Reviews with content warning for Child death - All of Our Demise

This was fun, definitely not my usual kind of read, I did feel like a few things fell kinda flat, but it was fun. I liked Alistair, Hendry,and Gavin, but I found myself being kinda bored with the others though I am almost always like that when a book has switching POVs. Alistair is absolutely my favourite.

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jessy4550's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

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samwambam's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

I absolutely loved this book, dare I say even more than the first one. I say this because in the last book I was not a big fan of Isobel and since she’s a main part of the plot it was hard to enjoy ALOT of parts. Although, in this book I grew to like her more towards the middle/end.

I would most definitely re-read this book and book series. Truly a delightful read I recommend.

<Spoiler>
I adored Alistair and Gavin’s relationship through both books. I love those two together since book #1 when Gavin had been looking at Alastair’s photo and said he thought he was very good looking- but not that it mattered. Even then I knew! I’m not sure if the authors originally intended to make them endgame, but I am so glad they are! I would’ve greatly disliked the book if Alistair had ended up with Isobel. None the less, yes! I’m just so in love with how Alistair and Gavin’s relationship has unraveled. They are a relationship I will root for till the end of time!! :)))

As for Isobel, I find I have grown to like characters more when they paired up with someone romantically. So when I noticed something was going on between her and Reid I was all here for it. (Again even shipped then since book one!!) My only main problem with the two was the age difference. We know Isobel is sixteen while Reid is said to be two years older, making him eighteen. I’m not to sure how I feel about a sixteen year old and an eighteen year old dating…..but besides their age gap which is a bit concerning. Then I love the pair!!

In conclusion, this book was such a fun read and a roller coaster of emotions. I can’t tell you how many times I have cried while reading this entire book series. I love all of these characters and just wow! Great book ❤️

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vicwaltz's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

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

3.0

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foiblesandfiction's review against another edition

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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.

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briochebun's review against another edition

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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! :)

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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“! ♡

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

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