All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and C.L. Herman

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The Blood Moon rises. The Blood Veil falls. The Tournament begins.

Every generation, at the coming of the Blood Moon, seven families in the remote city of Ilvernath each name a champion to compete in a tournament to the death.

The prize? Exclusive control over a secret wellspring of high magick, the most powerful resource in the world--one thought long depleted.

This year, thanks to a salacious tell-all book, the seven champions are thrust into worldwide spotlight, granting each of them new information, new means to win, and most importantly: a choice - accept their fate or rewrite their story.

But this is a story that must be penned in blood.

Trigger & Content Warnings: violence, blood, gore, death, alcohol, amputation, fire, suicide (mentioned)

This was gruesome and gory, and it was just deliciously dark… I think most of my notes are just different variations of one word and one word only: damn. All of Us Villains was absolutely gripping from the first page, and I don’t know why I put it off for so long, but I’m glad I finally read this because it was truly amazing.

If you took The Hunger Games but involved magic and a curse that lasted for centuries within seven families in the remote city of Ilvernath, that would be All of Us Villains. The first in a duology, this book is told from four different perspectives, each of them from one of the seven families:

• Alistair Lowe, the one everyone expects to be the most villainous and monstrous of them all simply because of the family he was born in
• Isobel Macaslan, the one who got shoved into the spotlight and didn’t even want any of this in the first place… or so she says; it just so happens she drew a terrible card from the universe
• Briony Thorburn, the one who really wanted to be champion… and pretty much wants to be the hero of her own story
• Gavin Grieve, the one who also drew a terrible card from the universe and is taken as the butt of all jokes

Let me just say they’re all terrible in their own way. I mean, how could you not when you grow up knowing you’re likely going to die, but you’re going to train for when the Blood Veil falls like all the ones before you because you’re still going to try and be the one who brings glory to your family, aka exclusive control for high magick. But as villainous as they want to be, there’s so much more to them, and I absolutely love the character development as the novel progressed. I kind of hate them, but at the same time, I love them and just want to protect them all?

I will admit All of Us Villains did start out slow. This doesn’t truly pick up until the Blood Veil falls, the champions are announced and the tournament has begun. But Foody and Herman make up for the slow pace by developing the backstories for each of the characters and the world-building – each chapter starts with a quote from A Tradition of Tragedy, the tell-all book that has put the once remote city in the spotlight. The quotes not only give us snippets of the tournament over the years and some background for each of the seven families, but it’s also a huge part of the plot – it’s multiple birds being killed with one stone, and I love to see it.

All of Us Villains was absolutely amazing, and I can’t wait for the sequel to find out what happens to the characters. I didn’t think I would need this in my life truly until I actually read this. If you’re interested in reading something dark, this may just be your cup of tea.

Sophia

Blogger at Bookwyrming Thoughts · Website · Read More Posts

Sophia started blogging in February 2012 for the hell of it and is surprisingly still around. She has a GIF for nearly everything, probably listens to too much K-Pop and is generally in an existential crisis of sorts (she's trying her best). More of her bookish reviews and K-Pop Roundups can be found at The Arts STL.

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