Reviews with content warning for Grief - All of Us Villains

I truly enjoyed the chaos of ilvernath in this book, the story being a perfect read for fans of the hunger games and battle royale but with a touch more magic.

The high magic behind the tournament means unpredictability, and I truly didn’t expect

so many alliances to be formed within its borders

.

Despite everything going on I felt Brooke brought a chance at hope, despite all the darkness of what was occurring beneath the blood veil.

The unity of most of the champions at wanting to break the expectations of the cursed tournament was surprising. The deaths of those who didn’t want to consider the hope of change were unfortunate but I feel for the greater good of following generations in the hope the tournaments course is broken in the sequel.

I can’t wait to read the sequel as this book truly didn’t end how I expected it to, and I’m intrigued to see how plot points still missing pieces will finally be filled in the sequel.

Overall I Would reccomend this as both a dystopian and a fantasy, as I think the nature of both genres nurture the other to be greater than ever.

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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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ergaich's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

Such a great and well developed book. Told from the perspective of 4 different characters, each person had their own unique personality and arc. Every single character in this book was expertly thought out. The magic system was simple to understand and the plot didn’t rely on it to further the story, which is a sign of a great writer. There were multiple twists in the story and I never got bored.

I listened to this book which made the experience phenomenal. The multiple audio narrators and accents definitely helped differentiate the 4 different perspectives.

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halem13's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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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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imcourtneymarie's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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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ailiscr32's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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