With a synopsis that promised to be both dark and intriguing I was excited to delve into All of Us Villains. While I did enjoy the novel, I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected to.

The most compelling aspect of All of Us Villains is it's world building and magic system. The magic system was definitely unique and stands out amongst the numerous books within the genre. It was complex, had some darker elements to it and room to further develop in subsequent installments.

Where I feel the book fell short is delivering on the promise of the characters being "Villains". While some of the characters were brutal at times, I feel it was because they had to be given the situation instead of actually being a bad person. Because the book is told through multiple perspective the reader gets to see into the minds of many of the characters participating in the competition, which made their actions seem justified and thus taking away from the "villain" character arc.

While I did enjoy All of Us Villains I really wish the characters lived up to the title of the novel. Maybe in the sequel we will get to see more villainous acts and character development.

I really loved this book. Ive heard COMPS floating around such as hunger games meets harry potter and I would agree! It was captivating and stressful (in all the best ways) near the end! I found it a bit slow to start, but it was needed so that we really cared about the characters and their families. I really enjoyed this!

☆☆☆☆,25 /5
(english review below)

Un récit sombre, captivant et rempli de tensions. Cette lecture m'a tenue en haleine jusqu'à la fin !
¤
La Lune de Sang se lève. Le Voile de Sang tombe. Le Tournoi commence.

Chaque génération, à l'arrivée de la Lune de Sang, sept familles de la ville reculée d'Ilvernath nomment chacune un champion pour participer à un tournoi à mort.
Le prix ? Le contrôle exclusif d'une source secrète de haute magie, la ressource la plus puissante du monde, que l'on croyait épuisée depuis longtemps.
Cette année, grâce à un grimoire rempli de secrets, les sept champions sont propulsés sous les projecteurs du monde entier, offrant à chacun de nouvelles informations, de nouveaux moyens de gagner, et surtout : un choix... Accepter leur destin ou réécrire leur histoire.
Mais c'est une histoire qui doit être écrite dans le sang.
¤
C'est un roman que j'attendais énormément à sa sortie. C'est un roman que j'ai dévoré dès que j'ai pu avoir un exemplaire dans les mains.
Il se lit bien et vite, et pourtant les autrices ont instauré une ambiance lourde et de tension qui captive le lecteur et ainsi, fait paraître la lecture plus longue. J'ai savouré chaque page.
J'ai trouvé très intéressant la construction de l'univers qui était fait autour du Tournoi. L'aspect "sang" et le fait que ce soit un tournoi à mort rajoute une sensation d'urgence et de gravité aux événements. Les personnages ne sont pas en reste. Ils sont prêts à tout pour gagner.
Je pense que c'est cela que j'ai le plus aimé : les personnages. On suit les sept champions qui ont été choisis cette année pour participer au Tournoi. Ces sept champions sont différents entre eux et ont leurs propres raisons de vouloir gagner. J'ai beaucoup aimé apprendre chacun à les connaître et voir la manière dont ils ont été élevés. Ça paraît dans leurs personnalité, dans leurs dialogues qu'ils sont prêts à se battre, à ressortir vainqueur ou à mourir. Ils sont cruels, mesquins... Malgré ça, je me suis attachée à eux. En dehors de ce Tournoi, j'ai découvert des personnages attentionnés, généreux... En tout cas, le parallèle entre leur personnalité, leur éducation et leur but est bien écrit. Tout est une question de nuances dans ce texte finalement.
Ce Tounoi était entraînant. Le rythme de l'histoire s'accélère au fil des pages et je n'ai pas pu empêcher les battements de mon cœur faire de même. J'avais envie de connaître le fin mot de l'histoire, de connaître l'issue finale. Je regrette presque d'avoir terminé ce roman trop vite.
Mais bon, j'ai appris qu'un tome 2 allait sortir, alors je suis impatiente !

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ENGLISH REVIEW

A dark, captivating and tension-filled story. This reading kept me hooked until the end!
¤
The Blood Moon rises. The Blood Veil falls. The Tournament begins.

Every generation, at the coming of the Blood Moon, seven families in the remote city of Ilvernath each name a champion to compete in a tournament to the death.
The prize? Exclusive control over a secret wellspring of high magick, the most powerful resource in the world--one thought long depleted.
This year, thanks to a salacious tell-all book, the seven champions are thrust into worldwide spotlight, granting each of them new information, new means to win, and most importantly: a choice - accept their fate or rewrite their story.
But this is a story that must be penned in blood.
¤
This is a book I was looking forward to when it came out. It's a book that I devoured as soon as I could have a copy in my hands.
It reads well and quickly, and yet the authors have created a heavy and tense atmosphere that captivates the reader and thus makes the reading seem longer. I savored every page.
I found the construction of the universe that was made around the Tournament very interesting. The "blood" aspect and the fact that it's a tournament to the death adds a feeling of urgency and gravity to the events. The characters are no exception. They are ready to do anything to win.
I think that's what I liked the most: the characters. We follow the seven champions who have been chosen this year to participate in the Tournament. These seven champions are different from each other and have their own reasons for wanting to win. I really enjoyed getting to know each of them and seeing how they were raised. It appears in their personality, in their dialogues that they are ready to fight, to emerge victorious or to die. They are cruel, mean... Despite that, I got attached to them. Apart from this Tournament, I discovered caring, generous characters... In any case, the parallel between their personality, their education and their goal is well written. Everything is a question of nuances in this text finally.
This Tounament was catchy. The pace of the story picks up as the pages go by and I couldn't stop my heartbeat from doing the same. I wanted to know the end of the story, to know the final outcome. I almost regret having finished this novel too quickly.
But hey, I learned that a sequel was going to come out, so I can't wait!

All of Us Villains is pitched as a darker Hunger Games with magic and monsters, which is pretty much accurate. For generations, one teen from seven aristocratic families compete to determine who will control High Magick. Told from the perspectives of 4 of the candidates; : Gavin Grieve, Isobel Mascalan, Alistair Lowe and Briony Thorburn. The magic and worldbuilding in this world is very robust.

I can't believe it took me so long to finally read this book. I couldn't put it down!! The authors really made each chapter and perspective compelling.

Would recommend for readers who enjoyed Hunger Games and the Three Dark Crowns series.

Thank you NetGalley and TorTeen.

I didn't expect to fall in love with this book the way I did, and yet, here we are. I loved it so much—The Hunger Games vibes, the villainous families, magic, compelling characters, and intoxicating dynamics. I could not recommend this book more highly (to the point where I'm telling all my friends about it). I'm so excited for the sequel!

Wished I read All of Us Villains in autumn, it has the perfect fall vibe. In a small city seven families send their children to fight to the death every 20 years over the last known source of high magic in the world. The authors did a wonderful job creating an enthralling atmosphere. Everything else, however, fell short.

I feel like I would have rated All of Us Villains higher if I hadn't read a review referring to it as a Hunger Games retelling. Aside from the general concept of kids killing each other in a tournament there was no other similarities. Out of the four rotating perspectives I found Alistair Lowe the only interesting character. The pacing was slow, the tournament didn't start until after the 40% mark and even during the tournament nothing really happens. It got repetitive quickly with the same questions and denials being used over and over. From the title of the book and the summary I figured more villainy would actually be involved, or death. Neither were prominent and even when it was there very little stirred any emotion in me.

"No one in here is a hero-least of all you."

Despite my criticism, I did enjoy myself. It does not hold the depth and character development that the Hunger Games has nor is it that dark or villainous like the title/ summary would lead you to believe but it's a fun read. I liked the world the author's had built and the atmosphere gives off fall vibes. I'd be interested in reading the sequel but I'll adjust my expectations.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advance readers copy in exchange for a honest review. All quotes come from a arc and may change.

All of Us Villains is like a magical Hunger Games, where a group of teenagers fight each other to the death for rights to a special kind of magic in Ilvernath. The problem this year? The once secretive tournament has now been published in a tell all memoir and has brought a lot of attention to this year's tournament. Told in 4 POV's, readers get a peek into some of the challengers as they begin the tournament and try to win.

The magic in this world is pretty interesting, you can craft spells and save them in rings for use when needed. The families involved in the tournament are very interesting as well, but I would have wanted more information into the family histories. This is also a YA version of Payback's a Witch - but with more families and more dangerous of a tournament. I think there were likely too many families for this story but at least only 4 of them were really given page time.

However, when compared to the Hunger Games this book falls flat on the aspect of ~why~ the teenagers need to fight to the death. This is not a dystopian, there is no tyrannical regime. There is a lack of background given to explain where this tournament originated and why it is to the death. This question really took me out of the story because I generally need to understand the reason why this drastic of an event is occurring.

Overall, I did really enjoy the book even after those concerns. The plot was very compelling and I'm glad there is a sequel without trying to put all of it in one book. I will definitely be finishing this series.

**Thank you to Tor Teen and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review**

I loved this book. LOVED! In the beginning, you think you know who's the villain and who's the good guys, but as you read, your opinions are forever morphing, your allegiances changing. You didn't quite know who to trust, or if they would give in to the urge to win for the honor of it all.
There was some romance, which I didn't quite expect, but loved. I was grinning like a fool with each sweet word.
I loved getting to know about the magic system and the tournament, about each family and their backgrounds, the victors the families had and didn't have.
The end has a huge shock, and I cannot wait for the next book.

If Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire joined The Hunger Games, they would produce the town of Ilvernath. Ilvernath is a town under a curse, one that, every 20 years, requires a teenage member of each of seven families to participate in a tournament, which only one of the seven competitors will survive. The competitors fight with low magic, available to anyone. The family of the survivor then controls the high magic, which only they can then access - and which gives them unassailable power; if all seven remain alive after three months, then they all die and no one can access the high magic until the next tournament; those are the terms of the curse. But curses can be broken - even old and powerful curses such as this one. Breaking such a curse will require belief and self-sacrifice of a type that the champions, born and bred to their position, will have difficulty producing. Will they be able to find a way to break the curse? And if they can - will they?

This is a rather dark novel, starting, as it does, from the premise that six of the seven competitors will ultimately die, killed by one of the others. Told from a rotating perspective that encompasses all of the characters, readers can see the person underneath the persona, can see how each champion was groomed by his or her family to be the winner, no matter the cost. If you enjoy magic, intrigue, and mystery, you will enjoy this novel. Recommended for high school and older.

This review has been provided in exchange for an ARC from NetGalley.

I love, LOVE this book. The writing was fresh, the characters were diverse and the story had a firm grasp on me.

The plot twists were fun and really added value to the story.

As someone who loves morally grey characters, the concept of this really spoke to me. The characters were definitely my favorite part of this story. I love a multi-POV story and I really enjoyed following these character arcs. Unfortunately, I am starting to realize that magic competitions aren't really for me. The magic system was super interesting but I wasn't super obsessed with the competition part of it. I also found the ending a tad flat but I will probably still pick up the sequel!

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬

Every generation, seven families in the city of Ilvernath each name name a champion to compete in a tournament to the death. The prize is exclusive control over Ilvernath’s secret store of high magick, which is the most powerful resource in the world.

𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬

Since the moment I read the description of this book I knew that I’d have to read it. I love books with competitions, just as much as I love reading about villains (does that make me weird?).

What I mostly liked about this book is the interesting and unique magic system, the promising plot which moves quickly and doesn’t let you to put the book down, the story which is written in multiple POVs, and of course the morally grey characters.
I definitely liked some characters more than others, and I also hope to see more development on some characters in the second book.

My only critique would be that since the book is about villains, I wanted the story to be more villainy. I was expecting a lot more ruthless antiheros and was a little disappointed beacuse they actually aren’t. I really hope the second book would be more villainous.

𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: murder, death, grief, blood, gore, parental abuse.

• ARC received from the publisher (Macmillian-Tor/Forge) and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

A blood-soaked fairytale that twists your heartstrings and makes you question everything you thought you knew about loyalty. With morally ambiguous characters sneering on every page and a dangerous world threatening to destroy them all, All of Us Villains is a classic,

This imaginative story has amazing character development and a fun, if not intense, premise. It's similar to Hunger Games infused with the magic of Harry Potter. I can't wait to see what comes next for this cast! Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an advanced reader copy of this book for an honest review. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars.

It took me some time to get through this book, Unfortunately I still have been unable to finish it. It started off just ok and didnt really grab my attention the way I thought it would. Took more than half the book for the tournament to even start. There was a lack of the whole fun killing expected like from hunger games for example. It was toned down a lot. The title implies VILLIANS and it didnt feel so much like it.

The four main characters were so bland. The only one I came close to liking was Gavin -- HE actually acted like a good villain and wasn't a complete fool. Coming from a hated and loser family, he strives for success -- not for his family, but for himself. He's willing to do anything to win this tournament and is not at all afraid to resort to killing in the most brutal manner. The other characters were mediocre and not to my liking at all.

I suspected a twist at the end but I couldn't get to it. I was bored and uninterested. As much as this book was hyped up to be and the summary the way it was written was misleading in my opinion.

A unique story with such a fun magic system. Definitely not for everyone but one of the best books I have read recently. Kept your attention through the whole book. The variety of characters and representation is good, the characters themselves are such a great part of the story.

Oh man oh man was this such an excellent fantasy book. Easily one of the most engaging YA Fantasy books I’ve read in a long time.

Summary: This book centers around 7 families. Every 20 years each family chooses someone to participate in a competition to control all of the land’s high magick. The book follows multiple perspectives: one from each of four of the families.

Review: This is an easy 5 star book.
Things I liked: Hunger Games with Magick vibes, different character perspectives, background of the families and the competition itself, book is easy to read and fast paced.

Things I thought could have been better: none. I can’t wait for the second book to come out!

I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and were not affected by the free copy.

Every 20 years, the Blood Veil falls over Ilvernath and seven champions must fight to the death over the last remaining wellspring of high magick. This book is told from alternating chapters told by Alistair, Briony, Isobel, and Gavin, with Finley, Elionor, and Carbry rounding out the ranks of the "Slaughter Seven."

Man, this book was GRUSOME and I loved it. Curses flying, people exploding (may or may not be literal ;) ), and hefty doses of ego and pride, it's right up my alley.

I enjoyed most of the characters (except Gavin), but I wasn't terribly invested in them (except Alistair-I want to protect him forever). I don't hate multiple POVs, but for the first time ever, I kinda wish this book had been written in MORE. I know, crazy. But I wish we would have seen things from the other three, especially Carbry. But I understand why it was written the way it was, four can be hard for many to handle.

The plot was fairly well paced, there were a few slow spots, but they were short enough I moved through them pretty quickly. I also wish there had been more world building, I never quite got a grasp on how the magic worked in this world. However, I will most certainly be continuing on with the series, the dark, twisted story was more than enough to keep me engaged.

4.5 stars

All of Us Villains is a special book in that it very obviously has borrowed from other books, in this case The Hunger Games. But while it seems like this book may have big shoes to fill, it becomes clear that it doesn't want to try to fill the shoes. All of Us Villains stands on its own and it does so very well. The plot made sense within the book and used it as a vehicle to argue against its own themes.
My only dislike with the book was the fact that only four of the seven kids get a POV which feels like it spoils how the story ends up going. If all the kids were given a POV this would have easily been a five star book.

The Hunger Games is one of my favorite series of all time so when I saw this was marketed as Hunger Games with magic, I was instantly intrigued. I love a good competition just as much as anyone else that was reading nonstop during the YA dystopian era. The characters were definitely a highlight of this book but at the same time, since they're "villains", I guess I was just expecting more... villain-like characters. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is still a Hunger Games fanatic and is interested in investing themselves in a new world of magic and the intrigue that comes with learning about a new system, and of course, everyone's favorite: morally grey protagonists. Fun and interesting read but not anything to write home about, at least for me.