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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Actual rating: 3.5/5
I'm not really sure what to say about this- it was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and objectively it was pretty good! A fun time with characters who are expected to be horrible but were mostly just doing their best in a shitty situation, and was entirely not what I was expecting.
All of Us Villains sports 4 character POVs, a fascinating town with ~traditional vibes, a magic system of spells and curses that can do incredible things, two bisexuals, and more plot twists than I imagined the authors could cram into 400 pages.
I really did enjoy reading this, I think my issue was the pacing and the build up. The first half of the book is pre-tournament, and it feels like the slowest week of my life. Of course all of this is world building and character building, and there's 4 POVs and relationships to build, so it's understandable that it's a little slow, but even though I know a lot happens in the first half, it didn't really feel like it.
Things start to pick up a little when we finally get to the tournament. The characters have 3 months to kill each other and provide a victor or the tournament ends and the magic will kill them all anyway. We have seven teenagers, scared out of their minds and ready to do some real damage.
At this point of course, we don't want anyone to die and things start to pick up!
Overall, I'm keen to see where this goes in the sequel. I have faith the authors will bring me something unexpected.
I'm not really sure what to say about this- it was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and objectively it was pretty good! A fun time with characters who are expected to be horrible but were mostly just doing their best in a shitty situation, and was entirely not what I was expecting.
All of Us Villains sports 4 character POVs, a fascinating town with ~traditional vibes, a magic system of spells and curses that can do incredible things, two bisexuals, and more plot twists than I imagined the authors could cram into 400 pages.
I really did enjoy reading this, I think my issue was the pacing and the build up. The first half of the book is pre-tournament, and it feels like the slowest week of my life. Of course all of this is world building and character building, and there's 4 POVs and relationships to build, so it's understandable that it's a little slow, but even though I know a lot happens in the first half, it didn't really feel like it.
Things start to pick up a little when we finally get to the tournament. The characters have 3 months to kill each other and provide a victor or the tournament ends and the magic will kill them all anyway. We have seven teenagers, scared out of their minds and ready to do some real damage.
At this point of course, we don't want anyone to die and things start to pick up!
Overall, I'm keen to see where this goes in the sequel. I have faith the authors will bring me something unexpected.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Szczerze? Fabuła przywołująca na myśl Igrzyska śmierci oraz Harrego Potter'a wydawała się niezwykle obiecująca. Już od samego początku doceniałam wykorzystanie kilku perspektyw, które umożliwiały nam jako czytelnikowi zrozumienia motywacji działań bohaterów.
Niestety książka szybko przestała dorównywać postawionym przez siebie oczekiwaniom.
Mimo tytułu, nie możemy odnaleźć tu prawdziwego złoczyństwa. Wszyscy bohaterowie przed turniejem pragną zwycięstwa i planują swoje strategie na temat zabójstw, by zaraz magicznie zaniechać morderstw tuż po jego rozpoczęciu (Alistair I'm looking at you babe).
Każdego plot twistu domyśliłam się już po pierwszych "wskazówkach" więc nie zrobiły na mnie większego wrażenia.
Z przykrością stwierdzam, że było to dla mnie wielkie rozczarowanie. Chciałam polubić tą pozycję, ponieważ pierwsze rozdziały jak i opis wydawcy zapowiadały się naprawdę dobrze :(
Niestety książka szybko przestała dorównywać postawionym przez siebie oczekiwaniom.
Mimo tytułu, nie możemy odnaleźć tu prawdziwego złoczyństwa. Wszyscy bohaterowie przed turniejem pragną zwycięstwa i planują swoje strategie na temat zabójstw, by zaraz magicznie zaniechać morderstw tuż po jego rozpoczęciu (Alistair I'm looking at you babe).
Każdego plot twistu domyśliłam się już po pierwszych "wskazówkach" więc nie zrobiły na mnie większego wrażenia.
Z przykrością stwierdzam, że było to dla mnie wielkie rozczarowanie. Chciałam polubić tą pozycję, ponieważ pierwsze rozdziały jak i opis wydawcy zapowiadały się naprawdę dobrze :(
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
3.5**
For the most part, the writing was pretty good. The romances were pretty mediocre, but I was definitely surprised that that aspect wasn't as prominent as I expected. I think there was a love triangle? I wavered between liking and disliking the four protagonists, and ultimately didn't care all too much for any of them. I think the characters could be fleshed out a bit more beyond their relationships to their families. Who are they as people? Instead of just their thoughts towards the tournament. Not much villainy, which I think is a sentiment mirrored in a lot of other reviews. Also grinning evilly is not villainy and I would have liked to see a lot more strategizing, cunningness. Deaths were pretty predictable (all the pov characters have plot armor). I know it was for the drama, but it got really tedious with all the characters flip flopping sides at the end there. Also, ending fell flat and felt extremely abrupt. Finally, I appreciate the world building and enjoyed the modern aspects of the story, like the paparazzi, hate mail, that felt fresh. World building gave me this gothic, dark academia vibe which I am always a sucker for.
For the most part, the writing was pretty good. The romances were pretty mediocre, but I was definitely surprised that that aspect wasn't as prominent as I expected. I think there was a love triangle? I wavered between liking and disliking the four protagonists, and ultimately didn't care all too much for any of them. I think the characters could be fleshed out a bit more beyond their relationships to their families. Who are they as people? Instead of just their thoughts towards the tournament. Not much villainy, which I think is a sentiment mirrored in a lot of other reviews. Also grinning evilly is not villainy and I would have liked to see a lot more strategizing, cunningness. Deaths were pretty predictable (all the pov characters have plot armor). I know it was for the drama, but it got really tedious with all the characters flip flopping sides at the end there. Also, ending fell flat and felt extremely abrupt. Finally, I appreciate the world building and enjoyed the modern aspects of the story, like the paparazzi, hate mail, that felt fresh. World building gave me this gothic, dark academia vibe which I am always a sucker for.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Idk if that was bad or if it was just YA but i didn't like it. the authors' writing style with all those short sentences, cringe dialogue, and 5th grader descriptions every time a new character appeared was just a mess to me. this is like the most rip off hunger game of all the rip off hunger games. This entire book was so corny it made me realize that I've been spoiled by good books like the characters and situation here could not be more fake and 2d. I didnt like any of the characters or their relationships. Alistairs monster stuff was so stupid. The world building is also really mid and uninteresting. If this wasn't one of the only things I had downloaded for my flight I would have dropped it a long time ago. Honestly a waste of time unless you like reading about cringe YA characters with weird names and nicknames in a world that sounds like it was written from a dream. Here's some favorite quotes, but maybe they aren't that bad to you (minor spoilers kinda): “Despite his charm and freckled nose, Hendry was still a Lowe. He had a little villain in him. ” “The chairs were filled with Grieves and Paynes—mostly Paynes. There was a pun to be made there, but no one would have been amused. ” “Isobel, your aunts and uncles probably didn’t even know how to spell your name until last year.” “Alistair leaned closer to Isobel. “Let the show begin,” he whispered, sending chills up her neck. ”
Anyways that was definitely an attempt at a book! At least I burned almost 6 hours in my 10 hour flight idk wish I chose to download a better book
Anyways that was definitely an attempt at a book! At least I burned almost 6 hours in my 10 hour flight idk wish I chose to download a better book
adventurous
dark
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
love this book! the characters have a lot of depth and the magic system is so interesting! can't wait to read the sequel