*I own a physical copy*

In 2019 my health started going down hill and I didn't take into consideration what that would mean for my book reviewing. Sadly, I've been trying to play catch up for years and it's been affecting my ability to keep up with present day tasks. So I greatly apologize for this but I am going to clear out all these older review books and focus on present day. I will come back and update this review if I end up reading the book, which is very possible as a lot of these books are still ones I would like to read, I just don't think the pressure looming over me is helpful. Thank you for giving me a chance to early read these books and I am so sorry I wasn't able to provide what was needed.

I DNF’d this one which is ton bad as I was really excited for this book. I had heard great things and it just let me down. There are way too many character povs to follow along with. It also felt like nothing was happening. It was all talk and no show. The trials were over too quickly despite the buildup to the importance of them. It was just choppy and wasn’t for me.

4.5* rounded down, but this was SO SO SO close to a 5 star read for me.

Obsessed. I am OBSESSED.

This is written really well. So atmospheric, and so DARK !!! I am so happy that this is on the upper end of YA. It has some really shocking moments where I gasped and sat up, and I also teared up in almost every Alistair chapter lol

Alistair Lowe, you will always be famous. MY SHAYLA. I love him. I also love Gavin; he deserves the world. Briony I don't necessarily *like* but she still makes a good villain (the villain who thinks they're a hero). Isobel I think needed more development and time, I didn't feel as much for her as I did the other three.

I just really wish there was more LGBT rep; it's only mentioned in passing and I don't think we needed two hetero couples really :/

The development of one of the romantic relationships started really slow burn (which I LOVE) but it kind of skipped a little bit of development in the middle which really let it down because it is a strong part of the overall plot/reasons behind why the characters make the decisions that they do.

The reveal at the end of a certain character's intentions also felt a liiiiittle cartoony-villain to me. The reasoning was not that great. But I'm super intrigued to see where the sequel goes!

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review, thank you.

The minute I started reading this book I was completely pulled into the narrative and hooked to this very unique story. I love narratives about games and magic, but I don't think I have ever read anything quite like this book. I really enjoyed the multiple POVs and especially Isobel's and Alistair's. I also really liked that these characters and the tournament are portrayed as villains, but when you get to know them and understand the ramifications of the tournament, and their family obligations, you realise that they are the victims and not the bad guys.
I thought the magic system was incredibly unique, I appreciated how different it was, and how it was explained, in a way that I could literally see the characters casting their spells and curses.
All in all, this was a great, unique and fun book, that I really enjoyed, and was completely enthralled in. I will definitely be reading the sequel to this story. I gave All of Us Villans 4 stars.

This book was awful. I don’t even know why I forced myself to finish it. This should have been a DNF at 50%. It was totally disjointed and lacked world building. One of the most interesting characters becomes nothing but a will they won’t they trope. The ending was really strange and I’m not even totally sure what happened.

There were a few parts that were kind of good and it was those reasons that I kept reading. Unfortunately the good parts were overshadowed by whatever the rest of it was.

I usually don’t like books with multiple points of view, but All of Us Villains had me in its grip from the very beginning and didn’t let go until the last page. The way the authors handle each perspective is so captivating that it never feels confusing or disjointed. Instead, each character’s story builds on the last, adding layers of tension and intrigue that kept me hooked.

Love anything to do with a tournament and magic so two big thumbs up in my books. Big fan of the magic system at play and seeing each character figure out what being a villain is

I tried to read this, I couldn't make it a quarter way through. I will not be carrying on with this series. Thank you for letting me at least give it a go.

I'm a sucker for anti-heroes and villains so this one was a no-brainer. It surpassed my expectations in a way I wasn't expecting. It give us characters to love, to hate, to find annoying and to gush over. None of them is a villain in my eyes, they were thrown into a shitty situation and forced to make hard choices.
I get the Hunger Games comparison but I think in the case of the All of Us Villains, having the different POVs and the characters actually knowing each other and some even growing up together/having previous relationships, made everything even more interesting.
Of course, Alastair was my favourite (surprise to no one) but I also loved the rest of the cast, they were all very different, motivated by anger, pride, loyalty, fear, etc, to compete and win the tournament and it shows when you read from each of their perspectives.
The worldbuilding is super intriguing and I can't wait to see how it develops in the sequel.

I never sent my review for this book whoopsie
I loved it, not as much as Foody`s other books but the writing, the atmosphere and the overall feel o the story was very much on trend for the way her stories go.

Wow what a wild ride! I loved this one! I am a fan of any books that have a Magical Tournament of sorts, but this is one of the better ones. The characters were well developed and so complex. I loved to hate some of them, and hated that I loved others, all in the best way possible. This book was DARK, much darker than expected and the entire vibe of the book felt exactly how I wanted it to feel. I will definitely be recommending to friends and family! A GREAT YA fantasy.

Worth noting, I already read book 2 and it was even better than book 1. Such a fantastic duology!!


Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was requested by a previous Lesbrary reviewer who did not finish or review it. In order to keep my Netgalley feedback up to date, I am submitting this review marking it as a DNF, though it was another reviewer who requested this.

During the Blood Moon, each of the seven magick families of Ilvernath must select one family member to compete in a tournament for control over the high magick. Each of the seven champions fight to the death for this power, with each family following similar patterns and strategies each year. But this year, with the publication of a tell-all book all about the tournament and the families, it is bound to be different.

The start of this was pretty slow for me, but that’s not that uncommon for fantasy novels. I did appreciate that creative way the author used the tell-all book to help introduce the characters and the world without info dumping. That being said, I still felt like it was a little difficult to keep track of all of the characters. Once the tournament started, the pace definitely picked up, but I still found myself only caring about one or two of the characters (and maybe that was the point). I’m intrigued by the plot enough that I will most likely continue with the sequel, but I know I need to do that soon or I will have forgotten everything with so many different characters and plot lines.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I have recently been finding myself gravitating towards dark fantasy this year and honestly? I love it. Dark fantasy brings forward everything I love in books: enemies to lovers, forbidden romance and magic schemes that make you wish the world was a little more magical than it actually is. All of Us Villains had the perfect recipe to become a newfound favourite.

I was lucky enough to read a few pages of the book before it was out. I enjoyed the sampler so much that I bought the book (and its sequel) already knowing I would be transfixed and pun intended, spellbound.

The book has been pitched to me as The Hunger Games but make it magical and villainous. The book is told in four perspectives: Briony, Alistair, Isobel and Gavin, four of the seven champions forced to fight to the death to win high magic, a rare magical commodity. The book spends a lot of time showing us how the champions have prepared and strategised for the tournament, building up the characters and showing how they all cope with the knowledge that they'll one day fight to the death.

To me, Alistair was an instant stand out. I loved reading his perspective. He reminded me of Lira from To Kill A Kingdom in that he was raised to be villainous but really, his villainous behaviour was a result of what his family expected from him. He may be morally grey but I could tell he had a softer side and the way he cared for his brother, Hendry was really sweet and wholesome.

Isobel started off as a character I really enjoyed reading but towards the end, I started losing interest with her character. Her parts were better in terms of plot and moving things along but as a character, she lost me towards the end.

Gavin was a character I was very interested in. I am a sucker for the classic underdog story where the odds are stacked against them and they manage to be victorious. Gavin's entire family haven't won the tournament in all the centuries it's been happening. Gavin is seen as a dead boy walking and he wants nothing more than to prove people wrong. Out of everyone in the tournament, he and Elionor seemed the most ruthless in their pursuit to win and eliminate competitors.

Briony was the last of the perspectives however, she never really grabbed me as a character and so, I wasn't as excited reading about her as much as I was for Alistair or Gavin. I won't lie, she sort of annoyed me. The other side characters I enjoyed were Hendry and Reid. Hendry was such a sweetie he's easily one of my favourite characters. Reid was a character I predicted would have a huge influence on the plot. He kind of reminded me of Harry Hook from The Descendants mixed with Yungblud and a bit of Palaye Royale. I hope I get to see him more in book two.

The characters were a big win for this book. As in, all the characters felt unique with their own personality that I could easily tell apart. The only real negative I had was the book at times felt a little slow. I also wanted more suspense and tension from the competition. I knew the stakes were high but I didn't feel the danger or risk from the tournament even when things started going pear-shaped. By the end of the book, I started getting that anticipation I was looking for with the book ending on a tantalising cliffhanger. Naturally, I have started the sequel instantly.

ACTUAL RATING: 4.2 STARS

I love the idea of a good villain tale. It doesnt have to be a redemption story either, I am here for those questionable characters and what makes them tick. This book has been a favorite of mine and one I often find myself rereading. The author has a unique way of weaving her tale no matter what she is writing about

I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

What do you get when two fantastic sci fi authors join together? An original duology with a unique storyline and some very interesting characters. Foody and Herman are both well known for their sci fi and YA stories and characters. They have combined talents to share the story of a competition that makes Hunger Games look like a fairy tale for babies. The tournament takes place every 7 years. The winner will control magick like never seen outside the game. I expected a great story and got so much more. This is the first book in a planned duology and all I can say is, hurry.

I enjoyed reading all of these villains. I was amazed by the champion choice and wasn’t sure how Amanda foody could top ace of shades but she did.

This has an intriguing premise, but the more I dig into the magic system, the more I wonder why the deaths of the champions had to be via magical means. I enjoyed the multiple points of view, but also had a little bit of trouble telling a couple of the characters apart. However, as I knew I was drawing to the end of this book, I realized I must be enjoying the story a fair bit because I was annoyed I didn't have immediate access to the sequel.

"All of Us Villains" by Amanda Foody and C. L. Herman is a thrilling fantasy novel that plunges readers into a world of dark magic and deadly competition. Set in the sinister city of Ilvernath, where every generation, six families compete in a deadly tournament known as the Tournament of Blades to seize control of the city's magic. The story follows a diverse cast of characters as they navigate treacherous alliances, deadly betrayals, and forbidden romances. With its intricate world-building, complex characters, and gripping plot twists, "All of Us Villains" is a riveting read that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.