Reviews with content warning for Violence - All of Us Villains

Hunger Games meets Lord of the Flies meets Harry Potter magic.

The magic system is neat, the world building pretty good, and the characters engaging enough that you care about their story under the Blood Veil.

Very villainous characters!
I didn’t know this was a duology so beware that it ends abruptly on a cliffhanger. Another 100-200p and it could have been wrapped up in a single book. 🙄

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aseel_reads's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a bit slow to build up and one of the big reveals was quite anticlimactic but I really enjoyed the premise and I like all the characters and their little interactions in a dark tournament setting

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gohan's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

It started off slow but gradually gained momentum as it neared the tournament. Very interesting premise that sometimes raises more questions than answers. All of Us Villains will keep you guessing, trying to unfurl the mysteries.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes reading about magic and competitions. It’s the kind of book you’d stay up late to finish.

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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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amyteurhour's review against another edition

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2.5

My notes for this one say that it was pretty mid but picks up near the end. I think there were too many characters to be switching back and forth, especially at the beginning, it was so hard to keep track of who's who. There were a few scenes that felt like I was somehow watching the Hunger Games, make of that what you will. The mystery is intriguing and the action is easy enough to visualize, but I think following multiple characters just got tiring for me. I'll probably check out the second book at some point, but I need some time in between, especially considering it's 19 hours?!

The audiobook by Billie Fulford-Brown and Raphael Corkhill was fine, but I didn't really feel like there were distinct voices for each character (though that could definitely also be tied to the writing and not the performance).

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