This was not as good as I anticipated it to be, but I think teenagers will still enjoy it due to the point of view.

I am not sure this book was for me, but I really like the concept anyway! I will likely read the next book because WHAT A CLIFFHANGER. But I also am really hoping this series won't be predictably veering the way of Hunger Games or any of those tournament style trilogies. Lean into the villainy!

All of Us Villains is like The Hunger Games meets magic. Seven families compete for control of high magic in this town called Ilvernath in a game where their champions fight to the death.

Why you might like this book:
- The plot is fairly compelling because of the game element and the magic element.
- While the characters aren't very loveable, the romance is really well-done and something most readers will care about.

Why you might not like this book:
- The magic isn't really explained which makes it especially hard to follow or understand the rules of the game or the stakes of the game at all. The game is also not made super clear to readers, like the rules of it. If you're someone that likes to know the rules of things, you won't get it here.
-The characters aren't very likeable, which if that's something you need, you won't find it here.
-The plot, especially the villain element, isn't always well-set up. If you're just along for the ride, you won't mind but if you want something to make sense...

Overall, while this book had some obvious weaknesses, I really enjoyed it and look forward to the sequel!

If this one hasn't been optioned yet, it will be soon. This book feels cinematic and both plays to and reverses enough tropes to make it wildly popular. Seven teenagers meet in a magic arena to battle to the death and win magic for their families. The story is told from the POV of four contestants-- all must play the villain in the competition but each is slightly more hero than antihero. Teen audiences will devour this fast paced story and the cliffhanger ending will leave them clamoring for the second book.

All of Us Villains is an incredible start to a new series that could be viewed as a darker take on the Hunger Games. Just imagine: a tournament to the death where the winner gets to control magic for the next generation. Normally a secret, seven families name a competitor, but this year a tell-all revealed the tournament thrusting the competitors into the spotlight. The story is told through multiple POVs which all feel distinct and so well-developed. Readers will be obsessed with this brand new series. Be sure to check out All of Us Villains today. Highly recommended!

All of Us Villians boasts a fascinating concept but lacklustre delivery. I enjoyed the story enough to see it through to the end of the book but often found myself regularly getting bored. The magic system is fascinating, and the characters are well-written and deliciously morally grey. The book struggles in what I would consider a lack of action for a book about a competition to the death. The heavy focus on family politics was not particularly interesting to me. I went back and forth with my enjoyment at the end of the day. Simply: a middle-of-the-road fantasy with a promising premise but boring execution.

So, I know that this book was really hyped when it first came out and it only took me, oh, a few months to finally get around to it 😅 I can see the intrigue of the writing (which is beautiful by the way), and the pain that each of the contests is forced to come to terms with (I mean, they are battling for their lives at this point), but I just felt sorta “meh” about it…?
Don’t get me wrong, the ending it what bumped up my review, but throughout reading it I was just feeling meh about everything that was going on. I did really love the magic that was used and how it affects the contestants, but I’m not sure at this point if I’ll be picking up the second book (which, I know, it either out or coming out very soon).

I love the dark vibes of this one!

It is a Magical hunger games, but also an epic journey of political intrigue and the inner workings of family.

A lot happens here, and the book is rich in atmosphere.

There are a lot of characters, a family chart is helpful, but I really enjoyed it.

I can’t wait to dive into book two immediately!

This was such a fun and enjoyable read that didn't try to do too much and rattled along at a great pace. The characters were easy to get on board with and each had their own foibles, which made sense in the narrative. This being a book about villains, everyone had a distinctly grey morality, without ever veering too far into out and out 'bad guy' territory and the relationship interactions felt authentic. The plot was simple, being based upon a tournament to the death, lending a Battle Royale/Hunger Games quality to the narrative - always a fun concept and it was executed well here. Overall, this was a very accessible world with just enough exposition to explain certain things without bogging down the narrative too much. Was it earth shattering? No, but was it a highly enjoyable ride? Absolutely!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

As a huge fan of books featuring morally grey characters, this was a blast! I can't believe it took me this long to read it! I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys dark and villainous characters.

The Hunger Games except the participants are heirs to prominent families and the winner walks away with control over high magic for the next 20 years. Still involves children brutally slaughtering children, though this one is even more gruesome. While this event has been a secret for hundreds of years, recently a tell all book was published and now journalists and spectators have flooded Ilvernath in hopes of seeing the spectacle. When the game begins, one player steals her sister's place in hopes of finding a way to break the curse that forces their families to fight it out once every generation.

The story is told from the point of view of four of the seven players. I wondered why these characters, but by the end of the book, it makes sense. The POV characters make up a Breakfast Club set of teens - the jock kid everyone overlooks, the princess with a secret, the girl from the wrong family, and the emo-est sad boy that's ever wanted to throw himself off a cliff if only to get back at his family's neglect.

The writing is fast-paced with some genuine curveballs and unexpected character moves that make sense in the scheme of things. Each are well-established, though two of the non-POV characters are shadows of people rather than actual people. The magic system is well-established and makes it so no one character is too overly powered, and like teenagers, none of them are making good decisions.

What I hated is that I did not realize this was the start of a duology when I picked it up, and the end just... stops. Things have happened. Characters are walking off with new goals and expectations and it just stops. Luckily I only have to wait until August to finish the story.

The characters seem to be the highlight of the novel, which I found very compelling. 4 POVs, at first seemed really overwhelming, however, they made it work. I think there was excellent development of each character, but I just wanted more villainy from each of them. For me, the book's premise of a magical, more murder-oriented Hunger Games made the instances of reluctant murder is not as or fitting. I was really hoping for a more gruesome plot, however, I did have to remind myself that this is a Young Adult novel about villains. For a YA audience, I think it is perfect. The world-building at first was a bit hard for me to understand, however, the aesthetic of this book was so interesting and the world made more sense as I continued reading. With that, the writing of this book was beautiful and dark – both Foody and Herman write seamlessly, and I found myself consistently surprised that two authors worked on this novel.
Trigger warnings: murder, violence, and mentions of suicide

Overall rating: 3.5

This was all atmosphere, and very little substance until about the last 20% of the book. All of the characters' motivations, with the exception of Alistair, really aren't explained in depth or at all other than "my family said so." The pacing is a bit strange and all over the place; sometimes it dragged and nothing seemed to be happening, whereas other times it flew by so quickly it took me a minute to figure out what exactly was happening. The most compelling part of this book, as I mentioned before, was the atmosphere and world that Foody and Herman created. The overarching doom and gloom feeling permeated every page of the book, and is the main reason why I kept reading. Seeing as it's a duology, I will most likely continue just to see how the story wraps up, and hopefully I like it a bit more than this one.

This was gruesome and gory, and it was just deliciously dark… I think most of my notes are just different variations of one word and one word only: damn. All of Us Villains was absolutely gripping from the first page, and I don’t know why I put it off for so long, but I’m glad I finally read this because it was truly amazing.

If you took The Hunger Games but involved magic and a curse that lasted for centuries within seven families in the remote city of Ilvernath, that would be All of Us Villains. The first in a duology, this book is told from four different perspectives, each of them from one of the seven families:

- Alistair Lowe, the one everyone expects to be the most villainous and monstrous of them all simply because of the family he was born in
- Isobel Macaslan, the one who got shoved into the spotlight and didn’t even want any of this in the first place… or so she says; it just so happens she drew a terrible card from the universe
- Briony Thorburn, the one who really wanted to be champion… and pretty much wants to be the hero of her own story
- Gavin Grieve, the one who also drew a terrible card from the universe and is taken as the butt of all jokes

Let me just say they’re all terrible in their own way. I mean, how could you not when you grow up knowing you’re likely going to die, but you’re going to train for when the Blood Veil falls like all the ones before you because you’re still going to try and be the one who brings glory to your family, aka exclusive control for high magick. But as villainous as they want to be, there’s so much more to them, and I absolutely love the character development as the novel progressed. I kind of hate them, but at the same time, I love them and just want to protect them all?

I will admit All of Us Villains did start out slow. This doesn’t truly pick up until the Blood Veil falls, the champions are announced and the tournament has begun. But Foody and Herman make up for the slow pace by developing the backstories for each of the characters and the world-building – each chapter starts with a quote from A Tradition of Tragedy, the tell-all book that has put the once remote city in the spotlight. The quotes not only give us snippets of the tournament over the years and some background for each of the seven families, but it’s also a huge part of the plot – it’s multiple birds being killed with one stone, and I love to see it.

All of Us Villains was absolutely amazing, and I can’t wait for the sequel to find out what happens to the characters. I didn’t think I would need this in my life truly until I actually read this. If you’re interested in reading something dark, this may just be your cup of tea.

The magic system in this book is really amazing and I was really sold on it when it was said to be like a Hunger Games type book but with villianous families. I'm super excited for the next book to come out already

This sounded promising from the blurb, but I found that I just couldn't get into it, unfortunately. I may try again in the future and find I'm more in the mood for it then, I hope so.

I started reading this book and it was really good I absolutely adored the concept and it gave very much hunger games vibes and also the 39 clues which I literally loved as a kid. I also loved the history and effort that was put into the backstory. Sometimes it was a bit hard to follow with all the different characters but overall it was still a really good read and I would recommend it to others people that I was talking to.

Deliciously twisty and turny dark fantasy. I was instantly pulled into this world and these characters. Everyone exists in shades of gray. They're all villains, yes, but even villains do good things . . . sometimes. And sometimes villains are simply playing the roles they've been cast in. There were so many amazing plot turns that absolutely caught me off-guard. I can't wait for the second book!

all of us villains was an quick and thrilling read with its intriguing of atmosphere of hunger games with magic along with aspects of generational familial pressure. The backstory and system of magic and curses were relatively easy to follow along with each of the seven families' histories of champions and losses on how that affects the present day teen champions. Being multi-perspective made this story fly by much faster in my personal reading experience, but honestly two out of the four point of views carried. It was a bit slow paced towards the beginning but expected with a fantasy series first novel, but it definitely picked up once the tournament started. Alistair Lowe, son of the infamous deadly Lowe family who have had the most winners of the tournament, is of course the most multi-layered character we get to see ranging from his boundless power to the spin of his mind to the grief he is put through. Isobel Macaslan, is one quite interesting as she was thrust into the spotlight as her name was thrust into the media as champion though she had never wanted. She deals with the most fighting much internal battles but also external with her split parents, her father expecting perfection as their family champion meanwhile her mom wants the exact keeping her safe from all harm along with complicated past friendships and new ones. The development of the dynamic between Alistair and Isobel was one well done with its slow burn and one could see it coming with how they met and how their story would could with all the foreshadowing. After the chaos and plot twists of the last ten percent, I'd be fascinated to pick up the sequel and see where Foody and Herman take this story!

I really enjoyed the concept of this book! The magic system was complex and captivating, I hope to see more books set in this world.