Review - All of Us Villains (All of Us Villains, #1) by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman

 

 

Title: All of Us Villains (All of Us Villains, #1)

Author: Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman

Pages: 400

Publisher: Gollancz

Release Date: 9th November 2021

Blurb from Goodreads:

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.

But this year a scandalous tell-all book has exposed the tournament and thrust the seven new champions into the worldwide spotlight. The book also granted them valuable information previous champions never had―insight into the other families’ strategies, secrets, and weaknesses. And most important, it gave them a choice: accept their fate or rewrite their legacy.

Either way, this is a story that must be penned in blood.

 

 

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 My Review:

 *I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley*

The city of Ilvernath has a dark secret, one that has now been revealed to the outside world - every generation, seven families must compete in a tournament where the last competitor standing wins their family access to the highly sought after high magick. It is a fight to the death, one that some of the competitors are reluctant to take part in, but others dream of glory and bringing honour to their families.

However, this year is different, because what if the tournament doesn't have to be won? What if the curse on Ilvernath can be broken? The competitors just need to stay alive long enough to try . . .

Going into this book, I was intrigued to see where it would go, and I ended up enjoying it.

There were several protagonists, with chapters focusing on them, and I found the ones about Alistair and Isobel the most interesting. I liked that the characters were morally grey and didn't always do what I expected.

I liked the concepts of the spellrings, spellboards and the different magick.

The book took a little while to get going, but once it did, I liked what I was reading. While I wasn't gripped, I did want to keep reading, although I did start to flag towards the end.

The writing style was easy to follow.

I'm unsure if I will read the next book as the ending didn't leave me wanting more.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.