I'm so glad I reread All of Us Villains before starting this one as I'd somehow forgotten so many little details. I went into this book with some trepidation after seeing a few people talk about how they DNF'd it due to the pacing. However, I thought it was a solid sequel with some great character development and many poignant moments.

The morally grey characters in this duology are plentiful. In fact, there's not one character you can identify as a "hero". But that's what makes this story special - what defines a hero or a villain? how do trauma and family shape your character? what happens when all your life you've been told you're a monster or expendable? can you break free of the role that's been written for you? how far are you willing to go to survive?

It was slighter slower-paced than the first book but I think that worked in its favour as it allowed the reader to get to know the characters better. The first book was fast-paced and the pressure of the tournament heightened the emotions of all the champions until they acted in ways they never expected. This book gives the champions time to reflect on their behaviour and choices, to decide what they want their legacy to be, and to forge new relationships.

I'm a sucker for villainous romance so shipped Alistair and Gavin immediately. Everything about their alliance was like catnip to me. I also loved the addition of Reid to the main cast of characters. It's amazing how the authors can encourage the reader to empathise with every character's point of view. Something can sound awful when relayed by one character then the authors switch POV and the reader switches allegiance with it. Maybe I'm just easily manipulated though...

A truly villainous fantasy packed with revenge, heartbreak, sacrifice, and love.

I have never fell so gutted as much as I do now.

I've been putting this one off because I really enjoyed the first one and I'm always scared to read sequels.

I could not get into this one and I'm devastated because I wanted to love it so much.

I feel like I might try and pick it up later on if Ifeel like I'm in the mood but with the amount of books on my tbr I don't think it will be anytime soon.

So sorry!

All of Us Villains was one of my favourite books of 2021, so it's safe to say I was super excited for All of Our Demise. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations and really threw me for a loop. I enjoyed being back in the world and was eager to find out how the tournament/story would wrap up, but I really didn't like how this series concluded at all. Though I was frustrated by the pacing, most of my dislike for this book stems from its characters/ships. I wasn't a huge fan of the ending either. Ultimately, I'd still recommend the first book but this second one really disappointed me.

The first book in this series was so good, I love anything with morally grey characters, the complexity of them makes it easy to root for them but you can also see where they're going wrong as well. This was an amazing conclusion to the series,

This was a good finale to a duology but I found it rather slow to get through.
The character development was there - its what brought me back to read the sequel after the first book - but I felt that it could have been done faster or in a more interesting way. The ending was a bit predictable too so I wasn't buzzing to finish it.
Decent read to finish the duology but possibly could have been written differently.

I was pretty excited for this one. I had read the first book, All of Us Villains, in the run up to my wedding - kindle hooked up to a platform on my exercise bike, I devoured it in a day or so. I did the same, minus the motivation of the wedding, with this second book and almost a year on, I'm struggling to understand why it was written or what happened to the parts I had loved so much before.

I like the characters - there is a really nice level of humour in these books which hits just perfectly for me. But that's just it, in this book I didn't love the characters (and they're the same people!!!) and actually none of the events, tragic or otherwise, subjected to any of them felt like they had any heat behind them. In the previous book I had been super invested in every one of them, but I felt every 400+ page of this book. It was definitely a problem with pacing.

The same is true for the trials. In this book we also see a trial-style formula - this time they want to end the tournament instead of each other (well, some of them still want to end each other!). Previously the tournament had been so much fun - I am a huge sucker for a trial by fire, fight to the death arena style trope. I love that - give me all the books with that. So I should have been lined up for a pretty guaranteed success here with some semi-trials for the characters to work their way through in destroying relics pertinent to the trial. Nope - they were so watered down that they didn't feel like they were high stakes at all (and they actually were); I just wasn't bothered at all.

So it's a nice book, I'm glad to see the characters again, but it doesn't pack the same punch as the first book and part of me sort of wishes they left it at book one, cliffhangers included.

A perfect finale to the duology which began with “All of Us Villains”. Where the first book gave us the introductions to the characters, the premise and the world, this second half was able to dive that little bit deeper into the characters. It rounded out their personal trials and evolving connections without ever betraying who we grew to already love.
Although a large part of the book is dedicated to the lack of a binary “good/evil”, and I do enjoy the more realistic blurred grey of it all, I do still wish there was a bit more darkness. Even with the blood that was drawn and the lives that were rent violently from the world it still all felt very “good triumphs” to me. There were no real morally grey characters. Only good ones who acted out of fear or confusion. A trope our saving grey hero himself succumbed to even in the first book.

But all in all I do stand by my claim that this ends the tale perfectly, although I wish there was going to be more.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the chance to read this beautiful book. I couldn't put this book down. Complex, cerebal and addictive

Recommended for those who love a complex read. The perfect dark academia read.

What a conclusion! This was such a great way to end the duology and I have to say despite rereading the first book, some things occurred that I didn’t see coming until we were almost there!

The characters go through so much in All of Our Demise, and by the end, some of them don’t resemble who they were at the beginning of All of Us Villains. All these characters have morally grey traits, which make their individual perspectives so fascinating to read, as we get to understand their thought process and why they’re doing what they’re doing.

“Are you sure you want this?”
“Want this? I’ve spent so much time thinking about you, and what you think of me. I’ve wanted this so much I’ve obsessed over it.”

Our characters are in the middle of the competition between seven families to see which family claims the high magic until the next blood moon. Alastair, Gavin, Brioney, Isobel, and Finley are the remaining champions. But the events of the last book meant Hendry (Alastair’s brother) has risen from the dead and joins the champions. Alastair will do anything to save his brother, and if ending the tournament cycle will kill Hendry (again), then he won’t do it. In an unexpected turn of events, Gavin joins Alastair and they form a temporary alliance, whilst trying to figure out how to save Alastair from Isobel’s curse, and save Gavin from the tattoo draining his life magic.

Isobel, Brioney, and Finley are still determined to end the tournament so they can all live. They know they need to match the items with the landmarks, but it is easier than it looks. The boundary separating the tournament from the public has fallen, so there are reporters swarming the battle ground. Brioney, Finley, and Isobel decide to recruit outside help and visit a familiar face. For the first time in forever, there is a new contestant in the tournament.

‘In a different story, would we still have been enemies?’

Without getting into specifics, there is romance, friendship, and still a sprinkle of betrayal in this book! I laughed, cried, and adored these characters the whole time. They’re racing against time to break the curse on the tournament before the tournament breaks itself and they all die. I couldn’t put this one down and found this duology to be an incredible read!

I think I preferred this one to the first in the series. I felt that the character building was a bit better and I found a few of the characters more likeable! The reading experience was a little better this time around.

This was a strong follow up to ALL OF US VILLAINS. I absolutely loved the first book and I liked ALL OF OUR DEMISE even more. That is ****rare**** because usually sequels struggle to live up to a fantastic first installment. The characters are the driving force behind this whole series and their arcs continue in an incredibly satisfying and well-developed way. Somehow characters I hated in the first book became my absolute favourites (fucking GAVIN) and I really enjoyed seeing more of their motivations and personalities.

And oh my god, the relationships. I know that I’m always a sucker for a queer relationship but watching Gavin and Alistair flirt back and forwards through their will-they-won’t-they crises of loyalty and betrayal was making me completely feral. I put so many tabs in this book because Gavin or Alistair would say something and I’d start gnawing on my own ribcage waiting to find out if it was going to turn into something more.

It wasn’t just the romantic relationships that had me going wild. The loyalty and trust between the champions was beautiful. They all had so much to lose and were fighting against a lifetime of mistrust and ingrained hatred for each other. The way they came together as a team felt so authentic and real and I absolutely adored it.

ALL OF OUR DEMISE is slower paced than the first book, more focused on their mission and their relationships instead of the cut-throat pace of the first book. They had trials to tackle, specific tasks to achieve to try and bring down the tournament once and for all. It was fascinating, and I really enjoyed the way the trials pulled together the family history that we got to see hints of in the first book.

VILLAINS was mostly champion-focused but in this one we also got to see the town and people outside of the tournament reacting not only to the champions but to the tournament itself. It added so much depth to the story when we got to see the tournament falling apart and long traditions failing the families.

The audiobook is a fantastic performance that I highly recommend, and I recommend this duology in general for anyone who’s looking for a darker fantasy with incredible character relationships.

Ugh the book was perfect and an amazing follow up!! I got answers that I wanted and I just now want more from this world!

I loved book one so ao much and I loved this even more, its creepy and weird and I love Allistair especially my absolute child

I feel like I should have started from the beginning on this, I was being optimistic. I couldn't get into it, sorry.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I've got really mixed feelings about this one, because I ADORED the first one. Sadly with this one, I struggled to get into it. I've not even finished it yet because I was reluctant to pick it up every time I was up for reading because it just didn't have quite the same feeling as the first one.

I do still have this book on order and am excited to get back to it, because I want to know how it ends. And I still love the characters! Maybe it's just one of those books I picked up at the wrong time...!

“If I'm going to die either way, I'd rather be a casualty in a good story than a terrible one. And that's what I want for you, too. A good story.”

*4.5 stars*

To tell the truth I was so reluctant to request the follow up to the All of Us Villains duology. The first installment had an enticing premise but it wasn't exactly without its own set of problems. As a Hunger Games fan, I liked All of Us Villains but not enough to be encouraged to follow through (see my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4266883918). That was until the publisher has kindly invited me to review the second and final installment; and I couldn't be more grateful.

At first I approached this book with caution. Some of my fears lingered during the first few chapters, so I wasn't in a hurry to finish it. And I've read enough series to come to the conclusion that NORMALLY things tend to falter after the first book. Yes, most of the times, the second book is not so great with some few exception. AND THIS WAS DEFINITELY AN EXCEPTION.

The authors chose to take an unexpected path. My guess is that they were paying attention to criticism from reviewers. This whole book could have turned really sappy but it didn't. It made the first book seem like a kind of backstory to the real story and I couldn't have been more glad to pick it up. It starts slow but the accelerator was pushed as it went on. I don't want to write anything that can spoil this book for you or the one before it. But if you were unsure, as I was, about picking this one up, please do. You're gonna love it. The way the characters develop here is far more superior to the first book. There's a stronger sense of purpose that propels the plot to go forward.

And now comes the bit of criticism to this book that made it half a star short from a solid five. It's ISOBEL MACASLAN. I didn't like her storyline from start to finish, neither in the first book nor in this one. And It's not about liking HER. It's more about the amount of self-justification that goes into her behaviour. But that's just me and how I felt about one character in a good book. Don't let that deter you from enjoying the story.

So grateful for this invitation by Orion Publishing Group. And many thanks to NetGalley for this opportunity.

The incredible conclusion to the tournament that started in the category bestselling novel All of Us Villains. Every once in a while a writer comes along and refreshes our notions of what fiction can do . . . Buy this book, and prepare to be blasted by the brilliance inside

Unfortunately, I have been locked out of my netgalley account for a few months and was not able to see which books I had on my list or even know to check if they downloaded properly, in order to properly read and review. I do apologize and am doing a 3 for neutral. Will update once I’m able to obtain a copy and read!

After All of Us Villains became one of my favourite five star reads of 2021, I was really looking forward to diving into All of Our Demise. Let's get stuck in:

What I liked:
- Something that I really loved in both halves of this duology has been the world building. Flawless. I love the history of the tournament, the town and the family histories; the rivalries and alliances.
- The magic system/ spell rings - this feels unique to the YA Fantasy genre at the moment and I enjoyed the way in which magic can be used!
- I enjoyed the split between the champions in terms of their end goal and their motivations; we see alliances shift and fracture.
- Hendry is a cinnamon roll. Alastair is a secret cinnamon roll. Maggot was an absolute DELIGHT.


What I didn't engage with:
- I think some of the romantic attachments formed in this book felt too much like 'insta-love' to me and it turned me right off. Also the small matter of teasing/dangling a ship in the first book and it inexplicably amounting to nothing.
- The pacing didn't feel right to me; it felt very slow in comparison to AOUV despite the fact the stakes have been upped. It lacked a sense of urgency in keeping with the plot. Slow pacing combined with characters spending a lot of time discussing what must be done and why it must be done before there's any action, yet there's an apparent time limit.
- Whereas in the first instalment, I couldn't decide who to root for, I felt myself kind of... switching off?

I really wished I'd enjoyed this one as much as the first instalment. Perhaps I'll return to this and try a reread but for me, it didn't live up to my own expectations.

One my favorite fantasy series of 2022, I kept postponing it because I didn't wanted to say goodbye to this world and characters.
Loved the world building, the characters, and the storytelling.
An excellent dark fantasy I thoroughly enjoyed.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine