Amanda Foody

Christine Lynn Herman

All of Our Demise is the epic conclusion to Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman’s New York Times bestselling All of Us Villains duology.

“I feel like I should warn you: this is going to be absolutely brutal.”

For the first time in this ancient, bloodstained story, the tournament is breaking. The boundaries between the city of Ilvernath and the arena have fallen. Reporters swarm the historic battlegrounds. A dead boy now lives again. And a new champion has entered the fray, one who seeks to break the curse for good... no matter how many lives are sacrificed in the process.

As the curse teeters closer and closer to collapse, the surviving champions each face a choice: dismantle the tournament piece by piece, or fight to the death as this story was always intended.

Long-held alliances will be severed. Hearts will break. Lives will end. Because a tale as wicked as this one was never destined for happily ever after.


All of Us Villains #2

All of Our Demise

(Bre)anne✨

“Heroes are just villains with worse survival instincts and moral superiority complexes.”

Jasmine

Actual rating 3.75 Stars

One of my most anticipated reads because I really loved book 1. A book that I had no expectations going into but ended up falling for the atmosphere and characters, and making mental grabby hands since reading to get this book. I will admit the first half felt very slow and dragged a bit too much that I was worried about how I going to feel by the end because it wasn't delivering that same excitement. There was a lot of breaking curses and spell casting yet it wasn't feeling very action packed.

However, it really did pick up into the later half and left me with an overall satisfying conclusion to this story. I can say that if you're looking for a book with some morally grey misunderstood characters, an amazing atmosphere, and some magical goodness this is a great duology. Maybe I'm also just feeling extra happy because I got my ship in the end, and no one in this series deserved a happy ending more than they did!! If I had one thing I enjoyed from start to finish it was being in their povs and watching their characters grow. That in itself was enough for me to have felt really happy to have read this book. I really loved the character development and it was great to be able to see all the growth they went through from the first book, and feeling their conflict throughout. Every character is very human and flawed.

I wish the stakes that felt so high in book 1 continued to feel that way into the conclusion but I just felt a lot of things that happened were fairly convenient. I think this could've been stronger, sure. By no means though is it an unsatisfying conclusion and I think this will be an ending most people can be happy with. It was hard for me to rate this because the first half was a 3 star read with some 4 star moments sprinkled in. The second half though gave me back a lot of the excitement I felt reading the first book and was a solid 4 star read.

Took me way longer than it should have but I swear that is not reflective of how GREAT this book is! An excellent conclusion to the duology. The tension and stakes hit the ceiling of the Blood Veil, and the costs are high. Absolutely will read anything by these authors.

Liz Griffin

Emily Butchma

4.25 STARS:

I liked this one a bit better than the first. It went in directions I didn't see coming. The characters got some decent development, and heartstrings were tugged at. The ending was very satisfying as well. It left me feeling complete.

The best part about this though (and it really caught me by surprise) was where the romances went. I thought I had them all figured out, but about 30% through, I realized that I didn't know anything. 

One of the complaints I had from the first was that not many of the main characters actually seemed villain-like. That changed in this one. While many still had elements of goodness, they took darker turns. 

While this might not be one of my all-time favorites, I can still recommend this series. It gives what it advertises, with some unique elements thrown in. I thoroughly enjoyed this duology!

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. I honestly didn’t enjoy the duology as much as I thought I would. 

This book picks up right where the previous one left off and it could not have been more slow. All I wanted was for the book to be over. I liked it enough to finish but it was kind of tough for me to. I liked the characters and their development but there was still something about their development that I didn’t enjoy. I also really liked the trials and how each of them reflected the different families. I didn’t really love any of the characters. I didn’t feel like I knew them enough to connect with them. Except for maybe Alistair and Gavin. 

Overall this book wasn’t great. It was fine. 

Kendall Deranek

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. I honestly didn’t enjoy the duology as much as I thought I would. 

This book picks up right where the previous one left off and it could not have been more slow. All I wanted was for the book to be over. I liked it enough to finish but it was kind of tough for me to. I liked the characters and their development but there was still something about their development that I didn’t enjoy. I also really liked the trials and how each of them reflected the different families. I didn’t really love any of the characters. I didn’t feel like I knew them enough to connect with them. Except for maybe Alistair and Gavin. 

Overall this book wasn’t great. It was fine. 

This wasn't great. It was overly drawn out, with minimal action, and it felt like everyone was forced into a love line. I wasn't a huge fan of the government/spellmaker conspiracy setup because it felt like it came out of nowhere, after the tournament had turned from being a murder competition to breaking said murder competition. Maybe I missed key clues from the first book, but it felt like this shift was meant to provide conflict after everyone started working together. 

Now for my opinions on the ships (spoilers because, well, spoilers):

Finley and Briony-Cute, arguably the most believable couple. Heartbreaking ending, but kind of fitting? I don't think Briony would've wanted anyone else to die in her place. 

Gavin and Alistair-I'll admit, I wasn't the biggest fan of this ship at first. I did have a kernel of hope for an Isobel and Alistair reunion, I thought they were a good couple, but I completely understand why they didn't get back together. That being said, I don't buy Gavin being in love with Alistair before they even really met. I just don't. This is also a ship that I think would've been better fleshed out after the competition because while the tension between the two was building, so was the tension of the tournament. 

By far the worst ship is Isobel/Reid. I cannot get behind this one at all. He literally wanted to kill her, kidnapped her, made her sabotage the tournament so they'd have no way to break the curse (this is rectified, but it's the principle of the thing), and oh yeah, Reid wrote that book that caused Isobel to be thrown into the spotlight (granted Briony did name Isobel, but Reid set everything in motion). The only reason Reid even wanted to break the tournament curse was self preservation. They had no chemistry and I hate it. 

This felt more like the Hunger Games meets Love Island than a competition where teens are forced to murder each other. I just did not enjoy this and slogged through it.

Holly

It's time for an unpopular opinion.

This wasn't great. It was overly drawn out, with minimal action, and it felt like everyone was forced into a love line. I wasn't a huge fan of the government/spellmaker conspiracy setup because it felt like it came out of nowhere, after the tournament had turned from being a murder competition to breaking said murder competition. Maybe I missed key clues from the first book, but it felt like this shift was meant to provide conflict after everyone started working together. 

Now for my opinions on the ships (spoilers because, well, spoilers):

Finley and Briony-Cute, arguably the most believable couple. Heartbreaking ending, but kind of fitting? I don't think Briony would've wanted anyone else to die in her place. 

Gavin and Alistair-I'll admit, I wasn't the biggest fan of this ship at first. I did have a kernel of hope for an Isobel and Alistair reunion, I thought they were a good couple, but I completely understand why they didn't get back together. That being said, I don't buy Gavin being in love with Alistair before they even really met. I just don't. This is also a ship that I think would've been better fleshed out after the competition because while the tension between the two was building, so was the tension of the tournament. 

By far the worst ship is Isobel/Reid. I cannot get behind this one at all. He literally wanted to kill her, kidnapped her, made her sabotage the tournament so they'd have no way to break the curse (this is rectified, but it's the principle of the thing), and oh yeah, Reid wrote that book that caused Isobel to be thrown into the spotlight (granted Briony did name Isobel, but Reid set everything in motion). The only reason Reid even wanted to break the tournament curse was self preservation. They had no chemistry and I hate it. 

This felt more like the Hunger Games meets Love Island than a competition where teens are forced to murder each other. I just did not enjoy this and slogged through it.

To be honest, really only vibed with the middle part of this book, otherwise would likely be 3.5/3.75 stars. I got tired of the group of characters who were acting as heroes, and only redeeming for me were Hendry (loved him) and Alistair and Gavin. Didn’t care much at all that Briony died. Cheers to this series being over!

TW to be added later

To be honest, really only vibed with the middle part of this book, otherwise would likely be 3.5/3.75 stars. I got tired of the group of characters who were acting as heroes, and only redeeming for me were Hendry (loved him) and Alistair and Gavin. Didn’t care much at all that Briony died. Cheers to this series being over!

I have been waiting for this book - the conclusion - since the moment I read the last words in All of Us Villains and as soon as it appeared I began reading it. 

Almost zero time has passed from where we left our champions in book 1, but after Isobel's betrayal and Hendry's appearance, alliances are fragile, enemies are still at the gates and now Ilvernath has access to the battlegrounds, and the champions to Ilvernath, things are really changing. 

I really don't want to give anything away and usually I would write a much longer review, but honestly, I just want people to read it, I want people to live the story - to take longer than expected reading it because you want to make it last just a little bit longer. I want people to feel the longing, the worry, the angst, the hope, the joy, and draw their own conclusions and not be swayed based on my review of this wonderful story. 

This is my Hunger Games - this gives me the spells, curses, and the rebellion that my magical heart wanted.

If you enjoyed the first - I promise you will enjoy the second.

All of Our Demise All of Us Villains #2

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