4 STARS
Check out my BookTube video review: https://youtu.be/U8PLkDwjFqs

After a tell-all book is released, the world flocks to a remote city to witness a tradition that has been happening for generations.

Each prestigious family names a champion to compete for the chance to win the tournament and control the powerful high magick supply.

This book is a multi-POV that bounces between the various participants in the tournament. At the core of this story are the characters and they are well done. Most of the chapters are fairly short and we keep getting just enough to be satisfied before being shuttled off to the next POV.

If I would nitpick at this, I would say the villains are not overly villainous and the gore/horror is underutilized. When this story does get graphic, I enjoyed it but I was hoping for much more than the occasional tease we get. Also, there are multiple spots where a few chapters will pass without anything that would resemble horror or over-the-top villainy.

Something I did like a ton. Part of the tournament magic is the sky turns red and stays red for the duration of the events. This was a moody atmospheric touch that fit the concept amazingly!
The story does cliffhanger pretty hard. There is more to be told for sure and as you start to wind down the page count you are left with multiple questions unresolved. I wouldn’t say this is a positive or a negative. The writing is solid so you won’t feel like you were short-changed.

Overall I enjoyed the moments of horror and gore we did get, as well as the characters and the moody atmosphere. This loses the star for not embracing the villainy in the title of the book. This is worth checking out and was a fun read. Anyone who liked The Hunger Games needs to give this a chance.

Think Huger Games, but with magic.

This book definitely went hard on the Hunger Games vibe, but had enough of it's own originality to be pretty good. I enjoyed reading this book and being surprised at all the twists and turns of everything.

There are seven major families and each family selects a champion to compete when the blood veil drops. Whichever champion is left standing, that family possesses the high magic until the next blood veil drops in twenty years.

I can't wait for the next book to come out.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of All of Us Villains in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a great read! I enjoyed everything about this book: the plot, the characters, and the overall magical atmosphere. The comparison to the Hunger Games was bang on in the book synopsis, with the focus on the Villains instead of the Victors. This concept had drawn me to this book immediately, and I was super excited to receive an advanced copy of this book.

While there are seven characters that take part in the Blood Veil, as readers we are told the story through four alternating perspectives. I really enjoyed how each chapter was voiced by a different character. We get to see into the minds of each of these villains and learn the reasoning behind why they were chosen as Champions to represent their families in the Blood Veil for control over the magic in Ilvernath. I think the authors did such a great job creating a unique story for each of these villains, that played an important role in their decision making throughout the book.

I'm a big fan of reading about magic in books, and the authors did a great job utilizing magic in such interesting ways. I loved how these champions were responsible to create their own success in this tournament, by being given years to practice and perfect their crafting abilities to create spells or curses that would help them survive the tournament and beat their opponents. Each of the characters has their own strengths and weaknesses that show throughout the book, which is showcased by the level of spells and curses they create and bring with them into the Blood Veil.

I found myself flying through this book and I didn't want this book to end. I can't wait for the next one in the series to be released! I would definitely recommend this book to any fans of the Hunger Games or similar books.

Such an amazing book! Beautifully written, and it gives me hunger games, maze runner and games if thrones vibes but only bloodier. I definitely will recommend this book to all my friends once it’s out!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an entertaining read. It’s described as a villainous Hunger Games retelling. Seven families each send one champion to compete in a tournament that determines who controls the high magic of Ilvernath.

I found the beginning part of the story essential but a little slow. The alternating POV’s made it interesting but it definitely was a lot of back story and build up. Once the actual tournament began I found myself not able to put the book down. The tournament was twisted. I found the villainous motives and actions exciting but I was conflicted. I started to like and connect to some of characters and definitely didn’t want some of the characters to lose.

The stakes were high and the curses and magic systems were well written. I definitely loved how dark and evil some of the characters were. I did find that many of them ended up having some less than villainous intentions but I felt it was believable. Not everyone wants to kill or be killed and just become their parents/family’s expectations. The ending was great and it is perfectly set up for the sequel. Overall I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to see where the next book goes.

Such an amazing read! I became obsessed from page one. The characters are amazing, the setting is incredible, the writing style puts you right in the mood for it and it's overall an amazing read. Would definitely recommend for any fans of dark (very dark) fantasy and The Hunger Games!

Wow, wow, wow. I loved this book so much that I had to slow myself down while reading it just so that I could savor the words. Similar to the hunger games, everyone involved is thrown into a world where there's only meant to be one survivor. Making things even more interesting, there's legitimate magic involved and each participant comes to the event with whatever they've prepared - so not everyone is starting on the same level. To top it off, some participants in the Blood Veil have a history with each other, making the fact that they're supposed to kill each other to be the victor even harder. Talk about some baggage. A magical, bloody book filled with monsters and intrigue.

WHY DO I HAVE TO WAIT SO LONG FOR THE 2ND BOOK???? Thank you, thank you, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Macmillan- Tor/ Forge , the amazing opportunity to read an ARC of this book.

Fast-paced and gripping! Really enjoyed the twists and got attached to the majority of characters. Also a really excellent cliffhanger, which made me pumped for a Book 2.

All of Us Villains is the first book in a duology. The sequel is expected to be released next year. The book follows Allistair Lowe who resides in a remote town called Ilvernath. In this universe, high magick equals power and seven families have fought over it for hundreds of years through a tournament very similar to the Hunger Games. Each generation will put forth a champion to fight for their right to wield high magick. The tournament goes on for 3 months or until one champion remains.

Before this, the tournament has been known only to the seven families and some Cursemakers in town, but after a book about the curse of the seven families was published, Ilvernath gained a lot of attention from Cursechasers and the government.

At first, I thought this would be a handful to wrap my mind around, but the way the story was arranged made it a lot easier to understand. It's also because the tournament is 90% similar to the Hunger Games and a large chunk of this book is centred around that. So if you're expecting a complete revamp of the Hunger Games, this is not it.

To me, the world-building is average. The magic system is pretty interesting but the characters aren't as mean as I expected them to be. I wanted them to be meaner, cunning and more vicious but what I got was a very lame group of kids who relied on their families reputation to succeed. I didn't read this and thought "Oh they're *crazy* crazy!"

Overall, I feel like this really isn't up to par with my expectations. I think it relied too much on existing precedents of the genre like THG and HP. In fact, this book felt like those two combined, but you won't get anything more, which is unfortunate because there is obviously room for so much more. The enemies-to-lovers & one-bed-only tropes cannot save this one. I'm a little disappointed but not surprised. I rate this 2.5/5 stars.

I read this book in one sitting, putting off all of my responsibilities for the day. I actually didn't regret it when I woke up this morning. I'll address the biggest criticisms I see so far in the reviews.

"There aren't any true villains." Most of them have done despicable things for teenagers. That is right, teenagers. This book is YA, which means it is meant for 12-18. I didn't go into it expecting true villains. Although several of the characters are morally grey, as a reader you find it difficult to condemn a teenager who was raised for this task. Particularly one character. I find them all redeemable, which I like. I'd be sad if I found a teenager in a YA book that was unredeemable.

This is one of the many ways that it differs from Hunger Games, and makes it so much darker. In The Hunger Games there are few tributes that are prepared for the tournament. In this book, these children always know it is a possibility. They are brought up to believe it is something to be proud of. How dark is that? There are many other ways it differs from The Hunger Games, including multiple viewpoints and fantasy elements. I don't mind the similarities of this story to The Hunger Games.

I really enjoyed this book. The use of magic is very unique, the characters leave you wanting to more and the plot, which not entirely unique, has its own very unique twists. It is certainly one of my favorites, and I will have to purchase hardcopies when it releases. I have never read anything by these two authors, but I immediately went and added their other books to my TBR, at midnight. It was that good. I strongly recommend this to teens and adults, especially fans of Schwabb or fantasy. I don't know how I am going to wait until Fall 2022 for the second to come out-I have to know how it ends.

Oh my goodness but this one was incredible - I read it in a day! I enjoyed the sample, but didn't expect the whole book to be as amazing as it was. While I liked the sample chapters, they felt Vaguely Familiar and I was afraid the story was not going to be all that original. Boy was I wrong!

The story was fantastic - the characterizations were incredible, the pacing was spot-on, and the plot was full of action and twists and turns - and it all came together into a highly entertaining whole. I can't believe I have to wait a year to see how it all ends! My only worry is that I'm going to have to read the whole thing again before I can read the second book, because there are so many tiny details involved in the tournament that there's no way I will be able to hold all of them closely enough to give the second book the thorough read it will deserve. But with a story this engaging that's not really a bad thing - end with a quick and fast pace read like this, spending a day rereading it before starting the second book will certainly be no chore at all.

If you like action and intrigue and magic and betrayal and redemption, this book is definitely for you!

This book wasn't what I was expecting, but I still really enjoyed it! I found it to be a unique story, which can often be difficult to find in YA fantasy.

Every generation there is a blood moon, which signals the start of a bloody, magical, and hunger game style fight for the control over the high magic. In this story we are following Alistair, Isobel, Gavin, and Briony, all of which are part of one of the seven families that are fighting for control of the high magic. My favorite part of this book was the characters, particularly Gavin and Isobel, because they were well fleshed out and all of them had distinct motivations. Personally, I was not a fan of the romance since I'm not usually big on romance, but I did enjoy seeing how that relationship changed the characters involved and the enemy-to-lovers trope was played out well. Also, the banter between the characters was great! I also found the world to be very interesting. I expected it to be more of a high fantasy type of world, but it instead was somewhat of an urban fantasy. I do believe, however, that there could've been more worldbuilding.


One of the complaint I have about this book was the magic system. It was a great concept but just wasn't executed well. Throughout the book I kept expecting a better explanation of the magic or how it even works, but none came. So, I am still confused whether the characters had to speak a spell or just will the magic to cast in their mind.

Overall, I think this was a fun read that kept me hooked till the end and I'm sad I have to wait so long for the next book after that cliffhanger!

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Review:
The best way to describe this book is a dark, magical The Hunger Games. It is similar to the Hunger Games in the sense that we have an enclosed tournament with kids competing for their own survival. However, the cast of characters is very different. Also, there is a magical element and history to this story while The Hunger Games was more of a futuristic, dystopian society.

The characters are all flawed which makes the story interesting. There is no self-righteous hero to save the day, just a band of ruthless characters fighting for their own self-interest or the interest of their own families. This character dynamic was different than other young adult books because you don’t want to root for anyone at first. I would say Alistair and Isobel were my favorite characters, but Briony and Finely were more admirable towards the end.

I want to point out that this is a series! I didn’t know that going into it (I have made this rookie mistake so many times🤦🏻‍♀️) so I’m sad to have to wait until the next book is released.

💫Thanks @netgalley and @torteen for my ARC💫

This was … okay? It wasn’t bad but it also wasn’t anywhere near what I was expecting and unfortunately not because it turned out better than I thought it would.

All of Us Villains, the collaborative work by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman, is a young adult fantasy novel set in a world that’s technologically close to ours but also filled with magick (yes, with an edgy k). Common magick, which can be found everywhere and within everything, and high magick, which is far rarer – so rare in fact that people thought all its sources had dried up.

Enter: The town of Ilvernath and its secret high magic source. And the centuries old curse protecting it. Because only one of the seven great families of Ilvernath can control the wellspring. And every twenty years, they fight for that control – they fight to the death. A gruesome premise, especially as the families have to choose their champions from among their children. But it is tradition and it is the curse and it is a secret no one outside the town knows about – until now.

And this is already where one of my biggest problems with the novel sets in: The world-building. This starts out with the big reveal that the whole world now knows about Ilvernath’s secrets, thanks to a scandalous book. The town is flooded by journalists and the government gets involved. However, I have no idea what kind of government it is, where Ilvernath stands in relation to the rest of its … country? Continent? World? The world-building is entirely limited to Ilvernath and even there it’s scarce.

Ilvernath has seven great families and a whole bunch of other people living in it, some of them normal (whatever that means in this world) and some of them spellmakers. I have absolutely no clue what makes a person a spellmaker. Apparently, it’s just based on … talent? And it’s a hereditary talent, as there are spellmaker families and dynasties? But other people can also make spells, as the champions demonstrate throughout the novel. They just aren’t as good? So it really has to be an innate talent, otherwise, if you grew up knowing you’d participate in a magic duel to the death, wouldn’t you make sure, you’d be able to craft all the most dangerous spells and curses?

In general, I found the magick system to be a bit underdeveloped and the whole tournament thing lacked some backstory. So, the seven families started this curse so no one but them could use the high magick of Ilvernath and they thought it would be a good idea to have some teenagers battle it out every twenty years. And, I mean, some of those families are apparently massive but others are decidedly not – which makes me wonder just how they manage to have an eligible kid ready every time the tournament happens. Also, wouldn’t you rather not have kids than send them to their almost certain death?

This irked me especially because I just could not figure out what the deal was with high magick. What does it do? What is it used for? What is magick in general being used for? What makes it so important? Yes, okay, magick can be used as a weapon and as high magick is more powerful, it can be used as a deadlier weapon, but these people have spent generations keeping the existence of their magick wellspring under wraps – so what the hell have they been using this magick for and why do they even care?!

As I said, the world-building, including the magick system, is a bit shoddy. And so was the characterization of some of the tournament champions. There is, not very surprisingly, seven of them, one from each family, ranging from 15 to … 17? 18? Not sure. But all teenagers, all equipped with a variety of plans, magick and, most of all, trauma. Really, what else would you expect, considering they were raised to be murderers for their families’ glories. However, this also means that they are way less villainous than the title led me to expect. Mostly, they are lost and traumatized kids – even those who want to be in the tournament, their main motivation is making their families proud and really, after growing up the way they did, how is that anything but the result child abuse methods honed over centuries?

At the same time, this is were the book gets interesting. Because this is all about breaking the cycle – of the curse, the tournament, their families stories and legacies, of abuse and murder. The novel shifts between the points of view of four different champions and each of them brings a completely different attitude to the tournament but they are all determined to break some cycle or other. And I liked that. I got their motivations, though one of them was a bit … well, Briony’s character and motivations seem somewhat flexible depending on what the plot needs. But the others? Yeah, I liked them – after a while, they grew on me, even though I could really, really have done without the ridiculous insta-love thing. Refining those queer yearning for your enemy vibes would have been way nicer. But at least the whole thing did get more and more grewsome, bloody and villainous.

So, despite all, I am still kinda looking forward to the sequel of All of Us Villains. I want to know where Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman take this story and whether it ends in blood or … well, I guess less blood is the only realistic option?

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor Teen for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
All of Us Villains is the story of a town that has been thrust into the public eye thanks to a book exposing that not only does Ilvernath still have high magick, long thought to be depleted, but there is a deadly competition every 20 years to see which family controls said magick.
The competition is pretty simple; 1 champion from each of the 7 families compete to the death during The Blood Veil, a 3-month ordeal. Each comes to the tournament, theoretically, with a plethora of spell crystals to defend themselves and take out the competition.
I loved the world that this book built. I think it did a good job of explaining the magick system, while not overwhelming the reader either. The premise of this book alone was enough to get me more than captivated, and for the most part, it delivered. My only issue is the ending left off in a place I didn’t expect. I love a cliffhanger, but I really expected to have some more answers as to the end of the competition, however that may be.
Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend this book to fans of fantasy, especially hunger games. I cannot wait for book #2!

Talk about a book far out of my comfort zone…All of Us Villains is that book. This book kept me intrigued from the very beginning, and I felt like I couldn’t turn away from the pages. This book is described as The Hunger Games with magic, but to me, it was so much more than that. I feel like that this story highlights the very DNA of human nature, and it shows us some the ugliest aspects of people in general. But, it does so in a way that keeps the reader gripped to the pages…especially towards the end with betrayals.

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters in this book. If I hadn’t, I don’t know that I would have liked the book as much as I did honestly, because it is a bit darker than what I usually read. These characters sold the story for me, though! Even though the story is dark, I wouldn’t call all of these characters villains persay. They are sometimes morally grey, sometimes showing us the worst parts of humanity, but really, magic is the core of the story (IMO).

I liked this book a lot, and I will definitely read the next one!

Like most people with a brain, I took one look at the blurb for this novel – You fell in love with the victors of the Hunger Games. Now prepare the meet the villains of the Blood Veil – and hit that mf to-read button quicker than I’ve ever hit anything in my life.

Once every generation, the sky over the town of Ilvernath turns red, and seven ancient families choose their champion. The Blood Veil falls, and for three months, the champions fight each other to the death, a battle that decides which family controls the last of the world’s high magick.

Reader, I was hooked.

The story is told through the eyes of four of the seven champions: Alistair Lowe, Isobel Macaslan, Briony Thorburn, and Gavin Grieve. Each champion has something they want to prove, and a family relying on them. And secrets. They all have secrets.

This book is an absolute bloodbath, made worse by some of the more creative curses and spells I’ve seen. The magick system is a delight to behold. The characters are ruthless and tenderhearted in equal measure, and I loved their battles, both internal and with each other. Alliances are made and broken; fates are accepted and defied; the line between hero and villain is blurred.

It’s so good, you guys. So good.

My only gripe is that we are going to have to wait for the second book, and the first book ends on a cliffhanger. I need more! I need it now! It is a crime to leave me like this!

If you love morally grey characters from storied families, age-old curses, and ruthless cunning interspersed with moments of heartwrenching tenderness, you’d best be adding All of Us Villains to your TBR. You will not regret it.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Tor Books for providing me with this ARC.

Review:
Plot: I have always believed The Hunger Games would be even better with magical elements and "All of Us Villains" is the proof of that! I believe the whole concept of this novel is very original and was well explored by the authors, who already have experience with fantasy books. One concept that could have been better explained, though, is how regular magik is used on the day to day, as I was slightly confused about its difference comparing to its more powerful version.
Writing: I was very confused until the end of the book as to why I was 50% into the book and the competitors had just arrived to the "arena", and it left me concerned about a possible rushed ending, but everything was sorted out with the brilliant revelation of a sequel! So in the end, nothing felt rushed and the authors had enough space to craft a great world-building! I'd suggest a bit more of explanation on the objects and places that are symbols of the tournament. and a map to be included in the beginning of the book.
Characters: I loved most of them so much! Most of them changed a lot (and for the better) from the first to the last page and I felt proud in seeing that development, as if I was their friend! My heart broke many times for them and I really recognize the authors' abilities to create compelling personalities and back stories. I think the people I didn't like were the adults and all their ancestors who didn't try to break the curse or saw that dying as a honor.

Favorite quote: "Monsters couldn`t harm you if you were a monster, too"
Soundtrack: Human, by The Killers

REVIEW TO BE POSTED ON SOCIAL MEDIAS ON NOVEMBER 2ND

4.35 stars

“I think, deep down, some people don’t want their stories to have happy endings.” -A Tradition of Tragedy

That was SO good. I need more. I can’t wait another year for the next book

‘All of Us Villains’ is a dark and gripping story that is definitely worth the hype. In the town of Ilvernath 8 centuries ago, 7 powerful families fought over who would wield the most dangerous type of magick, known as high magick. To settle the argument, they created a curse. Every 20 years, the moon in Ilvernath would turn red and be called the ‘Blood Moon’. About 4 weeks after the Blood Moons appears, the blood veil falls, and 1 ‘champion’ from each family must be chosen to fight in a tournament to the death. They have 3 months to kill each other, and the one remaining champion brings honor, and of course high magick, to their family for 20 years. If, after the 3 months, the 7 champions are still alive and have chosen not to fight each other, all of them are killed by the curse and the families go without high magick for 20 years, until the next tournament. 800 years later, an anonymous member of one of the lesser 7 families has written and published a book, exposing the traditions of the families to the whole world. Now tourists and reporters are storming the city, questioning the families and protesting the upcoming tournament.

Before you go into this, I think you should know the Slaughter Seven characters aren’t really villains. With the title All of Us Villains, you would think they're all bloodthirsty characters, but they really aren't. Their families are technically the villains for encouraging their children to fight in a duel to the death just to wield power (and even betting on their own child's deaths), and children sacrificing on the side, a couple of the families are just horrible. Most of the characters are just keeping up a front to intimidate people and I would say only one character (who's also my favorite) is morally grey.

The plot was really captivating. I saw a review about the book saying ‘The Hunger Games but with magic’ and I couldn’t press the request button fast enough. I do agree with some of the Hunger Games comparisons, and considering the Hunger Games is one of my favorite series, I really loved the book. But I don't agree with the people saying it's a rip-off. The only thing that was really similar was that they fight to the death in forest. I love how the authors twisted a dark tale that takes place in the modern world. The whole magic system was interesting and creative and I thought the spell and curse crafting was really cool. All the characters have depth and pretty good development. I loved how some of the characters also had a history together, like some used to be best friends, and some are exes. It makes it all the more interesting to see what they're going to do.

The tournament did start pretty late in the book but I didn’t mind the slow build-up because I got to get a pretty good look into the lives of the champions and their families.

The ending to me was great but I felt like it was just a little rushed. Compared to the pacing of the rest of the book, it didn't really fit. And I don't get how the authors expect us readers to cope for another year and I'm not sure how long until the next book comes out. Must you torture us?

Also, do keep in mind that during the book, some parts did get pretty gory and disturbing.

I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you love books rooted in mysteries and family secrets and are looking for a dark and enthralling story.

An apt comp to The Hunger Games. Readers looking for a new high-stakes competition novel will be satiated with this one. Dark and creepy, with a cast of characters where you keep changing who you're rooting for as the story progresses. A seamless case of co-authoring.