I enjoyed bits and pieces of this, but overall it just felt a bit disorganized. I think what really works for this story is the backdrop: a centuries-old curse that traps 7 families in a town and forces them to fight to the death for a claim to powerful magic, and the whole thing a closely guarded secret until some anonymous person publishes a book about it, drawing in a crowd of spectators for the next tournament. We see these kids becoming celebrities (for good or ill), people trying to tease out or bet on strategies and alliances, some champions desperately not wanting the world to see them fall.

Where I think things go wrong is we don’t get enough of life before the tournament. Obviously most of these people know each other- and some fairly well - outside of all this. There were also too many POVs, pulling us in different directions without necessarily accomplishing much (there’s rather a lot of sitting around and thinking, particularly where the boys are concerned). I think picking two out of Bryony, Isobel, and Gavin for POVs would have given us more than enough to push the story along without getting bogged down or missing the important points. Or go completely third person omniscient and give us more from the other champions as well

Oh I wanted to love this. First, the audio quality was not spectacular.NG has come a long way and it is so much better now, but this was downloaded a while back. I am just learning YA is not for me. This book had a competition element I thought I would really love and the synopsis gave me an Unkindness of Magicians vibes, but unfortunately, it was a lot of teenage drama.

Think The Hunger Games but with magic. Unfortunately, the magic system was so basic and I didn’t really feel anything for the characters.

I was entertaining until the ending, which I became very confused.

Not for me.

This gives me such hunger game vibes just add in magic. I loved it. There was murder, betrayal, sabotage and action! You never know if anyone is good or bad. I loved it! I loved the different POVs. Seeing everything through different perspectives made the story more vivid for me. I need the next one right now! Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan- Tor/ Forge for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was quite original and really good. Having multiple POV in a competition made it hard to root for only one person and I disliked and understood all the characters equally, which was quite a novelty for me.
It was a little predictable but it grabbed me right away and I binge read it so I totally recommend it and cannot wait for book 2

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.

4.5/5 Stars

Every generation, seven families send one champion into a deadly battle over the High Magik of Ilvernath until the next battle. Historically the Lowe family comes out victorious, but this blood veil, the other six families have tricks up their sleeves after an anonymous tell-all book was published drawing tourists from all over the world.

I really enjoyed this, especially on the full-cast audio. Hearing each different contestants POV was such a great way to get inside their heads and learn their goals and motives. I think they were well-developed and were all unique in their own way. Their backstories were interesting to learn more about each champion. Allistair was definitely the most intriguing character for me, and I loved how he had such a dark reputation, but he was so much more than that. I liked how everyone had different beliefs about one another in regard to their reputations based on their family names. I loved all the alliances and back stabbing that took place. I do think that it took awhile for the action to take place, but once the blood veil started I was all in.

Definitely intrigued to see where the story goes in book 2.

‘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!

Love this audiobook! The narrators really bring the cast and the fantastic story to life!

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

I keep tell everyone to read this book! I loved how I didn't know who to root for and what I wanted to happen. How do you pick your favorite villian??

Although this book isn’t something I would typically read, I’m shocked that I actually enjoyed it. The characters were absolutely well described and this audiobook was fantastic. I connected with these characters and loved them so much! This whole book was such a fun story and I highly recommend it!

At heart, this is a lot like The Hunger Games with magic. I do like that in the world of this book magic is pretty corrupting. The magical families are pretty grasping and controlling. They do what ever it takes to keep power. Most of the characters are pretty normal. They aren't raised to be inherently cruel but their cruelty comes out when it comes to the contest. This comes out in fairly graphic ways. The book runs a bit long and the ending is rather sudden.

A lot of people are saying that this is a hunger games knock off. I completely disagree. I think it has elements that hunger games doesn't have, you get to know all of the families and characters involved. At least two degree. I think this was very well written and I look forward to reading the rest of them. Though I do not find it to be a hunger games knock off, if you do like those types of dystopian books you will love this.

I really enjoyed this, it's like the Hunger Games with magic and that really worked for me. I loved that we got multiple POVs so we could get to know each character and what drives them or holds them back. They all face expectations and a sense of duty and pride. We really get to see that there's more to them than meets the eye.

Based on the title I was actually expecting more villainous characters and acts.

There's family drama and expectations, friendships and temporary alliances, magic, and deceit. I thoroughly enjoyed it all and can't wait for more.

I wanted to like this more than I did. Parts of it I enjoyed very much and the idea of trying to go against something that has been in place for so long is very appealing. But I found it hard to keep the characters straight at first, and in some cases, the dual narratives didn'r work well for me (it seemed like some scenes that were told from different pov that the additional viewpoint didn't add much?) I really like Amanda Foody and I really like some of the themes here so maybe I will read the sequel...

In All of Us Villains I felt like the multiple POV was a perfect choice. We are allowed to not only get to know each character, but to see what motivates them. Why they compete. And what hopes for the future they have. Throughout I definitely had favorites, but not as many as I thought because I could truly empathize with each one of them. In All of Us Villains, these characters are twisted by magic, sacrifice, and duty. Relating to magic, I enjoyed the world building immensely.

The magic that exacted dangerous and deadly consequences? Loved it. The magical battles and the terror? Adored it. I was promised a darker magical fantasy and this truly delivered. I definitely felt like it took a bit of time for the book to really get started - considering the competition looms in the distance always. But All of Us Villains tries to illustrate the ways these characters evolve and change.

A group of the prominent families in Ilvernath have been participating in a deadly competition for magic, and now, the world knows due to the publication of a tell-all novel. As the next competition gets ready to start, reporters, protesters, and tourists flock to the remote town to watch the spectacle. A generations old curse that seals off the chosen heirs from each family from the rest of the world, forcing them into a competition to the death. Winner gets high magic, everyone else dies. The Lowe family, willing to do anything to win, have been the victors nearly every tournament. But this year, all of the families have gained and advantage in on way or another due to the notoriety of the competition. Each champion has a chance to make history, but only one can survive.


All of Us Villains is a dark fantasy with Hunger Games vibes that I could not put down. I loved the idea of a vicious competition for magic, each champion unafraid to kill for power. The story evolved into something vicious, yes, but also into a tale of friendship, family, and bravery. Told in several different POVs from a few of the chosen, this story will wrap you up and leave you wondering what violence will happen next.


As the title suggests, all of the characters are villainous. They do monstrous things in the name of the competition, but you will find redeeming qualities about them. If you like morally gray characters, this will be right up your alley. This is a character driven story with the drama of family ties, broken and new friendships, and romances. Basically, All of Us Villains has it all.


*I did not get a chance to listen to the full audio. I only listened to a sample and enjoyed the narration.

All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody + Christine Lynn Herman
Narrated by Billie Fulford-Brown + Raphael Corkhill
Stars: 4.4

All of Us Villains started off a little slow for me. It took a bit for me to get into it. There are seven families and each must put forth one person to act as their champion in a competition where death is a likely outcome. The prize? Magic for that family. The story revolves around four main characters and while it's quite bloody, I don't quite think of it as anything like The Hunger Games, other than a champion from each district/family and a competition where death is easily attainable and the champion is greatly rewarded. I think Ms. Foody and Ms. Herman have made a very unique book, loosely, very loosely similar to the actual Hunger Games.

Overall, this was an enjoyable story and the narration was well done. The characters weren't as villainous as I was expecting, but I really enjoyed their unique motivations for their actions. I'm interested in reading the sequel as well! The narration really brought the characters and story to life and I think that they did a great job.

Thanks so much to #NetGalley, #MacmillanYoungListeners, #Macmillan, and the authors for this ARC!

I tried to listen to this audiobook but there was an issue with an echo? It wasn’t as noticeable at normal speed, but as you begin to increase the speed it becomes more noticeable and quite distracting

4 star for narration, but 3 stars overall.

The story was just okay for me. Maybe I was just not in the right mood for it. I loved the narrator. I was just missing some oomph in the story I guess. It’s been a few weeks since I finished it and I thought the time would let me think about it and truly decide what I thought of it. Problem is it just kind of faded from memory. Nothing about it hooked me in, in a way that made me love it.

I would read more from the author if I stumbled upon one of their books that sounded interesting to me,, but wouldn’t go out of my way to find more.