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A review by abookandchai
All of Us Villains by C.L. Herman, Amanda Foody
2.0
all of us villains is about seven families who each send a champion to compete in a tournament that determines who controls high magic of ilvernath. i was very much intrigued by the premise and thought it would be action packed and super dark but it was mostly a let down.
to start with the good, i liked the tournament aspect and all its rules. the worldbuilding related to it was interesting too, so were the different curses and spells used! also the action is pretty good, it gets violent and bloody at times in the tournament. and *maybe* i liked the bond alistair and hendry shared. some twists were surprising, that took the story forward. i liked reading alistair's thoughts and gavin's pov was intriguing, as he strived to win the tournament.
...that was it. i found the pacing really off. its not until the tournament starts that the action begins (before that we get the characters' backstories leading up to the tournament) which is at the 40-50% mark. and when we reach the action, it moves too quick. i felt like this book went really hard to make the characters villainous/monstrous, a character even always talked in terms of being a monster but there was no substance in it. they weren't as "bloodthirsty" or even morally grey. in fact i didn't even care about 3/4 of the pov characters?? some scenes in their povs definitely intrigued me but otherwise only the vibes were gritty and not the characters. also if they're deemed villains why do they keep thinking about saving everyone every other chapter?? in my opinion, the ending was rushed, the authors didn't wrap up the events and instead added new revelations.
i vaguely remember seeing this marketed as 'queer hunger games' when this book was first announced and the authors did say two of the mcs are queer (bi to be exact) but, i don't know if it was because the book barely held my attention, i didn't find any queer elements. would've loved if it was made more clear and highlighted. a character was only hinted at it and i thought there would be some attraction between gavin and alistair. otherwise the main romance focus is m/f. so. yeah.
i'm fairly interested to read the sequel to see how things go and how the relationships develop. aouv disappointed me but if you like bloody tournaments, go for it!
thank you netgalley and tor for the arc
to start with the good, i liked the tournament aspect and all its rules. the worldbuilding related to it was interesting too, so were the different curses and spells used! also the action is pretty good, it gets violent and bloody at times in the tournament. and *maybe* i liked the bond alistair and hendry shared. some twists were surprising, that took the story forward. i liked reading alistair's thoughts and gavin's pov was intriguing, as he strived to win the tournament.
...that was it. i found the pacing really off. its not until the tournament starts that the action begins (before that we get the characters' backstories leading up to the tournament) which is at the 40-50% mark. and when we reach the action, it moves too quick. i felt like this book went really hard to make the characters villainous/monstrous, a character even always talked in terms of being a monster but there was no substance in it. they weren't as "bloodthirsty" or even morally grey. in fact i didn't even care about 3/4 of the pov characters?? some scenes in their povs definitely intrigued me but otherwise only the vibes were gritty and not the characters. also if they're deemed villains why do they keep thinking about saving everyone every other chapter?? in my opinion, the ending was rushed, the authors didn't wrap up the events and instead added new revelations.
i vaguely remember seeing this marketed as 'queer hunger games' when this book was first announced and the authors did say two of the mcs are queer (bi to be exact) but, i don't know if it was because the book barely held my attention, i didn't find any queer elements. would've loved if it was made more clear and highlighted. a character was only hinted at it and i thought there would be some attraction between gavin and alistair. otherwise the main romance focus is m/f. so. yeah.
i'm fairly interested to read the sequel to see how things go and how the relationships develop. aouv disappointed me but if you like bloody tournaments, go for it!
thank you netgalley and tor for the arc