I really enjoyed this. Similar to The Hunger Games, get more brutal like GOT. I loved the world building and the characters were richly developed.

Thank You to Tor Teen, the authors and Netgalley for an E-ARC of "All of Us Villians" in exchange for an honest review*

Wickedly good read. I enjoyed the perspective from "villains" and the fresh take on the whole young people battle royale. So much tragedy and yet I couldn't stop reading. Definitely not the kinda book you wanna read without the next book on immediate standby.

Dark, dangerous, delicious.

I really enjoy the writing of these authors individually. Together = chef’s kiss

It’s basically The Hunger Games + magic. It felt fast-paced and held twists. Extremely well-plotted too.

I cannot wait to see what’s next!!!

So far, with its diverse POV cast and the promise of a battle to the death between the scions of the various families, this is very much reminding me of an aged down version of House of Dragons.

But holy crap, how did this book be so good, basically from beginning to end. I was highkey ready to go into this and hate every single characters. First on my shit list was Alasdair, and I'll be damned if he didn't become my actual fav by the end.

Similarly, with Gavin Grieve, he seemed like a big old underdog at the start. So I felt sorry for him. And then he made enough dumb choices that ended up changing his personality that I found myself watching him like he was a rabid dog before the end.

These are just two of the ways that these authors wrote amazing characters and four different PoVs. There are actually 7 main characters in this battle to the death, but only four of them end up having chapters in their viewpoint. The reason for this becomes pretty clear early on.

And the depth of family relationships and history that we get from these four people is just... wow. There are not many books that pull on hundreds of years of history where you actually feel as though you came out of it feeling as though you are on the inner circle of having seen that history unfold.

The magic and the world building of this novel are just phenomenal. And honestly I shouldn't be surprised given Amanda Foody is also the author of Ace of Shades, a similarly gut wrenching beginning to a series.

I absolutely can't wait to see what the rest of this series does.

Did I enjoy it? Yes. Do I think teens would like it? Yes. Do I think any teen under 16-17 should read it? Meh. This book was so bloody and violent that I don’t know that It should be marketed to YA (ages 14-18).

DNF

For some reason, this book just isn't doing it for me. It has all the components that I love in a good story, but they just weren't coming together right. I'm a little disappointed to DNF it because I was ready for this to be my new favorite book, but I just don't feel like pushing through a mediocre novel just because it had an interesting premise.

I loved this! Very Hunger Games-esque, but darker. The world building and character development was great, which is often lacking in this type of book. I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy!

This book was intoxicating. It gripped me and had me from the very beginning. I loved the multiple POVs and how complex each character was. There was a slight stretch in the middle where the book seemed to lose a bit of its momentum but then it brought me back in at the end. I also love the very unique magic system within this book! I am excited, yet nervous, for book 2!

All of Us Villians was my most anticipated book of the year, and it did not disappoint. it was pitched as magical Hunger Games and i knew from that moment that i was going to love it. From the atmosphere, to worldbuilding was 10/10. If you enjoy dark magical fantasy and Hunger Games i highly recommend.

When I read the description for All of Us Villains I was intrigued and I had to read it. I loved the magic system in the books as it was different from other books I have read. The world was beautifully created and loved travelling it. I really liked the characters and the relationships that they had with each other.. I am looking forward to the next one.

I loved this book. I'm fascinated by how different writers teach magic in fantasy, and I loved this. It felt like the Hunger Games, but with a dark twist. Cunning, twisted, and absolutely thrilling!

4.5 stars. I was worried when I came to the end, but now that I see another book is coming, I'm OK. I loved the tense atmosphere and darkness of this book. The magic system was cool and the stakes were incredibly high for every character. I was very excited for this book from the moment I saw the cover and am happy to say that it lived up to my expectations. I received an ARC through Netgalley of both the ebook and audiobook. The audiobook has excellent narration and I would highly recommend giving it a listen. I can't wait for the book's official release so I can add my copy to my shelves.

I don’t have the most detailed thoughts on this book because I listened to it as an audiobook and it never captured my full attention. I went in only knowing that it was described as “the Hunger Games but with magic,” and that’s pretty much what I got from it. The seven main characters (well really it’s four, but there are seven champions) and their families all have very different traits and I did enjoy learning about how differently they all live their lives with magic. The tension between some of the characters felt real and sufficient, while between others felt a little forced and/or dissipated very quickly. Like I said, not too many detailed thoughts, just enjoyed the ride. I found it mildly entertaining, and promising to have an interesting continuation of the story.

‘the hunger games’ with magic, you say? I'm sold.

This is the kind of story that has something for everyone - a really unique magic system, interesting characters who have depth and amazing development, a high-stakes plot with a gruesome history, and really easy to binge-read writing/storytelling. For me, I found the characters to be the highlight of the novel. especially Alistair and Gavin. I personally have a thing for tortured souls, so I couldn't help but love them. My one critique would be that, with a title like ‘all of us villains,’ I felt like there should be more villainy. The synopsis makes this sound like ‘the hunger games,’ but all of the participants are careers with magic. so I was expecting really ruthless, bloodthirsty, cruel antiheroes. but they aren't. there's maybe one character whos morally grey, at best. I was really disappointed to see that they were just a bunch of kids putting on a front for their families. They're more martyrs than the true, dark villains I was hoping for. Luckily things do change right at the end. It starts to get really good in terms of deception and mistrust, so I have a feeling the next book will be more villainous. I cannot wait!

Every generation there is a tournament. Marked by the Blood Moon in Ilvernath, seven families offer a champion to compete for a chance at immense power. High magick has been gone from the world since it was used up thousands of years go. The only remaining source resides in Ilvernath, tied to these seven families. Only one family may claim the magick after defeating the other six competitors by winning a fight to the death tournament. All involved have promised to keep this a secret… until now.

When I heard that this book was described as The Hunger Games with magic, I was immediately sold. And let me tell you right off the bat, I am not disappointed. Foody and Lynn write an amazing cast of characters, a deep and vicious world, and a high-stakes plot that left me staying up all night to finish. I was completely and utterly obsessed right from the start.

There are four perspectives in this book, even though there are seven champions. I was really impressed with the way Foody and Lynn wrote their characters. Each character had a distinct voice, so I never had an issue about telling whose story it was at the time. I give the authors a lot of credit because four unique perspectives is definitely difficult to write and balance. I didn’t expect my loyalties to change as I read, but they did. I am extremely impressed with the character development in All of Us Villains.

Something that worried me going into this book was that I was 1) expecting really dark characters and 2) I didn’t know how dual perspective from two authors would be. To address the first thing, I wish the characters were just a little more villainous. They were morally grey, at best, and I wanted to read about really ruthless characters. I hope this changes in the second books. Second, I loved reading the two writing styles. While different, they flowed so well together that it worked perfectly. I was pleasantly surprised, and I am absolutely going to pick up the next book.

If you read All of Us Villains, you shouldn’t be prepared for extremely dark characters. You should be expecting to fall in love with all of them for a different reason. I think anyone could find a character they loved in this book, simply because they were all so unique and different with deep, well thought out backstories.

A potential warning: this book ends on a MASSIVE cliffhanger. So, if you don’t like cliffhangers, I would wait until the sequel comes out. I know I will be buying as soon as possible because I need to know what happens.

It so hard to rate this book. I have tried over and over to pick it up and try to read this and it’s just not for me. I tried the audiobook and that didn’t help either. So I will not be reviewing this book. I was not the audience for it. It was hard for me to read the way this book was written. There was not a lot of dialogue between characters and that is just hard for me to get through.

Great characters who have well developed personalities and motives. AMAZING atmosphere, as well as shocking twists. The multiple perspectives were all interesting. I liked seeing the characters’ inner conflicts.

Immediately, this story gave me such Hunger Games meets Shadowhunter Chronicle vibes with a dark twist. Sounded ideal to me! I'll start with what I did enjoy. The only character I cared for at all was Alistair Lowe. I mean it was automatic love at first read on my end. Instantaneous. I also loved the inclusion of the excerpts from A Tradition of Tragedy included at the beginning of each chapter. Such a great idea to introduce characters and their families but also explain the world and the magic system. Really smart and intriguing move.

Now, what I took issue with. I did not care for any characters but one, as mentioned. And even with Alistair, the authors messed up when writing him. They kept bringing up his hyper-fixation with monsters and being a monster in a very juvenile way. It was just poor writing. I know this sounds weird because its a character that they wrote, but it felt like an established character I love being messed with by authors that don't know how to handle him tactfully. He had the most potential though aside from that major annoyance. The switching POVs with no main character did absolutely nothing for me. In fact it hurt the experience. I need some semblance of focus to reel me in. The voices were not distinct enough to differentiate and stand on their own.
This book could really have been something if we had maybe 2 mains and then great side characters. Also, the names of the curses and much of the dialogue was simplistic and not creative. It all felt very middle grade.

Overall, this book just lacked a level of depth and connection. Characters are so important to a book whether its the inclusion, development, or editing down of them. And this is probably the biggest critique I have. I care enough about the story and Alistair to read the next book so we'll see how that goes.

Amazing! I'm so glad this is the start to a series as one book just isn't enough.

Thank you too NetGalley, the publisher and then author for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is definitely a binge-worthy story that keeps the reader hooked from beginning to end.

Characters: I think the characters of All of Us Villains were the highlight of the story. Alistair and Gavin are the typical tortured souls of YA fantasy, and are exactly what a reader is looking for when they dive into this genre.

Plot: The plot is full of jaw dropping twists, adventure, and moments leaving you death gripping your book or device thinking Holy Crap! The story keeps you engaged and wanting to know what comes next. I loved watching the chaos unravel.

Craft: Foody and Herman have a talent for YA character development that keeps the reader hooked and emotionally engaged throughout the story. I cannot wait to read the second story in this series!

Critique: The title makes it seem like it will be more villainy then it was. I would've liked less tortured souls and more true, twisted, dark Villains that leave me emotionally challenged.