All of Our Demise

I waited to read this and it did not disappoint at all! Just what was needed, it is the perfect combination of dystopian novels and fascinating characters. The premise is spot on and one of a kind! Read both books in the series, you will not regret it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"You should know by now - all the f*cked-up fairy tales in Ilvernath are true."

All Of Us Villains was one of my favourite reads of 2021, so I've been impatiently waiting to get my hands on the conclusion of the duology. I was so excited to get it as an ARC and it really did deliver beyond expectations.

We re-join the champions right where the events of the last book left off - which admittedly at first had me confused as I'd forgotten a lot more than I thought I had! But I did love being thrown straight back into the action. Something I adored about AOUV was the magical system, and I was reminded again in AOOD how intricate and original it is. We already explored common, high and life magick in the first book, but it's covered in more depth here, and more details and secrets emerge about the latter in particular.

Again, we've multiple POVs, and we get too understand more behind our favourite morally grey characters' motives. While I do love all the characters, and grew to care for them even more in this second book, I found myself leaning more towards Alistair Lowe and Isobel Macaslan, and thoroughly enjoying their parts - as I had in book one, too.

The ending was unexpected, and a bit of a gut punch if I'm honest - but that's all I'll say on the matter (no spoilers here!)

Again, I'm highly recommending this series to anyone who loves:

- The Hunger Games but wanted more magic
- misunderstood, villainous MCs
- star-crossed lovers
- rooting for the 'bad guys'

I can guarantee you'll enjoy this duology and wish you could stay longer in Ilvernath afterwards.

Thank you so, so much Orión (Jenna Petts,) for the invitation to read All of Our Demise by Christine Herman and Amanda Foody via NetGalley. I was over the moon to be given an advanced opportunity to read the concluding part of this duology and here’s my honest and unbiased review.

I totally fell for All Of Us Villains when it came out last year, and had extremely high expectations for this 2nd book. Yes, I’m demanding, but to my utter relief Foody and Herman totally delivered!

All of Our Demise picks up events where they left off in the last book. I totally recommend a re-read or a polite request for a quick catch up/précis to be included at the start of this book. However, even without both, I was totally thrown straight back into the action and my memory caught up exceedingly quickly. I’m going to put this down to his strong both books in the duology are.

Immediately pulled into the red veil and the amazing world building that conjured up Ilvernath, and the stunningly intricate and complex magic system, I was caught like an insect in a spider web, caught up in the ever increasing layers of story and magical system. To mix my metaphors even more, this duology is totally an onion!

The story itself continues to be told from the perspective of multiple character PoVs, digging deeper and deeper into their back stories, motivations and psyches. There is no question, each and every character is morally grey, but all captured my empathy and I was surprised to find myself wanting more and more for the purported darkest characters, including Alistair, Reid and Isobel to win.

Once again this story doesn’t pull any punches, delivering the hardest one of all at an unexpected moment and the ending was delivered beautifully, painfully and perfectly in tune with the series.

If you were captivated by All of Us Villains, get your pre-order in for All of Our Demise, and if you haven’t read either but love magic, morally grey characters, Hunger Games with even more magic, go for it, you won’t regret it!

"You should know by now - all the fucked-up fairy tales in Ilvernath are true."

Having devoured All of Us Villains by Christine Herman and Amanda Foody last year, All of Our Demise became one of my most anticipated reads of this year. I was so excited to read it and I’m sad, having finished it, that this duology is now finished. I really enjoyed both books and love the world Herman and Foody created - a dark, twisted, magical spin on The Hunger Games. 4.5 rounded up

All of Our Demise (AOOD) takes off straight after the events of AOUV, placing us back under the Blood Veil in Illvernath during tournament to determine which family will gain control of the sought after high magick. Traditionally this tournament is fought by 7 champions, one from each of Illvernath’s key families. But this time things are set to change as some of the champions seek to bring the curse down once and for all.

AOOD is written in the same way as AOUV with each chapter being from one of the four main champions’ perspectives. I really enjoyed the way Herman and Foody tell their story through their champions. Each champion goes on one heck of a journey through the duology and so we’re afforded a better insight into who they are and the motivations behind their choices.

As with AOUV the world building and magick system was brilliant. The spells and curses the champions cast are so incentive and the trials they go through were thrilling. There are also a lot of twists and turns throughout that keep you guessing.

There are some romantic strands running throughout AOOD which I think worked well and added to the story and yet never distracted from what was going on. There is one coupling that I can see being controversial, however I thought they worked. It’s hard to explain without spoilers but their coupling allowed us to see a different side to each of them, and showed how nothing is black and white in this story.

This next part may be considered spoilery so skip if you don’t want to know - I think the only thing that could have made AOOD better for me, and I feel a savage saying this, is if another champion met their demise earlier on in the novel. The trials to break the curse were amazing and often so tense, yet with the champions surviving each time (until the end) the stakes never felt as high as they could have. Saying this, however, I don’t know who I’d have been ok losing and it didn’t take away at all from my enjoyment of the story.

Overall, AOOD was a very satisfying ending to the duology. I loved spending more time with the champions and I’m sad that their story is over. I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves a darker tale, magic, morally grey characters and Hunger Games esque trials. A really fun read.

🩸All Of Our Demise🩸

By Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman @amandafoody @christineexists

🤫possible spoilers for All Of Us Villains

Description:

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 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.

🩸🩸🩸🩸

All of Us Villains was one of my top reads of last year so I have been absolutely desperate to get my hands on the conclusion to this duology!

All Of Our Demise absolutely lived up to my expectations. Things aren’t looking great at the start of the book, and the stakes are through the roof. Relationships are the heart of this book, and dynamic between the remaining champions is constantly shifting and changing.

The evolving romantic relationships are so well done, and if you’d told me at the start that I would be team anyone other than the emerging couple in the first book, I would have said no way. The development of the new relationships in this book is so good that I very quickly found myself shipping them!

The magic system in this world is so clever, I really enjoyed the problem solving with spellcraft in order for the champions to do what was needed.

I was very satisfied by the conclusion. I don’t want to say too much and give anything away, but I felt like it was the perfect way to wrap everything up.

All Of Our Demise will be released on the 1st of September. Thanks to @netgalley and @gollancz for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'd just like to give a huge thank you to the publishers for reaching out to me and asking me to read the second book to All of us Villains.

We're back in Ilvernath and once again are treated to the POV's of Briony, Isobel, Alistair and Gavin. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I am so thankful I was given the opportunity to read the book before publication date.

All of the champions are reeling after the events of the first book. Isobel finds herself trapped by Reid McTavish, but that's the least of her problems. The Roach's Armour came with a huge cost and Isobel finds herself struggling in the aftermath. Can she escape Reid's clutches and get back to Briony and Finley to finish what they started?

Briony doesn't want the title of hero, but she finds the title thrust at her anyway as the world outside of Ilvernath begin to hear of what she and the other champions are trying to accomplish, but she finds herself fighting battles from all sides, including her own family. What secrets are the Thorburns hiding?

Gavin is also facing issues of his own - Reid's spell has left him without the use of his common magick - he has to use his life magick in order to perform spells and curses. In his desperation to be cured he's willing to do anything, including entering an alliance with Alistair and his newly resurrected-but-not brother, Hendry. Can Gavin use Hendry somehow in order to break his curse, and what is he going to do about his growing feelings for the other Lowe brother?

Alistair, once on the side of breaking the tournament, now wants to become the victor in hopes it will save his brother, Hendry. Along with Gavin they enter into an alliance but his growing feelings for Gavin and his will to save Hendry confuse Alistair greatly. Can he save his brother and work out his feelings for Gavin, or will he let the legacy of his family turn him into the monster the world believes he is?

I’ve been looking forward to part 2 of this duology since the second I finished the first one and it didn’t disappoint.

Like the Hunger Games but with villains - it’s been one of my favourite reads of the past year. Spectacularly written, gripping and with really excellent and well drawn characters, you find yourself staying up far later than you should - just to keep reading.

Absolutely love it. One of my faves. Already looking forward to the reread.

All of Our Demise is an outstanding conclusion to the duology started in All of Us Villains. It's fast-paced, well-written, and addictive through and through. Highly recommended!!

I loved All Of Us Villains and was practically ecstatic when I was given the ARC for the concluding book in this Duology. It did not disappoint! This book is as dark and exciting as the first one and the conclusion is satisfying. If one wanted to be pooper, one could could find fault in the slightly unbelievable romance malarkey and the broody soulsearching. However, this is a fantastic and very entertaining end to this story and I am sad it is over!

Now when I say I adored ‘All of us villains’, the first in this series, I really meant it! It was a book I couldn’t get out of my head for months and was eagerly awaiting the follow up so I could continue on in the story. It was much anticipated and wow did it meet my expectations!

I grew to love all of the characters involved in the tournament, from Briony’s unwavering determination, to Gavin who had a point to prove, Finley who is just lovely, headstrong Isobel and Alistair, a boy chased by demons. And Reid was an unexpected and interesting element, the curse maker who seemed to be more at the forefront than anyone would have expected….

The whole tournament literally had me on the edge of my seat. The plot barrelled along at the perfect pace, having plenty to keep you going but a lot to keep you guessing and rolling with the twists and turns. I loved it all! It took the reader to places I don’t think any of us were expecting but it was done masterfully.

I don’t think I’d be the only one saying so I wish (and hope) there are more books set within this world to come. This book series worked perfectly as a duology but I think there is so much more potential for more to be set within this world as it’s just a fantastically created book-verse. More please!

All in all I was left very happy with its conclusion and could have kept reading forever. What a brilliant series!

A great follow on from the first book in the series. It was well written with an absolutely enchanting storyline and well developed characters. I loved it,

~ Warning: spoilers for who survives All of us Villains included in review. ~

The main thing I want out of a YA book is a fun, easy read, and this duology certainly provided that and more.

All of our Demise has so much going for it. Continuing from the first book, we have five compelling leads who endure all sorts of moral quandaries and character growth when some books barely manage to do the same with two, and a developing magic system which remains both simple and unique. Some might argue more could have been done with the world-building, as we never really get a sense of the wider world beyond Ilvernath even in this second book, but personally I liked the insularity of the setting - it reminded me of The Scorpio Races where the characters feel similarly trapped by their circumstances and the location reflects that.

Plot-wise, All of our Demise carries straight on from the first book. The first few chapters serve as a recap as much as they move the plot forward, which I didn't hate as I have the memory of a goldfish, but they did read a bit clunkier than the rest of the novel. Anyway, the story quickly regains its pace and from then on it's a great balance of fun action scenes and quieter moments between the characters. I enjoyed the Alistair-Gavin-Hendry side of the story most of all, followed closely by the Isobel chapters. Briony's POV was probably my least favourite, just because it was more plot-based and the other characters had more interesting ethical dilemmas to deal with, but I still liked them and her last chapters are some of the best in the book.

It's interesting looking back how messy and problematic all the characters are, in the best way. There's an unexpected romance between Isobel and another character which at first I wasn't a fan of, until I remembered every character in this book is something of a monster who has done highly questionable things, including Isobel herself. Finley is probably the least problematic character, but even he was prepared to kill other teenagers, including his ex's sister, to achieve his goals. Even more so than the last book, All of our Demise shows how far the characters are prepared to go in order to survive, while at the same time their reluctance to do so grows, as they come to see their fellow champions not just as rivals, but as fellow human beings. Isobel is particularly troubled by this, and other characters aren't beyond torturing and killing to help themselves and those they love. Yet you can't hate them, even at their worst, because the authors do such a good job of developing their motivations.

When reading All of us Villains, I quickly came to realise that the story wasn't going to go as expected and that I couldn't guess what would happen next. This was true with All of our Demise too, albeit it to a lesser extent, but even with the plot points I could guess I was still excited to see how they would play out. I loved the different trials, even though some felt less threatening than others - the ones with higher stakes were incredible but even the less dangerous trials were fun to read from a character growth perspective.

This duology is definitely YA. The writing, while atmospheric and full of creative visuals and fun dialogue, is on the simpler side, and the teenage angst is certainly there too (albeit never in an overwhelming way). This will likely put off readers who were expecting something more adult, but I went in expecting YA and got the perfect YA story. Sure, maybe it's not as thematically brilliant as other YA novels like Legendborn and Blood Scion, nor as beautifully written as Chaos Walking or as excellently crafted as the Six of Crows duology. Yet there's the deadly fun of The Hunger Games here, with an extra dollop of heart under the addictive wickedness.

To conclude, a perfect ending to the duology. Looking forward to reading more by the authors!

All of Us Villains was just an amazing book so I was highly anticipating this book and was so incredibly happy to get the chance of an early review copy through Netgalley.

As with most books, where you have a gap between, it took me a minute to get back into the world and to grips with all that was going on, partly as you are thrust right into things as we deal with the fallout that happened at the end of book one.

It felt a bit chaotic at the early stages as so much was going on but it the events in play were very high stakes so this was to be expected. However once I got into the swing of things again, I was hooked.

I'm not going to say much about the actual story as I don't want to spoil anything but this sequel definitely lived up to the high standard set by the first book.

As is the same in the first book, our group are at odds, and have been their whole life, due to the nature of the tournament. They were raised by their families knowing it was a kill or be killed situation they were preparing for and how they acted in the tournament was a matter of family reputation. How do you put that aside, if you even can, for the greater good?

Every single character in this book is morally grey, and sometimes downright villainous, but when you are doing wrong for what could ultimately be a good reason, how wrong can it be. How far is too far to go before you cross that point of no return....

I loved this series and will, at some point, go back and read them back to back as I think this will make the experience even better.

Book 1 is available already and book 2 is out 01 September. Enjoy!

Once upon a time, I wrote about All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman that it definitely belongs to the category of books “to devour” and now I want to say that its sequel All of Our Demise belongs there too. I went into this book pretty hyped and it did not disappoint.

Disclaimer: The following text includes spoilers for All of Us Villains so if you haven´t read it yet, proceed carefully.

Cured or not, there was no end to the monster story if, all along, the monster had been him.

All of Our Demise picks up where All of Us Villains ended. Cursed Alistair got Hendry back. The Lowe family got massacred kind of Game Of Thrones style. Briony is determined to end the tournament once and for all. Isobel is in the hands of Reid MacTavish. Gavin is still convinced that fighting is the only real way out. A new champion enters the game.

“To be fair, a lot of people have accused us of murder over the last week.”
“Yes, but those were the murders we actually committed!”

As well as AoUV, the sequel is told in 3rd person through 4 of the champions (Gavin, Alistair, Briony, Isobel) with POV-less Finley, Reid, and Hendry more or less joining the game - the deadly over 800 years old lasting tournament - and influencing its outcome.

The characters split into two groups — those who want to break the curse by dismantling the tournament piece by piece and end the bloodbath for good, and the ones who still want to fight as was always intended. The question is what they are willing to sacrifice to see their desired result being the one that gets to play out. As the synopsis states, “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”. Just read the book to see for yourself how these two converging storylines come together in an epic and heartbreaking finale.

After the boundaries protecting Ilvernath from the arena fall down, the whole city gets more involved in the plot - let's talk the government agents, members of the Ilvernath Spellmaking Society, and people of the seven ancient families, all of them having their own goals, as well as the all-too-eager reporters seaming the battlegrounds to capture the course of the tournament and get peppered stories for their newspaper or magazine.

The seven Landmarks and seven relics play a key role in the plot. Their pairing, the following trial the characters have to go through, and the ultimate destruction of the place provide enough action throughout the book It is well balanced with more quiet moments - magic planning and strategy talks, intimate and funny moments, peering into the character´s hearts - to keep you turning the pages.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are.” Alistair’s voice drifted through the woods, sounding straight out of a nightmare.

When it comes to the characters, I loved that they are irrecoverably flawed and they know it. Plus we delve deeper into their backstories - learning more about their homes, lives before the tournament, and their relatives - and how that all influences their choices. It was delightful and satisfying to watch their personal growth, to witness their fears and their hopes, and finally see them come out of it definitely not unscathed (more like heavily traumatized) but as better people.

Alistair Lowe is considered by everyone to be this dark, ruthless monster but while he brings a certain level of weight and wickedness to the story, deep down he´s just a broken boy who needs a hug and deserves someone to see him and love him no matter what. When you are “his person” he becomes fiercely protective and loyal. Just ask Hendry. He can tell you all about it. All in all, Alistair is my precious multilayered monster boy and he needs to be protected at all costs.

Gavin Grieve intrigued me from book one - like, who would not root for the underdog whose family has ever raised him only to be slaughtered and never actually love him - but now he just swept me away. His journey made my heart ache.

Alistair aka my bisexual disaster monster boy still owns my heart and throughout the sequel, Gavin sealed its place in it too. I love them separately and as a duo as well. I´ve highlighted so many scenes with them!

One character I initially did not expect to like because of all the s**t and manipulation he had done but he won me over is one and only Reid MacTavish. I found myself really intrigued by him. As I began to understand him I surprisingly enjoyed his role in the story. This rascal simply grew on me.

I loved seeing Isobel Macaslan dealing with the aftermath, owning up to her deeds, and accepting herself for who she is. She goes through quite a journey too. Nevertheless, while I still enjoyed her parts very much I feel like the reason why her POV was more interesting for me than Briony´s is those boys, first Alistair and now Reid.

Briony Thorburn was never exactly my all-time favorite character in this world but I still appreciated her deep conviction and her determination to carve out her own path rather than an obedient champion following the Thorburn legacy footsteps. She´s a rebel through and through.

I actually do not have many thoughts about Finley Blair. He was just kind of there, playing the second (or maybe more like sixth or seventh) fiddle.

“So welcome to the bad guys’ club. You learn to get used to it.”

I love how truly morally grey and cunning all of them are. Nobody´s safe there as everyone in this bunch is capable of swift betrayal of one another, i.e. thinking about killing the allies and even (former) friends. Anyway, while I like them all, the fact that I love Alistar, Gavin, and Reid the most now speaks volumes. These three completely won me over. They are my precious disaster trio.

During the first book, I had a feeling that a certain character may harbor a secret crush (so secret that he doesn't know it yet) on another one but I still thought that the authors will go down the quite obvious route that had been laid out in book one. While this change may upset many readers who favored a certain ship, it made me happy. One thing that these two authors can apparently do excellently is to make you change your perspective and feel happy even though you initially rooted for the pairing as well and could not imagine them not ending up together. Due to my prior hunch, I started thinking that there is no way I am imagining and reading too much into this pretty early on (in the first quarter or so) and it delighted me that I was right. I enjoyed the scenes with them so much! All that tension! It´s the enemies to lovers I didn´t know I needed so much. Their interactions full of snarky remarks stole the show for me. They ensnared me. As I held my breath - my heart aching - I prayed for a happy ending for them.

I have a fan club who draws me with fangs and a six-pack.

The writing is truly beautiful, with deeply captivating and absolutely spell-binding descriptions. I was immersed in a lush portrayal of a harsh and pretty macabre world filled with spells and curses imbued crystals, ancient magical objects, dark alleys, spell shops, and aged stoned walls of magic-filled champions´ shelters. One thing is certain, this author duo knows how to build an atmosphere and pull you in.

Plotwise, All of Our Demise is a truly ripping and captivating story full of twists, turns, and revelations. Alliances are forged, tested, and broken, love and attraction explored, tension increased, and the battle getting inevitable. It is all so damn enthralling cocktail of pain, heartache, love, ruthlessness, desperation, and hope, carefully and gradually unveiling the thoughts and motivations of the champions.

I love the intriguing plot, the fantastic setting, the unique magic system, the multidimensional characters, the tense relationships, the high stakes, the twisted mind games, and that (I think quite realistic) ending. All of it! I was not able to put it down. The action and plenty of twists and turns had me on the edge of my seat, kept me on my toes, and forced me to turn the pages at lightning speed.

Overall, it was delightfully and heartachingly addictive to follow the journey of Ilvernath´s Slaughter Seven. I am satisfied with how it ended but also deeply miserable that it´s over. I loved being swept away into the fascinating world of high magick! Overall, All of Our Demise is a bit bittersweet but a wonderful conclusion to a fantastic duology.

With thanks to Netgalley and Gollancz from the Orion Publishing Group for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I thought 'All of us Villains' was a pretty good read, but 'All of Our Demise' just blows the first book out the water. I felt something was missing from the first book but thankfully the second, and final instalment in the battle for Ilvernath's high magick, had all what I was looking for and more.

Don't read on if you haven't read 'All of us villains'!!!!! (But you really need to go add it to your TBR now if you haven't!)

With the champions split into different camps and allegiances, the final surviving five teenagers are once again brought into a fight to the death to win the magickal prize for their family and the honour of being the champion. Some of them still want to shatter the curse, others are still prepared to kill each other seeking out the glory of winning and some are rather unsure what the hell they're actually doing there! The character growth in this book is phenomenal as each of them begins to discover secrets about their families and find themselves slipping deeper into being the monsters they were born to be. However, there is a chance that they could be the champions to finally end the violent competition, but it's not just their families who don't want them to succeed in ending the tournament.

The pace of this sequel is so much better paced than the first book, and I was immediately invested in the champion's stories. I didn't want to put it down! I found myself rooting for all the champions, including the surprise one and desperately wanted to see them win and destroy the tournament. I was reading far into the night to find out what their various fates would be. There were twists and turns a plenty in this book, and, just like the characters, we really don't know who the hell we can trust till the very end!

I'm so pleased this book didn't go in the direction I thought it would after book one...I know some people were on the fence after 'All of us Villains', but you MUST give this book a chance. I absolutely loved it and really want to read the first one again now!

Thank you so much to the publishers and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.

If you had asked me if I expected this story to take this turn my answer would have been no. If I had known the plot without reading the book I would have probably thought it was not what I wanted. But damn it, this book was amazing and it really surprised me.

First of all, in All of us villains I was very invested in Alistair and Isobel and I didn’t pay that much attention to the other characters, so it was probably genius to split them in this book, so I was interested in the entirety of the story.

Even if nothing of it could be real, I still felt all the pain the characters felt, I even cried because it’s impossible not to with a book like this.

I loved seeing the characters overcome the brainwash their parents gave them and how they understood how to become their own persons and take their destiny in their hands, even if it meant taking heartbreaking choices.

I want more even if this ending is just as much bittersweet as I like it!

I honestly didn't think that the authors could top the first book, but I am pleased to say that All of Our Demise exceeding all expectations to become one of my absolute favourite reads. The characters we know and love/hate all feature in this race against time to defeat the curse that requires 6 teenagers to die at the hands of their peers every 20 years. There are alliances and betrayals, and a plot so fast paced you worry about being left behind. I was enthralled from the first page, and am gutted that its now over!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.