rating: 4.5/5 (rounded up)

this book is basically the hunger games but with magic. A tournament every 20 years in which 7 champions are selected to compete and fight to the death for a highly coveted prize: their family’s control of high magick for the next 20 years.

This tournament felt even more gruesome than the hunger games, for a couple reasons:
- the nature of wielding magick is personal, which makes killing another champion more personal
- the characters know each other and have grown up in this world together; some have dated, some are related, some used to be best friends. The emotions brought into the tournament definitely has an effect on the outcome.

The reader also gets four different POV’s throughout this story, and my opinion about each character completely changed as I read the book. For me, the characters were the highlight of the book.

I highly recommend this one for fans of The Hunger Games, An Unkindness of Magicians, and Game of Thrones.

For a book called All of Us Villains, I expected, well, villains. What I got was a book of insecure teenagers refusing to even entertain the idea of murder thrust into murder competition.

I’ll start with the few things I did enjoy. I thought the worldbuilding was well done. All of Us Villains is set in the modern-day, in a small town where once a generation, seven families each chose a champion to participate in a fight to the death to gain control of the town’s cherished magic supply. With this coming tournament, an expose has been published nationwide that’s exposed the secrets of this town to the world, and now the paparazzi and media have gotten involved. The tournament itself has a whole host of magical laws governing the inner workings that we slowly learn about and the magic itself I found really creative and well-written.

I’ve seen this book often compared to The Hunger Games series. In my opinion, that’s a poor comparison. At least the Hunger Games kids had enough of a spine to try and kill their competition. Granted, some of these characters were blindsided by the choice to participate in the Murder Death Kill Games (not the actual name) but a handful of them have known they’d be their family’s champion for years! And yet, the only times any murder actually occurs, it occurs out of self-defense and the defender still got criticized by the group. Where’s the bloodthirsty murder? Where’s the cut-throat betrayal and backstabbing?? Where are the villains???? With multiple characters basically assigned the ‘villain’ role at the beginning of the book, labeled ‘dark’ and ‘evil’, man does that not translate to their actions.

I have a love-hate relationship with the characters (see complaints above). On one hand, for a cast of 7, the four main characters the book focuses on are quite well written. There’s Alistar, the one labeled a ‘monster’, Gavin, who was never meant the last more than the night, Isobel, reluctantly thrust into the spotlight by her family, and Briony, the golden hero. All four characters have very complex relationships with their families and with their goals for the tournament. However, again, the lack of commitment from these characters to actually do anything in this tournament was just extremely frustrating to read. There’s also this bizarre instalove romance arc between two characters that just felt so so forced, like the authors came up with the characters knowing they’d be together but never set up the foundations.

Finally, the pacing of this book felt weirdly off. It takes 40% for the characters to actually enter the tournament. Then the next 40% I could not tell you what occurred, but it was nothing to really advance the plot. Briony comes in the tournament thinking she’s got a plan to End It All^TM, but then doesn’t do anything about it til 80% in. Which is when the action actually starts to occur and suddenly there are reveals left and right and now everything has changed. I definitely think the first 40% could have been cut and the last 20% expanded to let the story breath more.

Overall, I rate this book a 2.5/5. The title told me we’d get villains and I got depressed teenagers instead.

4.5/5⭐️ Oh, I could spend DAYS unraveling this beauty. From the ominous title to the intricate magic system to the complexity of all the characters, I really just loved everything about this incredible story.

This book was basically The Hunger Games with a fantastic magical twist. The more I learned about the tournament, the more intrigued I became. It was crafted so well, in a way that gave you little pieces of the puzzle throughout the book and let you try to figure things out on your own. I already know I’m absolutely going to reread this one so I can pick up on all the little things I missed.

And oh my gosh, there are a few things I SHOULD HAVE SEEN COMING. But there were also a few things I never could have predicted. Every single character in this story gave me a moment that left me speechless. Truly, this book really lives up to its title, I’ll tell you that right now.

Don’t mind me DYING over the fact that I thought this was a standalone. It is not. And I need the sequel RIGHT. THIS. SECOND.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book is like the fantasy version of The Hunger Games, but instead of fighting to get food, they’re fighting to have High Magic for their families.

It was a great read from the beginning with some things that seemed predictable but others that left me shook. I really can’t wait to see what the authors bring us next.

From the moment Amanda and Christine announced this story I was immediately intrigued. A competition/tournament and a bunch of characters that are morally gray and villainous is a perfect combination and they brought it to life amazingly well.

In the remote city of Ilvernath whenever the Blood Moon shows itself a champion is picked from seven different families to fight each other until only one is left standing. Having control over a secret wellspring of high magik that everyone thought was long since depleted would entice anyone. It's the mist powerful resource in the world after all.

This year of the tournament is different since a the seven champions ate thrown inti the spotlight of the world outside their city. This new shift in the competition allows each of them to have new information, new means to win, and most importantly: a choice - accept their fate or rewrite their story. But it's not always as simple as it seems.

This story was absolutely amazing. Following characters that are the normal type of main character was thrilling and I never wanted to put the book down. I was on the edge of my seat so often waiting to know what was going to happen next. It is such a well down story and even if the characters are the normal kind of characters that a story is centered around it's hard not to love them. I can't wait to see what else will happen for these characters in the next book.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Once a generation, the Blood Moon rises and the seven cursed families of Ilvernath send their strongest teenager into a fight to the death for the world's last source of high magick. For centuries they kept their bloodbath secret, until a salacious tell-all revealed the truth to the world. Now the Slaughter Seven have journalists and government agents to worry about on top of their impending deaths. Schemes fly as fast a curses as they struggle to stay alive, bring honor to their families, save their souls, or maybe end the whole brutal system. Deliciously dark, but that cliffhanger is just cruel.

In all honesty, it took me a while to get into the book since it has multiple POVs and I usually avoid books that have multiple POVs because I don’t think authors do a good job with integrating them together, but this book is definitely not one of those books. The characters are well rounded, but their flaws are evident, adding to their dynamic and the evolving plot. I’m not even sure how to put into words how much I enjoyed reading All of Us Villains but I can say that it was read all in one sitting - a feat in itself since I’ve been in a reading slump for a couple of days. If you’re on the fence about this book, I’d recommend going for it anyways.

To summarize: The Hunger Games meets magic – and does it better than the original? But that’s just my opinion.

The town of Ilvernath has a secret, one that has survived centuries. The Blood Moon rises each era, and with it, seven champions from the seven reigning magical families of the town are chosen. When the Blood Veil falls, the seven selected duel to the death until one reigns supreme and that champion’s family wins sole control of the high magick so eagerly sought. The rest of the world thinks high magick is long gone, but the magickal residents of Ilvernath know better.

But this year’s tournament will be different than all that came before. Someone from within the magickal families spilled Ilvernath’s secret and now the press and government are involved, watching the tournament play out with eagle eyes. But that’s not the only thing that’s changed: this year, the champions aren’t content to follow the rules. There’s no telling what might be broken.

This book was such a surprise, but in the absolute best way. A slow start builds to a wild crescendo that just. keeps. moving. Rotating narration of individuals from four of the seven magickal families represented, the constant shifting of allies and perspectives makes you doubt who is right and who is wrong and if you should even bother picking because your loyalties will doubtlessly shift by the next chapter.

These characters are excruciatingly, heartbreakingly complex, unpredictable and stubborn to a fault, but with attributes that will have you rooting for them even as they do undeniably despicable things – though often with good intentions. The plot is familiar and yet unique; I was constantly surprised, and oftentimes overcome with emotion with how deeply these fictional beings and situations affected me.

That cliffhanger was so sudden that I turned the (e-book) page expecting more and my jaw literally dropped in shock. I cannot WAIT to read the sequel and whatever else these stunning authors have in store in the future. Prepare to be hooked.

Not for the faint of heart, but a read I’d recommend for any reader looking to be swept away – if the content isn’t too much for your taste.

Trigger warning: gore, blood, death, murder, violence.

This one took me a while to get into. I don't love when a book needs a lot of backstories to get started. The first 40% of this book was backstory. I wanted to drive right into the action. I also found it a bit hard to connect with the characters because of the shifting POVs. I really had to focus on remembering who was who especially with all the backstories on the 7 families.

I also expected the characters to be a lot more ruthless considering it’s called All of Us Villains.

I did like the magic system and I think my favourite POVs would be Alistair and Isobel. I don't know if I care enough about the characters to find out what happens to then in the second book.

I really enjoyed this book! It was compared to the Hunger Games with magic and I can definitely understand where that comparison is coming from. I do feel that in this book though, it’s more like all the competitors would be the ones from the Capital that have trained their whole lives for this and are now competing to the death.

The book was told in multiple perspectives and I think that was such a good decision. Because of this, we got to get the backstory of most of the participants involved in these deadly games and grow attached to them. You don’t know who is going to live or who is going to die. It made it very intense since I found myself rooting for multiple people. This is a testament to good writing by the authors and making their characters great! Every time there was a scene where it was a battle to the death, I was on the edge of my seat. I think all the characters were pretty balanced too. They all had their own unique fighting styles and storylines.

There wasn’t much world exploration because the book was more self contained to the town where the competition takes place. Some might be bothered by this but I thought it was a good choice. I tend not to be a big fan of romance but liked how it was done in here with enemy-to-lovers aspects. I’m also really excited for a possible future romance that was slightly hinted at.

The end went in a direction I was not expecting which left me in anticipation for the sequel. It was my first time reading from both of these authors but I definitely won’t be the last.

4 stars out of 5

All of Us Villains was marketed as “a darker version of The Hunger Games” and those are the exact vibes I got! It follows four main characters each from a long line of magical families as they take part in a tournament where only one will win the rights to the highest power of magic. It’s multiple point of view chapters were exactly what made this book so good.

I really liked all four of the main characters, even if I didn’t fully connect to them as much as I usually like to. Their villainous nature was very much the cause of this, but it was obviously on purpose so it still makes sense. I loved how short the chapters were and how it rotated between all the characters every time. It kept the pacing close to perfect and there was always something exciting happening to hold my interest. There really wasn’t ever a dull moment in this book and that feels like such a feat.

I had issues with the magic system. I liked the idea of spell rings and curses, but it seemed like no one spell was ever used more than once? Meaning it was a brand new spell every time and I never really had a grasp on just how powerful any of them were, or even what they would do. I wish it was a bit more strict.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.

All of Us Villains drew my attention with its promise of a more magical Hunger Games with morally gray characters.

I loved the sense of history and lore, with each of the major characters coming from an esteemed family, each of which sends someone into this bloody competition when the time comes. That immediately sets up high stakes that sucked me in.

The characters are definitely a highlight as well. There’s a balance between capturing the lines each character is willing to cross, while also exposing their vulnerabilities as they’re reckoning with the expectations from their families and society. Alistair is perhaps the most prone to the darkness, however it all stems from his desire to be loved and accepted by his family. Isobel battles between familial loyalty and her own fear of battle. Gavin longs to prove that his family, long considered the butt of jokes, is worth something, and will sometimes resort of extremes to achieve this. And then, there’s Briony, who has been raised for this task and at first longs to prove herself, but circumstances lead to a change of heart.

I enjoyed this book, and while I did feel at times like it didn’t go far enough in its execution of truly villainous characters, I also found it to be an engaging and bloody read, and I’m excited to see what happens next, as it seems there will be a sequel. If you like YA fantasy, but are looking for more stories with morally gray characters, you might enjoy this one.

I really enjoyed this book. It was overall a very entertaining read full of drama. A lot of the characters are morally grey which is what I would hope to see when a book title includes the word "villains". However, they are just morally grey. I suppose none of them really had what it took to be a "villain" only pretend to be one in my opinion. And well, when you have a lot of comparisons to books that have actual villains from the Hunger Games or Game of Thrones (which I think I saw somewhere), this falls a bit short. President Snow and Jeoffrey make the characters from this book look like angels. So there is some fogginess between what is morally grey and villainous. However, that is not a deterrent towards the book, just something, people may wish to know if they're looking for a "bad to the bone" book. It is a YA book though and there's only so far you can take it.

Now here's my reason for the 4 star, because it was nearly a 5 star read. There's an instalove trope. I'm sorry, I just can't. I personally do not favor instalove and it almost always kills a little bit of the book for me. GIVE ME THE FLUFF. I hope the relationship is explored more in book two. We shall see. Also, I need more information about the magic. I feel like some of the magical aspects were not explained well or maybe we'll get that information in book two. I never could figure out what the families who win do with their magic. Maybe I missed that, but I was really curious and had all of these ideas in my head that I thought the book would clear up. There's some other things that made me go "okay but why?" or "how?" Still, while the characters are not villains, they are messy and dramatic which may also be somethings folks want to know. If you're looking for betrayals and rivalries among friends and family then this story delivers on that I'd say and I would read book two in the duology. It's fun and fast-paced and I definitely could see the author fixing some things in book two for a 5 star read!

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

All of Us Villains follows 4 competitors in a fierce competition over control of high magic in a world where the magic was believed to be extinct. More than that, it is the story of how these children grow up in a world ruled by the blood moon, and controlled by their families' expectations of them, and most severely the knowledge that they will very likely die.

From the start, there is a dark air in the book, with references to monsters and death and vicious spells. It left me feeling a sense of doom as I grew more attached to each character. The unique family dynamics were, in my opinion, one of the main driving forces of the first half of the book. While I enjoyed this, it is a slower start than some might anticipate. Things really pick up as our cast enters the competition and begins to understand the cost of everything they're fighting for. It is clear that no one will make it out unscathed and no one is going to leave a hero.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the character dynamics. Everyone is morally grey, and guided by their desires, willing to fight for all of it. Even if you don't like Alistair, isobel, Gavin, or Briony, you will come to understand them.

My only complaint is that some of the lager plot twists fell flat for me, and I was able to guess what was happening. The ending left me excited for book two though, and I will definitely be continuing the series!

<i>All of Us Villains</i> is everywhere being compared to <i>The Hunger Games</i>, but I was strongly reminded of Tamsyn Muir's <i>The Locked Tomb</i> series while reading. Granted, the plot is much closer to <i>The Hunger Games,</i> but the depth of the characters and world-building made me think far more of Muir's work.

There's quite a bit of set up in the early chapters, but events pick up quickly and soon I was racing through the pages to see what happened next. I'm greatly looking forward to the next instalment.

Received via NetGalley.

Happy Monday y'all! And happy almost release day to All of Us Villains! Thank you so much to Tor Teen and Netgalley for letting me read an eARC of this book. All of Us Villains comes out tomorrow, November 9th, so make sure y'all go out and grab it then!
All of Us Villains 5/5 Stars
Summary from Goodreads:
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.
Oh man y'all. I really loved this book. I mean I really like all of the books I've read by Amanda Foody, so I didn't really expect anything different with this one, but OMG it was so incredibly amazing. The characters, the setting, the whole idea behind the tournament during the Blood Moon- it was all so great! I really enjoyed our four main POVs- Alastair, Briony, Isobel, and Gavin. Each of them brought something great and different to the tournament- lots of baggage and different training, all for the same end goal- staying alive through the tournament and providing high magick to their family. I loved the alliances that were formed and broken throughout the journey that they were on and I also loved how there were secrets alluded to that were revealed at different points (like who said that Isobel was her family's champion, for example). Plot wise, I really loved everything about the book. I finished it in less than a day, so I was definitely hooked from the beginning. I am so excited to see where the authors take book two because there's so much more to be done and so many more consequences for our main foursome to live through!

3.5

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for providing me an e-ARC to review!

This was a fun read: definitely violent and brutal, and an interesting concept in terms of trying to break this ages old curse but there being a very fine line between saving and killing everyone. I think for someone like me, though, for whom The Hunger Games is just such a foundational text for my whole being, I can't help but look at this and how it doesn't quite live up to the behemoth that is that trilogy in my mind. The use of four perspectives in a book where there are only seven people in the competition makes it feel pretty easy to guess who is going to be picked off first, and the magic system definitely removes some of the tension with regard to bad things happening to the main characters. There's some insta-love, but I liked how some of these characters had known each other before and how those dynamics played into this competition. I think my favourite was Alistair (because I'm a sucker for sad boys), but I think all the characters we got POVs from were interesting in their own ways.

I think you would enjoy this a lot more if you were a little young for the Hunger Games era (like think Tomato Town wipe-outers), but it was an enjoyable read and there's definitely potential for book 2!

I honestly picked this up mainly because of the title and cover. But when I saw someone pitch this as "hunger games with magic" I was totally SOLD.

Every twenty years the blood veil sets over Ilvernath and starts the tournament where seven families each send one champion to compete for the rights to high magick. The rhythm and rules of the tournament seem to have changed thanks to someone publishing a book about the murderous curse that drives teens to kill each other to gain their family power; and the town is filled with paparazzi, curse chasers and people that each have their own agenda.

This book is told in the point of view of four different champions:
Alistair Lowe, whose family is feared for being cruel, growing up with monster stories and without real contact to anyone that isn't their blood. They are also the current keepers of high magick.
Gavin Grieve, who is doomed to lose in this game, his family nothing more than a joke in town.
Isobel Macaslan who is the favorite of the press.
Briony Thorburn who has always seen herself as the champion of her family.

The different POV give us so much insight into the different facets of the story and characters and I honestly got attached to all of them (Briony maybe the least out of all the four). Every character is able to stand on their own but they also all have interesting relationships with each other, no matter if it's hate, friendship or love. Their goals and struggles are clear and interesting and they drive the story.

The storytelling and writing in this is great, it's a compelling story and world that doesn't let you go. The characters definitely drive the story in my opinion, but that doesn't mean that the magic system isn't amazing either. The question of what is good and bad, what is a villain and what is a hero is greatly explored and leaves you thinking and questioning even after reading.
This story has a lot of suspense, twists and turns that one might suspect and others that came as a total surprise to me. I got especially attached to Alistair and Gavin, how they felt, how they were perceived and how they acted in response. (Let me just scream: ALISTAIR LOWE MY MAN.)
The second half of the book goes STRONG and especially the last 10% had me on the edge of my seat wanting more. Honestly, I need the sequel NOW.

This is definitely one of my favorite reads this month (and year) and I can't wait to read more of this story and world, since the ending has me needing more information!
This is also a perfect book for the darker months and for people that enjoy magical tournaments, complex and morally grey characters and a great cast.

✨ARC Review✨

“The blood moon rises. The blood veil falls. The tournament begins.”

“Every twenty years, we send seven teenagers into a massacre and reward the one who comes out with the most blood on their hands.”

“Seven rotten families in an insignificant city, fighting over the most powerful magic left in the world.”

The Blood Moon signifies that the tournament is approaching, and the Blood Veil begins. A long time ago, seven families fought over who would control Ilvernath’s high magick. The curse brought forth meant that for every generation, each of the seven families has to put forth a champion to compete in a tournament to the death. The prize is a secret wellspring of high magick.

What I Loved:
-the morally grey characters in this book (you will find reasons to like and dislike Alistair, Isabel, Gavin, and Briony)

This is the first book I have read where two authors worked together to make one collective piece. While I think it worked well, I feel like my expectations were high on this one, and I didn’t love it as much as I had hoped. I think I would potentially give the next in the series a try, just to see if I find them more enjoyable as a whole.

✨Rating✨
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

A special thank you to NetGalley and Tor Teen for this eARC! All Of Us Villains is out November 9th!

Seven families with ancient magick are each cursed to send one of their teen children into a battle-to-the-death every time a Blood Moon appears--but not all of the chosen warriors are willing to be pawns in a magical power struggle.

I am so obsessed with this world and these characters! A thrilling blend of the Hunger Games and the Triwizard Tournament, the battle between the four morally gray protagonists features a balance of magic and bloodbaths, calculating strategy and hopeful idealism. My only complaint is that the sequel isn't out yet! A fun page-turner for YA fantasy readers who can stomach a bit of gore.