A solid 3.5 star read, shame about the controversy surrounding one of the authors. The book had characters with depth and the plot moved along at a nice pace

When I saw the cover and read the synopsis of All of Us Villains, it just screamed dark academia with morally gray characters. It really sounded so promising. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations at all.

One thing that it failed to deliver is to live up to the word "villain." It was pitched as "The Hunger Games with magic," so I was expecting characters who were dark, cunning, and cold-blooded antiheroes, but despite those flaws, I would still root for them. However, they weren't. They were just kids who were putting masks to please their families.

On the other hand, the first half was a slow start because it was more of the backstories of the characters. While it was nice to know their backgrounds, there were not much development happening. The second half picked up and there were enough actions which was similar to The Hunger Games. Meanwhile, although the world building and magic system was quite established, it needed more details to be more satisfying.

Overall, it was saddening that this book just wasn't for me. Maybe I'm more accustomed now to ruthlessness of grimdark fantasy that was why I found this novel lacking in that area. Some readers actually quite enjoy this novel, so take this review with a grain of salt.

I really enjoyed reading this one. It starts out a bit slow but definitely picks up once the competition starts - which was my favourite part. It's definitely one of those books which I could not put down as I constantly wanted to know what happens next. The magic system was pretty cool but I did feel that the world could have been fleshed out better.

The characters were pretty great too.. I loved all the various character dynamics that we got. Although, I did wanted more villainy from them. My favourite was Alaistair - he was just precious and I am pretty excited to know what happens to him. The romance was somewhat unnecessary but it didn't bother me a lot. What bothered me a bit was the change in Briony's stand on the competition. I just don't think that people beliefs change as fast as Briony's did. Also, she has about a week of some research and the word of person ( Whom she didn't know that well) to go on and all of a sudden she thought she could break the curse where no one has succeeded in 800 years or so. That's a lot of assumption, risk and trusting on a person you don't know very well. I think it's possible but I don't think it comes across as a believable. Especially because her entire life all she wanted was to win the competition and now she suddenly wants to break it. It felt kinda abrupt to me.

Overall, filled with magic, mayhem and betrayal, this was still a very enjoyable read. I am definitely looking forward to the sequel and conclusion of this story.

3.5 ⭐

Thank you to NetGalley and Gollancz for the e-Arc!

This story consumed me, I don't even know how I got hooked but I am DYING TO READ THE SEQUEL!!!

It was such a wild ride, so addictive, a true page turner. I wasn't expecting this at all, that tagline on the cover really does it justice: Hunger Games with magic ✨

There is an aesthetic to this book, a dark academia-esque, wicked forest, doom and gloom sort of vibe that made my skin prickle. The uneasy atmosphere and vivid worldbuilding elements were captivating, the entire time I was relentlessly trying to figure out a way to save my beloved, wicked faves.

I knew going in that this story was meant to be fun, was meant to clearly be inspired by The Hunger Games, was supposed to be a bit campy and silly and over the top and it was executed perfectly. None of the nauseating YA pining or overused enemies so lovers lines. No cookie cutter characters and generic world.

True wickedness was present here, it turned my stomach and gave me goosebumps so a big bravo to the author duo for pulling me into this gruesome world and making me become lost in Ilvernath's bloody history,  twisted families and impossibliy bloody events.

The balance of 4 POVs worked excellently,  the pace was well executed and kept me turning the pages late into the night, the magic system was well crafted and unique.

Of all 4 main POVs I most liked Allastair the monstrous and Isobel the princess, their dynamic was so carefully constructed, believable and nuanced.
Grieve was an unexpected addition, reading an underdog POV is always satisfying, especially in this case because it has a twist to it.
Briony pissed me off to no end,  she needs to work out her hero complex and I expect some very messed up things come her was soon.

The only thing I have to criticise about this was the overuse of the word "villain". It was mentioned a comical number of times and more often that not it felt like an awkward choice of word for someone to use it when referring to themselves.

Overall, a truly enjoyable popcorn read that has left me desperate emailing the publisher to end my 6 month wait for the sequel early.
I am so impressed with how complex each character's family dynamics were, with the natural diversity and inclusivity, with the authors not pulling any punches. THIS BOOK IS BLOODY GREAT.

A big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc.

So, I have a few thoughts on this one. I really liked the concept and the plot, hence the 3.5 stars, but what really let it down for me was some concerning passages in the book. There are many examples of lgbtq+ characters being displayed as predatory and some really concerning racist metaphors… an editor should have caught these things and pointed them out.

trigger warning
<spoiler> grief, mutilation, being held prisoner, gore, child abuse, mention of suicide, mention of drug addiction, mention of torture, child neglect </spoiler>

Every 20 years, seven families from a small town compete, sending on of their own to kill everybody else in a tournament. This year, everything will be different, as it is the first tournament after the book that revealed their secrets to the world was published.

In this world, magick [sic] is common, but the most powerful version appears to have left - apart from the one small city with the lethal tournament that has been a secret for centuries. The family who wins the tournament will have power over the high magick till the next tournament rolls around; if nobody survives, no one gets the access.

The thing is: It's not like they have this for fun, there is a curse going on and in the last 800 years, most strategies to go around it have been tested. None worked. So the families roll with it, trying to... well some want to win, others deem their chances to be so low that they just ignore the person who is going to compete, as they'll die anyway.

We have multiple povs, but not seven, so it was relatively clear that those four people we read about will wind up together in some way. In the beginning, it felt as if those were far too much, but as soon as the tournament started and things got busy, it was good we had those perspectives.

The elephant in the room. Magick. Again, I had trouble with this until the tournament started, because... I blame Terry Pratchett. All I can see is somebody trying to be cool and edgy, probably with the argument that "it was written that way long ago", and I have trouble taking the person who uses it seriously. It threw me out of the flow many, many times.
Yes, it sets you apart from the people who use the regular spelling, but not neccessarily in the way you want.

Will I read on? Hell yes.
I liked the different motivations of the characters, and while I could predict in which direction things would go in general, since the characters are reacting all the time and have to switch gears, I could not predict in which manner we would get there.
Additionally, I started this and only read a few pages, but as soon as I gave it a real go, without cramming pages here and there, I found I could not put it down. I wanted to read on. My reading plans didn't get done, in the fun way that I read more than I had assumed I would, because it had me.

Would recommend this if you're into dynamics between people, and don't mind gore. It's not a slasher book, but, well, they're out to kill each other. Things happen.

And now I need to find out when the second book will come out.

The arc was provided by the publisher.

I read this ARC a while back, but unfortunately did not get the opportunity to review. However, thankfully because I really enjoyed this title, I can still remember a lot of my thoughts. Often comparisons to Hunger Games get thrown around and as someone that still loves the Hunger Games series (even the darkness of Mockingjay), I am typically let down. That was definitely not the case here - a competition to the death where families send their teenagers. This book wasn't afraid to dive into some dark themes. Whilst this is marked as YA, I felt it could read as adult, but without some of the elements that would truly make the title adult.

I enjoyed that the novel was written from the point of view of various teens who were the participants for that year. (Although I would be interested to know why only 4 of the 7 were chosen.) The different dynamics between these teenagers, their families and how they became their family representative was really well weaved together - I felt that despite a lot of world building, it generally didn't feel too heavy. Although the magic system was not necessarily explained and did take me a little getting used to.

When I started reading the ARC, I didn't realise this was part of a series. As such, I now am anxiously awaiting the sequel, because I genuinely want to know where this story is going and there were several cliff hangers.

I have NEVER finished a book so quickly. MY GOD.
The way this book divides your alignment through different narratives is just stunning. My morals were aligned with EACH character and I found
myself just clawing at the book, trying not to break it. The way friction and tension was a theme present throughout every page, I didn't know which direction it was going. But I was hooked.
If you're going to read any book this year, make sure All of Us Villains makes it onto your TBR. If you enjoyed Hunger Games: Catching Fire, I can guarantee you'll find yourself besotted with this book.

4.25/5

This is undoubtedly the darkest YA fantasy I've ever read. Think darker than Six of Crows, perhaps even darker than Vicious (which is an adult fantasy). It has all the elements I adore in a fantasy book; complex characters with dark backstories, compelling world building and magic system, adrenaline filled action scenes, a plot twist/cliffhanger that will leave you at the edge of your seat. I loved how the characters are unashamedly mean and selfish. They constantly walk the line between anti-heroes and villains. But don't mistake them to be heroes. I liked the casual queer representation, a one line somewhere that a character misses flirting with boys and girls. Though I want to see some queerness in the sequel 👀

The only qualm I have is the rivals/enemies to lovers plot which felt really forced and underdeveloped. I love this trope but the characters jumped from enemies to lovers so quick it gave me whiplash. One minute they're like, "ugh my opponent is a true monster", and next minute they're like, "omg my opponent is so hot i think I'm in love with them". Also the plot lost momentum in the middle but starting and ending was amazing.

This is an interesting and enjoyable read - similar themes to The Hunger Games but with a magical theme. Here, the children of rival families enter a competition to the death in order to win power but once in the arena, the rules get broken, alliances are made. boundaries are broken and secrets begin to unfold.

While this was an enjoyable read I went into All of us Villains expecting a lot more and for it to be a lot darker than it was. I really did love the adult hunger games/game of thrones vibes though. Looking forward to see where this goes in the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the E-arc

I kind of expected more from this book. It was enjoyable but not enrapturing, and I didn't find myself being particularly attached to any of the characters or the story. I've definitely read better villains (if you could truly call these characters villains rather than just morally grey individuals), and although I liked the Hunger Games vibe, I was somewhat let down because it most certainly didn't match up to Collins' work. Associating so closely with such a famous, well-written story is dangerous for this exact reason.

I would still recommend this for a compelling, dark read, and I'm interested in finding out what happens next in the sequel.

Many thanks to the publishers and netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

I was honestly so so excited to read it! Unfortunately things just didn’t work out for us.
Here’s why:

Okay so the basic premise is that there’s two types of magic: high magic and low magic. It’s never really explained how these work we are just meant to understand. Anyway high magic was thought to not exist anymore but a few years ago someone outed the final high magic users. They’re a group of old families who have a curse on them: this keeps the high magic in their bloodlines but they must compete to control the magic. When they fight each family chooses a champion and they essentially have the hunger games. The family who ends up with a child alive they get the magic until the next bloodbath.

The book is told from the perspective of several of the champions. We of course have our classic underdogs etc. They all have forgettable names. We have rich boy meanie whose family always win anyway, girl who is in the spotlight as her family’s champion but doesn’t even want to compete, the perfect champion who doesn’t get picked to be her family’s champion, and underdog who’s family never win so he bets big to help him have an edge.

They live in some kind of modern day world but with magic and it feels very British somehow. Like if it was set in York or somewhere small with cobbled streets. I picture Canterbury as I lived there for a while. It’s modern but then also fantasy, and I’m not sure it always blends well?

As we skip between these characters it makes it hard to care about any of them as they all have their reasons for doing things but you don’t get to know any of them well enough to really feel invested. Nevermind that, the male characters especially were hard to tell apart as their voices aren’t too distinct. The level of callousness in the book is also alarming like I know it’s about killing children and stuff but the family that always wins literally kill the guys brother to use a spell to give him an edge. Like it was so unneeded as he had all the advantages anyway and his brother was the only character I kind of liked. And they murdered him off screen so it was also kind of anticlimactic.

The whole thing felt like a cool idea that didn’t really have any real weight or realism to it and I could t get invested in these characters at all because they’re all basically stereotypes with no real voice or agency. No one makes their own choices they’re just pushed around by their families.

There is some LGBT+ rep but it’s so minimal. One of the characters is definitely bisexual but it’s not an important plot point and doesn’t really have much screen time after it being mentioned.
Overall, I think it was villainous to put the book out as it is because it just feels…unpolished like an idea that didn’t get fully rounded out.

4.5 stars

Oh my god this book was everything I wanted and didn't know I needed. I loved these morally grey characters and learning more about their history. The characters really make this story and I loved watching as they developed throughout.

I loved the writing and I was honestly hooked from the very beginning. I thought the magic system was so interesting and all those twists had me on the edge of my seat!

I honestly recommend this one to anyone who loves a good fantasy book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a nice read. I hope to get to read more books like this.
I would like to suggest this book to others, for the nice plot and it sure is an interesting read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman.

Advertised as The Hunger Games with magic, it was an insta-request for me.

I really enjoyed the premise of All of Us Villains and liked the general concept of the competition and the way the family champions were chosen.

I could definatly had done with more... murder, though. I wanted more gore, more betrayal, more grit. But as All of Us Villains spent a lot of time world building, developing and explaining the lore and allowing the reader to get acquainted with the multiple POV's/characters, I have high hopes for getting exactly what I want in book two.

This one was very hyped up, and whilst it was enjoyable, it didn’t live up to the hype. Maybe I’ll reread at a later time, sometimes books are more likeable the second time round!

Firstly, I would like to thank NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge (Tor Teen) for an e-arc of this title.

This book is a Hunger Games/ Game of Thrones style tournament that pitches a group of magical teens against each other in a fight to the death. It follows the seven contestants, their reason and needs to enter the tournament and the alliances they make.

I was excited about this. I love Amanda Foody's Daughter of the Burning City and Ace of Shades (though I still need to finish that series). As of the moment though I haven't read anything by Christine Lynn Herman. The idea of anti-heroes fighting to the death with magic. Who wouldn't be excited!

Overall, I felt the book was enjoyable. However, it didn't live up to the hype that I expected it to have.

While the book gives off the feeling that these characters would be anti-heroes and have a desire or want to kill their opponents - they came across more as ordinary teenagers. Most of the characters were even reluctant to enter the tournament remaining me more of the tributes to the Hunger Games. I did have expectations that the characters would mastermind ingenious ways to kill each other. Create elaborate tricks and spells to trap their enemies but while there was lots of conniving it wasn't in the way I expected.

As always with a story like this, there was a twist ending that leaves the reading wanting more. What will happen to our remaining contestants? Who will survive and who will be the reigning champion?

3 Stars

I just want to say that this is a high 3 stars, I found the elements to be super intriguing and the use of curses really gripped me. I really enjoyed the characters and the underdog story with Gavin, however I just had a few issues that I think I'd of preferred maybe? I don't know I can't put my finger on it...

I'd gone in with super high expectations and was one of my most anticipated reads of the year so I don't think this helps either but I think I maybe expected it to be slightly darker than what it was? I mean the "dark moments" were great and I was like oooooft, but I think I wanted more of those moments!

Still definitely going to carry on with the series though!

All of Us Villains is reminiscent of The Hunger Games, in a more adult way, but without the same level of skill to keep the reader engaged.
While I enjoyed aspects of this books, such as the strong character development, the portrayal of magic and the intrigue of the lore that aids the world-building, the overarching lack of plot let it down. I understand that this book is the first of a duology, but it acted like the first half of one book. The plot reached a climax and sort of... never resolved itself. It seemed like it was missing the second half of the book, which I'm sure will appear in the second half.
I'm honestly torn on this, but ultimately the lack of structure bothered me and diminished the reading experience for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gollancz for the arc in exchange for an honest review.