Scan barcode
A review by literarywreck
All of Us Villains by C.L. Herman, Amanda Foody
3.0
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
In the quaint town of Ilvernath hides the last store of high magick— the type of devastating power that manipulates history. It remained hidden, under the control of one of Ilvernath's seven most notable families, until a treasonous tell-all spills the town's secrets. Suddenly, these seven families are thrust into the spotlight as the world discovers their curse: once a generation, each family must put forth a child to compete in the Blood Veil, a brutal, to-the-death tournament whose one surviving champion claims the final reserve of high magick for their family. All of Us Villains introduces you to the first generation of Blood Veil champions to become media spectacles and drags you along on their fight for life and ultimate power— a fight that, unfortunately, none of them asked for.
Foody and Herman's story is full of complicated and incredibly damaged characters. Their characters continuously make poor decisions in an attempt to act out roles assigned to them that none of them truly fit. This leads, on occasion, to the characters driving you mad with their flip-flopping around. Luckily, Foody and Herman's compelling writing will keep you enjoying the read, even if you, like me, can't stand some of the POV characters.
All of Us Villains wooed me with its strong near-gothic moods and stunning emotional portrayals of adolescence. Its careful balance between being plot- or character-driven is more often moving than stale, but still lacks some of the emotional depth and the backbone of social commentary I hoped for. Unfortunately, its comparison to the Hunger Games— an annoying gimmick— is not apt.
My biggest disappointment lies in having heard quite a bit about this book having queer representation, when, in fact, only one of the champions is mentioned as queer, and, even then, only in passing. The main characters are actually, as a whole, significantly lacking in diversity.
In the quaint town of Ilvernath hides the last store of high magick— the type of devastating power that manipulates history. It remained hidden, under the control of one of Ilvernath's seven most notable families, until a treasonous tell-all spills the town's secrets. Suddenly, these seven families are thrust into the spotlight as the world discovers their curse: once a generation, each family must put forth a child to compete in the Blood Veil, a brutal, to-the-death tournament whose one surviving champion claims the final reserve of high magick for their family. All of Us Villains introduces you to the first generation of Blood Veil champions to become media spectacles and drags you along on their fight for life and ultimate power— a fight that, unfortunately, none of them asked for.
Foody and Herman's story is full of complicated and incredibly damaged characters. Their characters continuously make poor decisions in an attempt to act out roles assigned to them that none of them truly fit. This leads, on occasion, to the characters driving you mad with their flip-flopping around. Luckily, Foody and Herman's compelling writing will keep you enjoying the read, even if you, like me, can't stand some of the POV characters.
All of Us Villains wooed me with its strong near-gothic moods and stunning emotional portrayals of adolescence. Its careful balance between being plot- or character-driven is more often moving than stale, but still lacks some of the emotional depth and the backbone of social commentary I hoped for. Unfortunately, its comparison to the Hunger Games— an annoying gimmick— is not apt.
My biggest disappointment lies in having heard quite a bit about this book having queer representation, when, in fact, only one of the champions is mentioned as queer, and, even then, only in passing. The main characters are actually, as a whole, significantly lacking in diversity.