Scan barcode
A review by gemma_the_edgy_librarian
All of Our Demise by C.L. Herman, Amanda Foody
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