Reviews tagging 'Violence'

All of Our Demise by C.L. Herman, Amanda Foody

46 reviews

drmccoy's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This YA duology is a magical Hunger Games. The story is fun to follow but the plot build leaves a little to be desired.  
Some of the curse related plot points feel haphazard in how they are cured. The pairing off of all the champions feels forced. 
It’s rather dark for a YA. I really enjoy the story but doubt that I’d reread it. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

louisegraveyard's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lizgriffinwords's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Took me way longer than it should have but I swear that is not reflective of how GREAT this book is! An excellent conclusion to the duology. The tension and stakes hit the ceiling of the Blood Veil, and the costs are high. Absolutely will read anything by these authors.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

terriep's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0

A strong conclusion to the duology. The magic system is still my favorite part of the story - it has the "traditional" method of magic, i.e. casting spells, using unusual ingredients to create spells, etc. but there are clever twists, clever spells, and there's a limited amount of magic to be used. There's good character development with some teen attraction and romance but all 'closed door'. Action filled and entertaining, but I found it a bit too long - the middle dragged and seemed to go on too long in developing the alliances and everyone's angst. Otherwise, a good read. Recommended.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

takarakei's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

Absolutely loved this, even more than the first book!
This one is much more character driven but there is some plot, just not as much as the first book. Really loved the character development, the romance(!!!!!), and how the story plays out was interesting. There were definitely some tears. This series has some great sibling love - Alistair & Hendry are just a beautiful family. Just as dark if actually not more so than the first book. These people are gonna need some serious therapy.

One of the best enemies to lovers romances I’ve read -
fucking Alistair and Gavin ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ I love them so much!!!
I was so afraid one of them would die in the end (I mean I’m glad they didn’t). I think Briony was kinda the easy choice and a bit of a cop out. I was prepared for serious pain. But of course even tho we all knew Hendry would have to go eventually but doesn’t make it any easier.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kassidyreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sharib's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

spleenc's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

All of Us Villains was one of my favorite reads last year so I was eagerly waiting for the second tome of this duology. 

I might not have lived up to my expectations but it wasn't that bad, it was still a pleasant read and I would still recommend those books for YA's lovers. 

I was quite bored during the second third of this book, feeling like it was going nowhere, like the characters' actions were just to fill the pages, not helping the plot to go in any direction. The final third was good, maybe a bit fast-paced, like it was trying to catch the time it lost before. 

Some characters got really nice development, some others... Well, let's say they go it easy, in the end. Some got a redemption arc that felt a bit... Rushed ? 
I also wish they was a lit bit less of romance ? While I am glad some were LGBT for some diversity/representation, I feel like not every characters needed to love another. At least, I don't know, not during a "tournament" where they needed to kill each other ?? But, I must say, I'm not the biggest romance fan , at the same time : that's maybe why it felt too much for me.

Plot-wise, I kinda missed the fact that they were isolated from the other others. I wish the true "bad guys" were a bit more exploited : it felt rushed, once again. But I really like the few "aftermath" chapters that we've got, where mental health was discussed : I'm so tired of books where the characters got back to their life like nothing happened that it was very welcomed. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

briochebun's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

3.75 out of 5 ☆’s.

But he couldn’t resist asking, “In a different story, would we still have been enemies?”

“All of Our Demise” was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I was besotted with the world that Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman crafted for us in the first novel — “All of Us Villains” — and was desperate to get my hands on a copy of this sequel! :)

ੈ✩‧₊˚

While the novel was enjoyable overall — I did have a couple qualms with it (hence the rating).

I will admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan of the public being so involved in the tournament this time around.

I understand that that’s what ultimately ended up moving the plot forward — and helped build up some of the events that happened at the end of the novel — but sometimes I found myself wishing that we had more scenes of the characters spending time with one another in their respective groups before we wished them farewell (which admittedly sounds a bit silly considering the duress that the characters were under throughout this novel — but the heart wants what it wants).

I also wish that the events at the end of the novel would’ve been drawn out a bit more.

Everything happened so fast that I found myself getting confused as to which characters were in which areas / what exactly was happening.


ੈ✩‧₊˚ Spoilers Below ੈ✩‧₊˚


One of the things that I did love in AOOD was the blistering romance between Alistair + Gavin (Galistair? Alvin? Alivin?).


“I’m sorry you had the world’s worst first kiss,” he said. “You deserved something better.”


While reading “All of Us Villains” I was enraptured with these two and their interactions with one another…


I constantly felt myself being pulled into their orbit and — while we were made aware that both of these characters weren’t straight in AOUV — I was hesitant to get my hopes up due to past experiences, but Amanda and Christine did not disappoint with AOOD! :)



TLDR: Alistair + Gavin have my heart and I’m so glad that they ended up being endgame! Please give me a bonus scene of them in the future where they’re living together and are a bit happier…🥺



I also want to briefly mention that I found the ending of the novel to be realistic in regards to the characters’ mental health — and I was glad that Alistair and Gavin even discussed seeing therapists after everything that had happened...


With all of that being said — I will definitely be picking up Amanda and Christine’s next novel “A Fate so Cold“! ♡

ੈ✩‧₊˚

Song That I Listened to on Repeat While Reading “All of our Demise”: “Marjorie” by Taylor Swift (because it reminds me of Hendry).

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an ALC of this book.

In this sequel to All of Us Villains, the teens still standing work against each other as one group continues to try and win the trial, and the other group wants to end it all for good.  Meanwhile, the blood veil has fallen and the rest of the city is eager to get their hands on the competitors.

I really enjoyed this! Oh my gosh Alistair is definitely my favorite character---no one is surprised. I'm trying not to give anything away for those who didn't read the first book yet, but this duology is dark and bloody and hopeful and gay. Which is like, everything I want in a book.  

I really love the competition elements and how all of the kids end up dividing and coming together at different times. I like the struggle of wanting to win, wanting to stop the competition, and overall just wanting to survive.  I really enjoyed it!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings