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maregred's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Confinement, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Blood, Cursing, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Abandonment, Classism, and Gaslighting
takarakei's review against another edition
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.
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 -
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Death, Murder, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content and Vomit
These kids all pretty much have horrible parents and have been treated awful and manipulated their whole lives. So lots of family traumagemma_the_edgy_librarian's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
3.5 A decent ending for this promising duology, but it did not meet my expectations.
I have no words to describe the hype I had for this second and last instalment of [book:All of Us Villains|56179338]. Let’s just say I’ve guarded my library's mailbox like a hound for like a whole term.
But unfortunately, as much as I wanted to adore this book, it did not quite match my expectations. I cannot put the finger on what is amiss, so I'll try to give structure to this review. Maybe we’ll figure it out together.
The characters.
In my last review, I wrote that the characters were well-rounded. I stand by this opinion, but I think that only Alistair and Gavin got the nice character progression they deserved.
Briony goes on with playing the tragic hero. I continued to dislike her throughout this book, ... and her death left me completely unfazed. I really couldn’t care less. I felt she almost deserved it, wanting to play the hero until the very end.
Isobel has to live with the aftermath of the last battle in Book One, and to me, she loses all the depth she had. She goes on whining about the unfairness of it all for quite a while, but in the end she seems to acknowledge that she too is a horrible person who has done horrible things, and that playing the victim does not make her look better. That’s a plus, I guess.
Some of the side characters were given much more growth and depth than the four POV protagonists, and it’s such a shame we didn’t get new POVs in this second book. I would have liked to read the story from Finley and Hendry’s perspective, for example.
Spoilery rant: HENDRY MY PRECIOUS BABY BOY. HE WAS BEAUTIFUL AND GENTLE AND I CRIED MY GUTS OUT WHEN HE LEFT ALISTAIR FOR GOOD. THAT WAS THE BEST CHAPTER EVER!!!
Reid was unfortunately the only exception to this. In Book One, he was set to be a wonderfully mischievous character, but the more I got to know him in this book, the more bland and boring he became. And I’m so sad about it.
The ships:
I am going to spoil a lot in this paragraph.
Alright, listen up. In the first book, I shipped Alistair and Isobel. It made a lot of sense to me. A bit cliché, kind of Beauty and the Beast, but it was well written, and it fitted the story well. And I think it had a very reasonable ending in Book Two. They hurt each other, Isobel betrayed Alistair, and they both understood that what they had was a very superficial fantasy, something that sprouted more out of loneliness and fear rather than from a real connection. They are aware of this, and everything is fine. So I’m glad it went this way.
THEN MY ABSOLUTE OTP CAME TRUE AND I COULD NOT BELIEVE MY EYES. I was afraid they would have been fan fiction material, but then they started to talk about feelings and OMG THEY CAME TRUE! GAVIN AND ALISTAIR ARE THE BEST ENEMIES-TO-LOVERS EVER!! There’s hatred, envy, witty remarks, a fair amount of dubiously kinky violence (when they started torturing Reid I SWEAR I imagined them like Gomez and Morticia, just leaving the torture aside and getting on with each other), angst, longing, but also genuine affection and a true connection that comes from getting to know, understand and respect each other. Then, as I mentioned before, they get the best character progression. They both get to know their true worth, and they manage to leave their toxic past behind. Absolutely wonderful.
BUT OF COURSE THE ONLY SMUT SCENE WE GET IS WITH A HETERO COUPLE THAT MAKES NO SENSE. Seriously, Isobel and Reid, where did it come from? They connected over their ”whinyness”? Because they were both shitty people? Being partners in crime or curse buddies would have made much more sense, we did not need the sex.
Finley and Briony were just… bleh. Never liked them.
The plot
This book was very slow paced, full of events and overdetailed. Maybe that’s what eventually put me off.
As we learn from Book One, the protagonists are now working to dismantle the curse. I felt like there were too many steps to it, and the authors just had to fill us in about every single one of them, down to the details of all the spells and curses. It felt just a bit too much.
They tried to put in a subplot… about the government and the Thorburns working together in order to stop the protagonists, and then the government and the spellmakers working together to get the high magick for themselves, and then some of the younger children of the seven families forming a resistance against the government… or at least, I guess this was the subplot? I had a hard time trying to understand it, and I think I even missed some details, because it was only just barely outlined, and we learn about it along with the protagonists, though secondary sources and disconnected pieces of information. In this case, it would have been great to shift POV to one of these secondary characters who stayed in the town (like Innes), in order to get some insight about this secondary plot. It would have unravelled much better!
I have no words to describe the hype I had for this second and last instalment of [book:All of Us Villains|56179338]. Let’s just say I’ve guarded my library's mailbox like a hound for like a whole term.
But unfortunately, as much as I wanted to adore this book, it did not quite match my expectations. I cannot put the finger on what is amiss, so I'll try to give structure to this review. Maybe we’ll figure it out together.
The characters.
In my last review, I wrote that the characters were well-rounded. I stand by this opinion, but I think that only Alistair and Gavin got the nice character progression they deserved.
Briony goes on with playing the tragic hero. I continued to dislike her throughout this book, ...
Isobel has to live with the aftermath of the last battle in Book One, and to me, she loses all the depth she had. She goes on whining about the unfairness of it all for quite a while, but in the end she seems to acknowledge that she too is a horrible person who has done horrible things, and that playing the victim does not make her look better. That’s a plus, I guess.
Some of the side characters were given much more growth and depth than the four POV protagonists, and it’s such a shame we didn’t get new POVs in this second book. I would have liked to read the story from Finley and Hendry’s perspective, for example.
Spoilery rant:
Reid was unfortunately the only exception to this. In Book One, he was set to be a wonderfully mischievous character, but the more I got to know him in this book, the more bland and boring he became. And I’m so sad about it.
The ships:
I am going to spoil a lot in this paragraph.
THEN MY ABSOLUTE OTP CAME TRUE AND I COULD NOT BELIEVE MY EYES. I was afraid they would have been fan fiction material, but then they started to talk about feelings and OMG THEY CAME TRUE! GAVIN AND ALISTAIR ARE THE BEST ENEMIES-TO-LOVERS EVER!! There’s hatred, envy, witty remarks, a fair amount of dubiously kinky violence (when they started torturing Reid I SWEAR I imagined them like Gomez and Morticia, just leaving the torture aside and getting on with each other), angst, longing, but also genuine affection and a true connection that comes from getting to know, understand and respect each other. Then, as I mentioned before, they get the best character progression. They both get to know their true worth, and they manage to leave their toxic past behind. Absolutely wonderful.
BUT OF COURSE THE ONLY SMUT SCENE WE GET IS WITH A HETERO COUPLE THAT MAKES NO SENSE. Seriously, Isobel and Reid, where did it come from? They connected over their ”whinyness”? Because they were both shitty people? Being partners in crime or curse buddies would have made much more sense, we did not need the sex.
Finley and Briony were just… bleh. Never liked them.
The plot
This book was very slow paced, full of events and overdetailed. Maybe that’s what eventually put me off.
As we learn from Book One, the protagonists are now working to dismantle the curse. I felt like there were too many steps to it, and the authors just had to fill us in about every single one of them, down to the details of all the spells and curses. It felt just a bit too much.
They tried to put in a subplot…
Heroes are just villains with worse survival instincts and moral superiority complex – Gavin Grieve
This was my absolute favourite quote from the entire duology, and it sums up most of my feelings for this book. In the end, all the protagonists become more or less heroes, in the sense that they decide to do the right thing for the greater good. I expected as much, being a YA novel and all, but deep down I wished for a darker, more bitter ending. I would have liked for some of the characters to actually stay wicked, to be the villain they claimed to be.
I am so grateful to Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman for bringing this amazing duology to us, and for challenging and breaking so many YA rules and stereotypes. I will continue to suggest these books to my patrons as long as I work! I guess I’ll have to find true evil somewhere else, though.
I am so grateful to Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman for bringing this amazing duology to us, and for challenging and breaking so many YA rules and stereotypes. I will continue to suggest these books to my patrons as long as I work! I guess I’ll have to find true evil somewhere else, though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
foiblesandfiction's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
3.75
okay, this book is my biggest disappointment of the year so far.
was it good? yes. it was so good.
but also, as annoying as it is to hear (and say, tbh), this series probably needed to be a trilogy.
the first book, all of us villains, had such gorgeous prose and eerie atmosphere and world building. it was one of my top reads last year, and for good reason. i can still pull up mental images from many of alistair lowe's chapters because they read so strongly.
yet, all of our demise had so much plot to get through that it really lacked in all of those things that i loved most from the first book. i absolutely respect both authors and their decisions, and the ending wrapped up well. but this book did not need all of the storylines that it followed - the government involvement, the murders, the "resistance". i don't know if i've ever said this about a book, but i needed more paragraphs that were just mood and vibes.
i also found it incredibly irritating that the characters made so many massive logic jumps with no explanation. like, can someone please get in touch and we can vent about it together? because i am still annoyed.
"i'm not sure what to do, there is no obvious solution to the problem."
"wait, i know what to do"
*does random action*
"it worked!"
okay that's great for gavin and them, but i still have no idea why certain THINGS WERE DONE and IT MAKES NO SENSE.like gavin throwing the shoes in the fire? why would he think to do that? why would that work? why did it have nothing to do with the pillar?
and hendry's final life magick spell not working? and no follow up? he deserved so much better than that. i'm still mad.
okay, the frustrations are out. let's talk about what was gorgeous about this book because it really was good:
the best ship of all time IYKYK
the discussion of family and legacy
the multi-POV was masterfully done and brought so much empathy to each character
the next generation always fixing their parents' mistakes
alistair, always alistair
the complex ending without everything being perfectly tied up with a bow
overall, this duology is absolutely worth the read. foody and herman are incredible authors who write such real and flawed and wonderful characters, you're going to fall in love with them too. just be ready because this second book is a freakin' whirlwind.
was it good? yes. it was so good.
but also, as annoying as it is to hear (and say, tbh), this series probably needed to be a trilogy.
the first book, all of us villains, had such gorgeous prose and eerie atmosphere and world building. it was one of my top reads last year, and for good reason. i can still pull up mental images from many of alistair lowe's chapters because they read so strongly.
yet, all of our demise had so much plot to get through that it really lacked in all of those things that i loved most from the first book. i absolutely respect both authors and their decisions, and the ending wrapped up well. but this book did not need all of the storylines that it followed - the government involvement, the murders, the "resistance". i don't know if i've ever said this about a book, but i needed more paragraphs that were just mood and vibes.
i also found it incredibly irritating that the characters made so many massive logic jumps with no explanation. like, can someone please get in touch and we can vent about it together? because i am still annoyed.
"i'm not sure what to do, there is no obvious solution to the problem."
"wait, i know what to do"
*does random action*
"it worked!"
okay that's great for gavin and them, but i still have no idea why certain THINGS WERE DONE and IT MAKES NO SENSE.
okay, the frustrations are out. let's talk about what was gorgeous about this book because it really was good:
the best ship of all time IYKYK
the discussion of family and legacy
the multi-POV was masterfully done and brought so much empathy to each character
the next generation always fixing their parents' mistakes
alistair, always alistair
the complex ending without everything being perfectly tied up with a bow
overall, this duology is absolutely worth the read. foody and herman are incredible authors who write such real and flawed and wonderful characters, you're going to fall in love with them too. just be ready because this second book is a freakin' whirlwind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child death, Self harm, and Child abuse
Minor: Suicide, Kidnapping, and Self harm
briochebun's review against another edition
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).
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 ੈ✩‧₊˚
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).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Death, Death of parent, and Violence
Minor: Vomit
melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Violence, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse
katebrownreads's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Death, Blood, Torture, and Death of parent
aromarrie's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
i strongly commend the authors for writing what i think are some of the most complicated cast of characters seen in a ya fantasy (very reminiscent of the characters from alex london's the skybound saga, which i would highly recommend if you loved this duology as much as i did). as a reader, jumping constantly between the horror & contempt for the actions of these characters and then this utter sympathy & understanding when they're facing the aftermath--it was a time. it was a time, watching how these characters mirrored the stories that each of their families have held with such high regard when it came to their fates, and then how the mirror just continued to fracture into pieces as these characters broke themselves down.
this sequel followed what feels like two different storylines that connect at the center--that center being the Champion's Pillar, which is the token of this bloody Tournament that's survived soley on the blood of its champtions. on one side, there were isobel & briony, two characters who i feel garnered the most conflicted feelings from me, because i genuinely loved them a lot in just how complicated they were. isobel at this point in the story is as if like a corpse walking, but not necessarily dead, and seeing her continue to battle her feelings between what she thinks is right and what isn't--it revealed a very harsh & messy picture of a champion who was the media's darling only about a year ago and now can't even recognize herself when catching her reflection. i can see the many people who might dislike her character, but even more, i could see readers who would absolutely adore her. in my case, i am just in awe of how the authors wrote her character arc--something that felt like was constantly gearing towards a corruption arc but at the same time, she was just so utterly human, it was startling. it was startling seeing all the blood & decay that seemed to follow her path, that her father believed was all part of what made a Macaslan succeed--and then also witnessing small moments of what she had before the Tournament, moments of soft colors & floral accents that reminded her of normal, of her mom. i genuinely liked all of it.
with briony, one word i can describe how i felt about her at times from both books in this duology is this: self-righteous. of all the characters in this story, all the villains who are honored in the series title, briony reads the most as the one who deems herself the hero, and yet so much of this story feels fractured when trying to see it through the eyes of such a morally superior role. like isobel, briony has garnered a lot of complicated feelings from me because her judgements always felt sharp when others didn't follow her vision of how the Tournament should end. she has moments of scorn where it was just difficult to fully trust her lead despite the endless well of optimism she possessed in a story that constantly ravaged itself in violence. in some ways, it felt comforting to follow her in that regard, to want to mirror that same hope & conviction that briony never failed to possess. but in others, sometimes the motivation lacked. with these complications, i found her own arc to be as dark as it was also still really interesting.
the media played a huge part in the last book, and it plays even more in this second one now that the town of Ilvernath has been given a chance to glimpse beyond the Blood Veil that was supposed to completely shield its champtions but then...didn't. it was compelling seeing how briony stepped up and used that to her gain, while also facing the repercussions of just how twisted a tale the media can spur up when the cards on the table are turned. because of this, we glimpse how even in all her convictions, briony thorburn does have her weak spots. and we get to see that a lot with another character--non-pov but still a central part of this story, finley blair. their relationship in the grand scheme of things wasn't really my most favorite element of this whole narrative, but i still appreciated it for what it was for these two teenagers who have this history between them beyond the Tournament, and so they constantly flickered between the determination to end this violent event while also questioning what kind of normal for them can come after. that's what both characters have to wrestle with, just as well as the uncertainty of what honor they're trying to restore, what holes are they attempting to fill for everything that happened in the past that led them up to this moment. the answer to that does come, and the events that unfold because of it are just one out of the two reasons why i boosted this story up to the five-star rating i do wholeheartedly believe it deserves from me.
the second reason why i gave this book a five-star was because of our resident Lowe chamption--Alistair Lowe; the pale boy who always liked playing the dragon in the stories he enacted with his oldest brother, and who in the shape of his family's twisted hands, became an even bigger monster as a result. this duology started with his pov, and so (small spoiler), it had to end with him.
out of all the characters, he's the one who embraced his role as the villain the most, and so wickedly, that he couldn't even recognize himself. i think that's what bonded him & isobel in the first book, them not necessarily seeing each other beyond that fractured crack inside themselves, but rather hopelessly wondering if they could reshape themselves back whole together as they were hiding in a cave, living in their own fantasy so to speak of a world without horrors. unfortunately, some fantasies are just never likely to come true and so this book explores both characters focused on different things that ultimately pulled them away from each other. with alistair, we get to see a different dynamic that he comes to share with our favorite underdog, gavin grieve, and also see more of his older brother, hendry, which admittedly made his & gavin's pov my favorite regarding how their side of the storyline went.
while isobel & briony hoped to end the Tournament's curse once and for all, alistair & gavin felt differently as both boys just couldn't foresee any of that happening after it living for so many centuries. so thus one storyline played the hero while the other embraced their villainy, and for that, it felt like watching a game of ping-pong where my eyes constantly had to shift back and forth reading their povs, having to witness how starkly of a difference these characters' goals were to each other, it was absurdly laughable.
in this story, alistair plays our perfect villain--but he's also the most clumsy & reckless teenage boy that there is. even just feeling so utterly baffled at such a paradox, it also proved deadly because in all his clumsiness, alistair wears his heart on his sleeve way too often. he's a boy who has been raised hearing terrifying stories in the dark and having them come to life as a lesson from his own family, and so as a result, he's weaponized that insidious magic to protect someone who is his heart--his brother, hendry, seemingly come back from the dead. without hendry, alistair believes that he has nothing, and that he is nothing without him, and so he will cross huge lines to make sure there's no reality that lives where his brother does not. the Reaper's Curse, however, one that slowly kills him with every curse he throws in someone's way, is one of his biggest conflicts on that path. and even when its pale whiteness doesn't crawl further over his skin, alistair lowe is a mess of a boy who constantly hurts himself in all his anger & fear & grief, and he doesn't know what he could be beyond the monster people paint him as. seeing how he's proven wrong, how hendry and gavin (of all characters!!) are the ones to pull him away from letting the darkness completely take over him--it was very tense. but also heartwarming as hell because it made for soft & vulnerable moments that i hadn't been expecting whatsoever. thinking back to all the little clues that are hidden in the first book, however, it couldn't have felt more right from the beginning.
gavin was someone who i just absolutely adored in the first book, and for very simple reasons--he was the underdog. he was a champion who came from a family who were considered the living dead because in all the curses that inhabit this story, the curse of the Grieve family is the most pitiful of all. in all that pity, past Grieve champions have been slain with no grace whatsoever, seen as the sacrificial lambs of all the families because they're deemed the weakest. the symbolism of the relics & landmarks that are such pivotal figures for all the champions and their families' histories play a very big role in this whole Tournament and seeing how both symbols were connected and thus the cause of each of their destructions was very impactful. even more when it came to the symbols that represented the Grieve family--the Shoes and the Cottage; a story that gavin was never given the opportunity to know about because again, a Grieve chamption is seen as a dead man walking, and gavin was no different when it came to his family.
the Grieve family are left resigned in their own failure to be seen in the spotlight, the Cottage a symbol that represents safety to the Grieve champions who need it as all the others stand at a slaughter, a warmth that lights itself up as a beacon but for gavin, really just mirrors his family's worst atrocity- seeing how far they've belittled themselves to the point of self-destruction and kept quiet when their supposed loved ones were pushed to the grave. gavin has proven himself to be very clever, very ruthless, and determined in so many ways--watching as he continued to keep surviving and making what seemed like the most reckless decisions for his own survival...it was the complete opposite of the previous champtions, left resigned in their fates. but it's not just that, it's not so simple as to say that "oh so gavin must be different", no that's not what it is. everything that makes him who he is, all the choices and mistakes he's made, all of it has been a way to desperately garner control in a Tournament that to the media is a spectacle and the champions a quest for power--but for his family, it has always been seen as a death sentence. if he wasn't going to be dying so easily, he was going to die fighting, and he comes close to it at various times, whether it's at the other characters' own hands or by his own, it's a near-death incident that happens a lot, but he always makes it out. as much of a relief as that is, it's also just so fucking sad, because gavin is fighting to prove everyone wrong, but like briony & finley are having trouble with, what could possibly be there for him on the other side? especially when his own family have already laid him to rest in their minds? what kind of fucked up tale can you spin from that?
i think in all of that, that's what made his character so incredible to me, and he was just so much more in this sequel. i absolutely loved seeing how the relationship between him & alistair unfolded, something unexpected (as i said earlier), and how both threads of their doomed fates connected them together to make a much more powerful duo that was not to be reckoned with. and even the other characters have brought it up, so it's practically a fact. what both alistair & gavin had to struggle most that made their own characters feel complicated was that they were practically the image of "killed or be killed"--with alistair being the one expected to deal the killing blow while gavin was at his mercy.
The Grieves had raised Gavin to die. The Lowes had raised Alistair to kill.
Both of them deserved a better story.
and in all the strange ways that fate ties the knot, we do see a glimpse of that story.
there's other very formidable characters in this sequel that i was excited for, one including a very sly cursemaker who is given a character development that was just one of the many things i couldn't have expected in this duology, and yet i personally loved the end results all the same. i loved all the magic; i thought it was really interesting how much more the author paid attention to the damage that such powerful magick is capable of, rather than the common magick that's spread around the world. this story isn't just about violence-- there's surprising warmth & brutal sacrifice, scenes that left me kind of stunned to be honest. there were other characters like hendry lowe who were the cause for some of that warmth--someone who's already dead and yet pulses with his own light that isn't just blood red. his character was one of the few who brought me on the verge of tears in this story, if i have to admit, and as sad as it was, i'm really thankful for what the authors did by bringing him back (even if it was only brief) because we got to understand alistair in all his grief even more; we got to see him interact with gavin and learn about all this hopes & desires that have been left for dead but had always existed, and so that still made them really important.
this duology felt so perfect for me, and having the ultimate drive of the overall story be its characters and not just the plot made for a brilliant narrative that got its chords a little twisted at times but i was still completely captivated at our most action-heavy scenes and emotional moments. at the time that i'm typing all this, i can see myself having trouble being able to move on away from this world knowing that we've reached its conclusion. i'll definitely be rereading this sequel in the near future, just to get to hear from these characters again, and i hope a lot of other people feel the same.
this was a story about kids; kids who are capable of so much darkness and who can't seem to find their way out of it, but they do get to have their moments. and so sometimes i found myself laughing because of their humor in what's an overall bleak situation, and smiling at seeing them with their defenses down without fear of repercussion, even if it was brief. all our pov characters struggle so much in this sequel, but i connected with them a lot, and i love how the authors made me feel because of that. so that's cool.
this sequel followed what feels like two different storylines that connect at the center--that center being the Champion's Pillar, which is the token of this bloody Tournament that's survived soley on the blood of its champtions. on one side, there were isobel & briony, two characters who i feel garnered the most conflicted feelings from me, because i genuinely loved them a lot in just how complicated they were. isobel at this point in the story is as if like a corpse walking, but not necessarily dead, and seeing her continue to battle her feelings between what she thinks is right and what isn't--it revealed a very harsh & messy picture of a champion who was the media's darling only about a year ago and now can't even recognize herself when catching her reflection. i can see the many people who might dislike her character, but even more, i could see readers who would absolutely adore her. in my case, i am just in awe of how the authors wrote her character arc--something that felt like was constantly gearing towards a corruption arc but at the same time, she was just so utterly human, it was startling. it was startling seeing all the blood & decay that seemed to follow her path, that her father believed was all part of what made a Macaslan succeed--and then also witnessing small moments of what she had before the Tournament, moments of soft colors & floral accents that reminded her of normal, of her mom. i genuinely liked all of it.
with briony, one word i can describe how i felt about her at times from both books in this duology is this: self-righteous. of all the characters in this story, all the villains who are honored in the series title, briony reads the most as the one who deems herself the hero, and yet so much of this story feels fractured when trying to see it through the eyes of such a morally superior role. like isobel, briony has garnered a lot of complicated feelings from me because her judgements always felt sharp when others didn't follow her vision of how the Tournament should end. she has moments of scorn where it was just difficult to fully trust her lead despite the endless well of optimism she possessed in a story that constantly ravaged itself in violence. in some ways, it felt comforting to follow her in that regard, to want to mirror that same hope & conviction that briony never failed to possess. but in others, sometimes the motivation lacked. with these complications, i found her own arc to be as dark as it was also still really interesting.
the media played a huge part in the last book, and it plays even more in this second one now that the town of Ilvernath has been given a chance to glimpse beyond the Blood Veil that was supposed to completely shield its champtions but then...didn't. it was compelling seeing how briony stepped up and used that to her gain, while also facing the repercussions of just how twisted a tale the media can spur up when the cards on the table are turned. because of this, we glimpse how even in all her convictions, briony thorburn does have her weak spots. and we get to see that a lot with another character--non-pov but still a central part of this story, finley blair. their relationship in the grand scheme of things wasn't really my most favorite element of this whole narrative, but i still appreciated it for what it was for these two teenagers who have this history between them beyond the Tournament, and so they constantly flickered between the determination to end this violent event while also questioning what kind of normal for them can come after. that's what both characters have to wrestle with, just as well as the uncertainty of what honor they're trying to restore, what holes are they attempting to fill for everything that happened in the past that led them up to this moment. the answer to that does come, and the events that unfold because of it are just one out of the two reasons why i boosted this story up to the five-star rating i do wholeheartedly believe it deserves from me.
the second reason why i gave this book a five-star was because of our resident Lowe chamption--Alistair Lowe; the pale boy who always liked playing the dragon in the stories he enacted with his oldest brother, and who in the shape of his family's twisted hands, became an even bigger monster as a result. this duology started with his pov, and so (small spoiler), it had to end with him.
out of all the characters, he's the one who embraced his role as the villain the most, and so wickedly, that he couldn't even recognize himself. i think that's what bonded him & isobel in the first book, them not necessarily seeing each other beyond that fractured crack inside themselves, but rather hopelessly wondering if they could reshape themselves back whole together as they were hiding in a cave, living in their own fantasy so to speak of a world without horrors. unfortunately, some fantasies are just never likely to come true and so this book explores both characters focused on different things that ultimately pulled them away from each other. with alistair, we get to see a different dynamic that he comes to share with our favorite underdog, gavin grieve, and also see more of his older brother, hendry, which admittedly made his & gavin's pov my favorite regarding how their side of the storyline went.
while isobel & briony hoped to end the Tournament's curse once and for all, alistair & gavin felt differently as both boys just couldn't foresee any of that happening after it living for so many centuries. so thus one storyline played the hero while the other embraced their villainy, and for that, it felt like watching a game of ping-pong where my eyes constantly had to shift back and forth reading their povs, having to witness how starkly of a difference these characters' goals were to each other, it was absurdly laughable.
in this story, alistair plays our perfect villain--but he's also the most clumsy & reckless teenage boy that there is. even just feeling so utterly baffled at such a paradox, it also proved deadly because in all his clumsiness, alistair wears his heart on his sleeve way too often. he's a boy who has been raised hearing terrifying stories in the dark and having them come to life as a lesson from his own family, and so as a result, he's weaponized that insidious magic to protect someone who is his heart--his brother, hendry, seemingly come back from the dead. without hendry, alistair believes that he has nothing, and that he is nothing without him, and so he will cross huge lines to make sure there's no reality that lives where his brother does not. the Reaper's Curse, however, one that slowly kills him with every curse he throws in someone's way, is one of his biggest conflicts on that path. and even when its pale whiteness doesn't crawl further over his skin, alistair lowe is a mess of a boy who constantly hurts himself in all his anger & fear & grief, and he doesn't know what he could be beyond the monster people paint him as. seeing how he's proven wrong, how hendry and gavin (of all characters!!) are the ones to pull him away from letting the darkness completely take over him--it was very tense. but also heartwarming as hell because it made for soft & vulnerable moments that i hadn't been expecting whatsoever. thinking back to all the little clues that are hidden in the first book, however, it couldn't have felt more right from the beginning.
gavin was someone who i just absolutely adored in the first book, and for very simple reasons--he was the underdog. he was a champion who came from a family who were considered the living dead because in all the curses that inhabit this story, the curse of the Grieve family is the most pitiful of all. in all that pity, past Grieve champions have been slain with no grace whatsoever, seen as the sacrificial lambs of all the families because they're deemed the weakest. the symbolism of the relics & landmarks that are such pivotal figures for all the champions and their families' histories play a very big role in this whole Tournament and seeing how both symbols were connected and thus the cause of each of their destructions was very impactful. even more when it came to the symbols that represented the Grieve family--the Shoes and the Cottage; a story that gavin was never given the opportunity to know about because again, a Grieve chamption is seen as a dead man walking, and gavin was no different when it came to his family.
the Grieve family are left resigned in their own failure to be seen in the spotlight, the Cottage a symbol that represents safety to the Grieve champions who need it as all the others stand at a slaughter, a warmth that lights itself up as a beacon but for gavin, really just mirrors his family's worst atrocity- seeing how far they've belittled themselves to the point of self-destruction and kept quiet when their supposed loved ones were pushed to the grave. gavin has proven himself to be very clever, very ruthless, and determined in so many ways--watching as he continued to keep surviving and making what seemed like the most reckless decisions for his own survival...it was the complete opposite of the previous champtions, left resigned in their fates. but it's not just that, it's not so simple as to say that "oh so gavin must be different", no that's not what it is. everything that makes him who he is, all the choices and mistakes he's made, all of it has been a way to desperately garner control in a Tournament that to the media is a spectacle and the champions a quest for power--but for his family, it has always been seen as a death sentence. if he wasn't going to be dying so easily, he was going to die fighting, and he comes close to it at various times, whether it's at the other characters' own hands or by his own, it's a near-death incident that happens a lot, but he always makes it out. as much of a relief as that is, it's also just so fucking sad, because gavin is fighting to prove everyone wrong, but like briony & finley are having trouble with, what could possibly be there for him on the other side? especially when his own family have already laid him to rest in their minds? what kind of fucked up tale can you spin from that?
i think in all of that, that's what made his character so incredible to me, and he was just so much more in this sequel. i absolutely loved seeing how the relationship between him & alistair unfolded, something unexpected (as i said earlier), and how both threads of their doomed fates connected them together to make a much more powerful duo that was not to be reckoned with. and even the other characters have brought it up, so it's practically a fact. what both alistair & gavin had to struggle most that made their own characters feel complicated was that they were practically the image of "killed or be killed"--with alistair being the one expected to deal the killing blow while gavin was at his mercy.
The Grieves had raised Gavin to die. The Lowes had raised Alistair to kill.
Both of them deserved a better story.
and in all the strange ways that fate ties the knot, we do see a glimpse of that story.
there's other very formidable characters in this sequel that i was excited for, one including a very sly cursemaker who is given a character development that was just one of the many things i couldn't have expected in this duology, and yet i personally loved the end results all the same. i loved all the magic; i thought it was really interesting how much more the author paid attention to the damage that such powerful magick is capable of, rather than the common magick that's spread around the world. this story isn't just about violence-- there's surprising warmth & brutal sacrifice, scenes that left me kind of stunned to be honest. there were other characters like hendry lowe who were the cause for some of that warmth--someone who's already dead and yet pulses with his own light that isn't just blood red. his character was one of the few who brought me on the verge of tears in this story, if i have to admit, and as sad as it was, i'm really thankful for what the authors did by bringing him back (even if it was only brief) because we got to understand alistair in all his grief even more; we got to see him interact with gavin and learn about all this hopes & desires that have been left for dead but had always existed, and so that still made them really important.
this duology felt so perfect for me, and having the ultimate drive of the overall story be its characters and not just the plot made for a brilliant narrative that got its chords a little twisted at times but i was still completely captivated at our most action-heavy scenes and emotional moments. at the time that i'm typing all this, i can see myself having trouble being able to move on away from this world knowing that we've reached its conclusion. i'll definitely be rereading this sequel in the near future, just to get to hear from these characters again, and i hope a lot of other people feel the same.
this was a story about kids; kids who are capable of so much darkness and who can't seem to find their way out of it, but they do get to have their moments. and so sometimes i found myself laughing because of their humor in what's an overall bleak situation, and smiling at seeing them with their defenses down without fear of repercussion, even if it was brief. all our pov characters struggle so much in this sequel, but i connected with them a lot, and i love how the authors made me feel because of that. so that's cool.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
bookishfeyre's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
This review may contain some spoilers - I need to feel my feelings for this one.
*******************************************************************************
The ending of All of us Villains left me screaming, I needed to know what was going to happen asap and it was one of those books that has kept being on my mind since I finished it. When I got accepted for the e-arc of All of our Demise, let's just say my neighbours probably heard my squeal.
So we start up exactly where we left off, Alistair and Hendry need Alistair to win to try to keep Hendry alive, Bryony, Finley, and Isabelle need to find more icons to break the tournament, and Gavin is being Gavin and trying to fight for his life once again. We are thrown straight back into the action and that was immense. There was enough back information in the first few chapters to give you a gentle reminder about what happened previously, but not enough to make me bored and get frustrated about everything being repeated. Obviously, if you have not read book one, then please read that first, there is so much information you need for book 2 to make sense.
The magic system is still an interesting concept and I love how intricate it gets throughout this second book. We are deeply thrown into the world again and I feel like we get more knowledge because Reid is dragged in with them. The champions use the tear in the inner blood veil to use the resources around them, and the spell makers get to play the biggest role they have ever had in the history of the tournament.
This book made me even more attached to our main 4 champions and I felt we really got to understand and grow with them. By the end of the book, everyone is changed and only just learning how to truly be themselves. This is due to their families not having access to them of course.
That ending, do not get me wrong, I loved the ending and it was the perfect way to end. I knew there would have to be something, a twist, to make it more realistic. But obviously, I wish there was another way it could have happened. (This is nothing about the book, it is literally me being an emotional wreck and just wanting my way). The ending was magnificent and I cannot see how it could have ended in any other way. It was superb and had me crying and then feeling that sense of calm.
Basically, if you loved All of us Villains you will devour All of our Demise. The book was well worth that wait and I am so thankful I got to read an e-arc as I needed this book asap. Not many duologies make me this happy and content, I always want more, but this felt right.
*******************************************************************************
The ending of All of us Villains left me screaming, I needed to know what was going to happen asap and it was one of those books that has kept being on my mind since I finished it. When I got accepted for the e-arc of All of our Demise, let's just say my neighbours probably heard my squeal.
So we start up exactly where we left off, Alistair and Hendry need Alistair to win to try to keep Hendry alive, Bryony, Finley, and Isabelle need to find more icons to break the tournament, and Gavin is being Gavin and trying to fight for his life once again. We are thrown straight back into the action and that was immense. There was enough back information in the first few chapters to give you a gentle reminder about what happened previously, but not enough to make me bored and get frustrated about everything being repeated. Obviously, if you have not read book one, then please read that first, there is so much information you need for book 2 to make sense.
The magic system is still an interesting concept and I love how intricate it gets throughout this second book. We are deeply thrown into the world again and I feel like we get more knowledge because Reid is dragged in with them. The champions use the tear in the inner blood veil to use the resources around them, and the spell makers get to play the biggest role they have ever had in the history of the tournament.
This book made me even more attached to our main 4 champions and I felt we really got to understand and grow with them. By the end of the book, everyone is changed and only just learning how to truly be themselves. This is due to their families not having access to them of course.
That ending, do not get me wrong, I loved the ending and it was the perfect way to end. I knew there would have to be something, a twist, to make it more realistic. But obviously, I wish there was another way it could have happened. (This is nothing about the book, it is literally me being an emotional wreck and just wanting my way). The ending was magnificent and I cannot see how it could have ended in any other way. It was superb and had me crying and then feeling that sense of calm.
Basically, if you loved All of us Villains you will devour All of our Demise. The book was well worth that wait and I am so thankful I got to read an e-arc as I needed this book asap. Not many duologies make me this happy and content, I always want more, but this felt right.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
readwithkayy's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
4.75
Wow wow wow! One of my most anticipated reads of the year did not disappoint. It's a little difficult to talk about this without spoiling anything, so I'll keep this as vague as possible. This book picks up immediately after the events of the first, but it does do a good job of reminding you what had happened previously within the first 10% of this one. We have Alistair and Isobel, both badly cursed and hurting, Briony leading the charge to end the tournament, and many new outside forces influencing the champions and their motivations. While the first book had some elements that were absolutely jaw-dropping, this one had surprising elements in a different way. It almost reminded me of Captain America: Civil War in its plot design, being that we have two different sides fighting each other because they both believe in their cause, and in a way, they both have valid reasoning to why they need to do what they are doing.
The character development in this book is extremely well done; it had me rooting for characters I didn't care much for in the first. This development is definitely show, not tell, because as you read on, you go on this journey with the characters as they discover new pieces of themselves. I also found that the magic system here was cleverly done, as the trials act as ways to dive further into the character's backstory. This was extremely tense and emotional; it had be constantly bracing for what was to come and had me crying more than once! I loved the first book, but I think this one is even better, because we get to expand on the characters we already know and love and see them try to complete their missions. It is a little slow to start, but it's understandable when it picks up after a cliffhanger and needs to get the readers caught up again. Overall, 5 stars all around🌟
*Thank you to Tor Teen and NetGalley for the eARC, in exchange for a review!
The character development in this book is extremely well done; it had me rooting for characters I didn't care much for in the first. This development is definitely show, not tell, because as you read on, you go on this journey with the characters as they discover new pieces of themselves. I also found that the magic system here was cleverly done, as the trials act as ways to dive further into the character's backstory. This was extremely tense and emotional; it had be constantly bracing for what was to come and had me crying more than once! I loved the first book, but I think this one is even better, because we get to expand on the characters we already know and love and see them try to complete their missions. It is a little slow to start, but it's understandable when it picks up after a cliffhanger and needs to get the readers caught up again. Overall, 5 stars all around🌟
*Thank you to Tor Teen and NetGalley for the eARC, in exchange for a review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Death of parent
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