I’m not really sure what to say. I listened to the audiobook and kept losing interest, so I’d have to re-listen. I only really paid attention during Gavin and Alistair chapters. They were my favorites in the first book. Overall, it wasn’t as good as the first. It dragged, and I just didn’t love it. I don’t regret it, but I’ll also probably never think about it again.

"Heroes are just villains with worse survival instincts and moral superiority complexes


I honestly liked this one more than the first book. It might have been a bit too long at times, maybe some parts could have been cut out, but overall I was really entertained and even with my reading slump, I still felt that old excitement I used to feel when reading.


**beginning and end of spoilers will be highlighted with this ⚠ **


I read All of Us VIllains earlier this year and fell in love with these characters and the story they were telling. So, I immediately knew that I had to read the sequel too before the end of the year. I saw a lot of people rating this book 3 stars, so I went into it not expecting to love it as much as I did and I definetily didn't expect to love it more than the All of Us VIllains. But surprises did happen. And this was not the only one.


All of Our Demise picks up from where the first book left off and from page on things are intense. Our storyline is divided between those who want to break the tournament and those who don't, and for the whole plot, we see how the two parties interact with one another and how their stories are ultimately intertwined.


As I mentioned before, we are immediately thrown back into the world. I loved the plot, and I was invested from page one. While for the first book I've had some critiques and I wasn't sure what was the direction the plot was supposed to go towards, in this one we have a clear goal and we understand from the start what the characters are aiming for. It was really well structured, and it kept me intrigued all throughout. I've never felt bored while reading All of Our Demise.


"Killing is easy," Alistair murmured. "It's the afterward that's harder."
"But it's the afterward we're fighting for."


The characters are for sure my favourite part of the book. Like in a book, the plot can be dog shit, but if it has great characters and I fall in love with them, it doesn't change a thing. That book could still become my favourite. That wasn't the case with this novel, but I still believe that the characters outshined the plot.


Alistair

Gavin had once agonized over whether the real Alistair Lowe was more boy or monster, but now he understood that Alistair was both. And even though neither cancelled the other out, he didn’t think that made Alistair beyond redemption."

He was my favourite character in the first book and still is now. His chapters and Gavin's were the ones I looked forward the most while reading. I love him so much, and his character arc is so beautifully written. He considers himself a monster because that's what his family raised him to be. But all throughout the story, he fights his demons and tries to be better. He doesn't want to be a monster. He doesn't want to be a villain, although everyone claims that he makes a good villain. He just wants the world to see him for who he really is. The world sees him as this cruel person who would kill everyone with no remorse if it served his purposes, but in reality, he's the complete opposite. While on the outside he may look scary, he's a kind person who is always willing to put himself at risk if it means protecting the people he loves, he is fiercely loyal and the best part of all he is snarky and can be extremely awkaward and clumsy.


"He loved monster stories, after all, and he was undoubtedly the monster of this tale."


Gavin

The Grieves had raised Gavin to die. The Lowes had raised Alistair to kill.
Both of them deserved a better story.

Gav's character took me completely by surprise. I was pretty neutral about him in the previous book. I found him to be quite boring, and I just didn't really care about him. Now, he became one of my favourites along with Al. I felt like his character had so much more depth, and we could actually see his struggles and how the way he was raised and the curse affected him and his life. His growth was asthonishing. I feel like he changed so much. The person he was when we first saw him is completely different from the person he was in the last scene, and I say this in the best way possible. His character development was *chef's kiss*


One another thing that definitely played a part in making me love him was his interactions with Alastair. The scenes they had together were my favourites. I can not explain the feeling I would get when I'd realised that a scene with them together was coming.


Isobel

"Because the Macaslans were disgusting, conniving, greedy. They spun whatever tales suited them; they took advantage of every contemptible opportunity that fell at their feet. And the only way to finish their true story was to stoop to the vilest low possible to survive."

I honestly didn't like her as much as I did in All of Us Villains. She used to be one of my favourite characters, but with the way things ended in the first book and the way she was acting in the beginning, I just didn't feel the same love I did. She annoyed me a lot for the first half of the book, and she did start growing on me towards the end of the book, but I still didn't care that much about her. To be honest, the way I felt for her throughout the book was the same way I felt for Gavin in the previous one. I just couldn't connect with her character anymore, but at least her chapters weren't completely unbearable to read. Most of the times, I was still interested to see the story from her POV even if I didn't care that much about her, but I still would have rather read from Al's or Gav's POVs.


Briony

All throughout the book, I wanted to slap Briony, and I'm not even being dramatic. I hate her so much for multiple reasons, but her hero complex was just not for me. I admit, she did grow, and she wasn't the oblivious and ignorant girl she used to be. She understands that not everything is about her, and it's not her "job" to save everyone, but her hero complex is still there because otherwise, she would have no personality. I understand her role in the story and why she is needed, but that doesn't change the fact that she was my least favourite character.


Whenever her POV's came, I would always be disappointed. I would always sigh to myself and wish that it was an Al chapter. This is honestly pretty common in multiple POVs books. Or at least that's what I noticed in my case. There's always one character whose POV, I hate. I don't think there's any book that I've read that is an exception to this.


Reid

Once again, a character that surprised me. He was really interesting, and I ended up really liking his character. There were so many layers to him, and I just wanted to find more about him. To understand him better and to understand why he took this path, why he felt the need to do the stuff that he was doing and so on. And although we had no idea if we could trust him or not, I was 100% rooting for him too.

I also believe that he should have gotten a POV too


"In a different story, would we still have been enemies?"

The romance was another part I loved. While there was one couple I didn't particularly care about, I loved the other two, and I was fangirling so much. I'm a romantic at heart even if I don't really like romance books that much or read them that often and seeing my ship sail made me so happy. THEY HAD SO MUCH CHEMISTRY AND I WAS HERE FOR IT. I HAD TO SEE THEM TOGETHER. I also loved the unpredictability of it all. I really thought the plot would go into this obvious place, that All of Us Villains pretty much set up, at first, but I was pleasantly surprised. I'm so happy with the route the authors decided to take, and I definitely wouldn't have loved the book as much if they didn't do this.


Seeing the way everything ended was very satisfying for me. It definitely wasn't a perfect ending, there were some things that I believe that they could have been improved to make it a bit less confusing, but after everything the characters have went through, it was the ending that they deserved.



⚠ MILD SPOILERS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED FOR THE SHIPS ⚠




ok, so I need to ramble and fangirl about this, BUT ALASTAIR AND GAVIN. I WAS ROOTING FOR THEM SO MUCH AND ISTG IF EITHER OF THEM DIED I WOULD HAVE THROWN HANDS

ngl at first, I thought I was imagining the tension between them, but the more chapters we saw with them, the more painfully obvious the pining became. I found it hilarious how both Hendry and Reid noticed that they were in love with each other before they did??

"You can't kill my brother. You like him too much."

I was laughing hysterically when Hendry said this tbh

and the last chapter had me smiling like an idiot. seeing them together and happy made my heart do little jumps in my chest. I was so happy for them.

and you can bet that most of my highlighted quotes are of them, lmao

"In a bout of weakness, of confusion, of whatever he wanted to call it, Alistair embraced Gavin, his arms locked around his enemy's shoulders. Gavin froze for a moment, but then his hands folded around Alistair's back. Alistair felt strangely small within them, and he didn't mind it. He grasped at Gavin tighter-his fingers interwining with the cotton of his T-shirt-and pressed his face into his chest. Gavin couldn't let go now even if he tried."




⚠ END OF SPOILERS ⚠




This book is for sure one of my favourites that I've read this year just because it reminded me how fun reading is and why I love it so much. This book will be one that I'll probably be thinking about constantly, and these characters will forever have a place in my heart.


"Sometimes I can't believe it's over. I guess we lived in a nightmare for so long, it's hard to wake up."

___________________________

[pre-read:]
istg if alistair dies in this one-
and seriously, he is the one character that is not allowed to die

3

i cannot believe i’ve been straightbaited for the first time in my life

I liked this book, even if a little bit less from the other one, because I already knew how it would end and some things were a little bit underwhelming, but some really great things happened in it and I loved it. Great character development, I really loved all the character and of course had my favorite from last book: Alistair but in this book I really loved Gavin even more, like he has my heart. We got a ship that I didn't thought I needed but I was so here for that. And being heartbroken at the end, I didn't know that it would hurt me this much but it did I finished reading the last chapter with glassy eyes :')

Okay here is the more complete review now that I’ve finished the duology. First of all I really liked this! The premise was super intriguing and (especially in book one) there were tons of fun twists that made it super hard to put down. And the characters were great, I especially liked Isobel. The second book wasn’t quite as fun as the first and I have serious issue with the ending of the first. There’s a difference between a cliffhanger and, like, not wrapping up your narrative arc & I feel like it was more of the latter. That said I would highly recommend this series & am super sad it’s over