains is a book full of magic and danger.

I enjoyed the premise of All of Us Villains with the deadly game to control the high (more powerful) magic. The family, the media and the politics surrounding the competition.



The book is told via multiple POV's from every champion of the seven families. Each of the characters have their good and bad aspects (some more than others.) I am not sure which one I like more than the others. As they all have something I don't like about them.

The plot speeds towards the end and then it stops dead at the end. I had to double-check that I wasn't missing any pages it ends that abruptly.



Overall I enjoyed All of Us Villians, the world and its magic. I will be revisiting as I want to know what will happen next. Who will control the high magic, and who will survive.

My rating for All of Us Villians is 4 out of 5.

4 out of 5
Thank you to Netgalley and Gollancz for gifting me a copy of All of Us Villains for review.