Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - All of Us Villains

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

All of Us Villains by C.L. Herman, Amanda Foody

24 reviews

_persephone's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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novelty_reads's review

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dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I have recently been finding myself gravitating towards dark fantasy this year and honestly? I love it. Dark fantasy brings forward everything I love in books: enemies to lovers, forbidden romance and magic schemes that make you wish the world was a little more magical than it actually is. All of Us Villains had the perfect recipe to become a newfound favourite.

I was lucky enough to read a few pages of the book before it was out. I enjoyed the sampler so much that I bought the book (and its sequel) already knowing I would be transfixed and pun intended, spellbound.

The book has been pitched to me as The Hunger Games but make it magical and villainous. The book is told in four perspectives: Briony, Alistair, Isobel and Gavin, four of the seven champions forced to fight to the death to win high magic, a rare magical commodity. The book spends a lot of time showing us how the champions have prepared and strategised for the tournament, building up the characters and showing how they all cope with the knowledge that they'll one day fight to the death.

To me, Alistair was an instant stand out. I loved reading his perspective. He reminded me of Lira from To Kill A Kingdom in that he was raised to be villainous but really, his villainous behaviour was a result of what his family expected from him. He may be morally grey but I could tell he had a softer side and the way he cared for his brother, Hendry was really sweet and wholesome.

Isobel started off as a character I really enjoyed reading but towards the end, I started losing interest with her character. Her parts were better in terms of plot and moving things along but as a character, she lost me towards the end.

Gavin was a character I was very interested in. I am a sucker for the classic underdog story where the odds are stacked against them and they manage to be victorious. Gavin's entire family haven't won the tournament in all the centuries it's been happening. Gavin is seen as a dead boy walking and he wants nothing more than to prove people wrong. Out of everyone in the tournament, he and Elionor seemed the most ruthless in their pursuit to win and eliminate competitors.

Briony was the last of the perspectives however, she never really grabbed me as a character and so, I wasn't as excited reading about her as much as I was for Alistair or Gavin. I won't lie, she sort of annoyed me. The other side characters I enjoyed were Hendry and Reid. Hendry was such a sweetie he's easily one of my favourite characters. Reid was a character I predicted would have a huge influence on the plot. He kind of reminded me of Harry Hook from The Descendants mixed with Yungblud and a bit of Palaye Royale. I hope I get to see him more in book two.

The characters were a big win for this book. As in, all the characters felt unique with their own personality that I could easily tell apart. The only real negative I had was the book at times felt a little slow. I also wanted more suspense and tension from the competition. I knew the stakes were high but I didn't feel the danger or risk from the tournament even when things started going pear-shaped. By the end of the book, I started getting that anticipation I was looking for with the book ending on a tantalising cliffhanger. Naturally, I have started the sequel instantly.

ACTUAL RATING: 4.2 STARS

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ghostlyprince's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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enyltiak's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Such a fun fantasy. The worldbuilding is incredibly intriguing and so detailed—every aspect of magic from spellmaking to spellcasting has its own rules that truly affect the characters without ever being confusing. The characters themselves are so twisty, dynamic, and morally grey, and they're (mostly) all self-aware of it. Alistair is hands down my favorite, no competition.

The twist ending wasn't mind blowing-ly shocking, but I don't need to be befuddled by a twist—I like to see the evidence line up throughout the story and make sense once we finally get the truth, and I think this book does that excellently. Highly recommend and I can't wait to read book two.

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kenzaett's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

My first read of 2024, yay!
I picked this up in a bookshop on vacation for half price as a beach read, no clue what it entailed, just knew it was on my tbr, and
what a surprisingly good riiiidddee.

We're taking into an urban fantasy setting within a town that has teenagers fighting to death over the world's biggest magic source for their families (and nobody seems to have ever questioned it? Capitalism I guess), on the eve of the next tournament starting. This round is different though, as a traitorous voice from the village has spilled news about the tournament and now viewers from other villages have gathered to see the gorey spectacle. We follow the children of the 7 families from their nomination to the final fight... And end with a cliffhanger 😭

This book has a wonderful gloomy gothic dark academia witchy creepy village in the woods in the 50ies vibe but with modern and an interesting magic(k) system I haven't seen before.
I disliked the many POVs, 2-3 would have definitely been enough already. We can antagonize the protagonists even when we don't see them from other perspectives!! But that might just have been due to this novel being co-authored by two writers.

I feel like some of the characters could have been more fleshed out, had we had more time with them and their thoughts, and they tend to fall into a few archetypes, but the incredible writing, the scenery, and the way the authors are able to pull you into the world, make you see and hear and smell everything around you.. That makes up for it.

It's also like 1/5 on a spice level, which is amazing for YA. Instead we get brotherly love, manipulation, betrayal, family feuds, academic rivalry, emancipation from who you thought you were or would turn out to be, and a lot of BLOOD.

And I want MORE.

I would have loved a proper ending and to see this as a standalone, but I'll have to soon pick up book two for the conclusion 🥴👍🏻

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