3 ⭐️ Decent conclusion to the All of Us Villains duology.

"They'd found another way. They'd told a better story. Now they would end it. Together."


The story picks up where the cliffhanger left off and is just as dark and gruesome, full of betrayal, lies, revelations, and surprises. I enjoyed the story and the character development of each of our champions. The plot twists were unexpected, and once again, some of them completely broke my heart! The sacrifices a few characters make. . . SO UNFAIR! I want to riot! But truly, there were moments that hurt, but call me a masochist because I enjoy a little pain while reading.

Just FYI, this doesn't have a traditional happy ending. It's bittersweet, with some sad and hopeful parts. It's realistic for this dark story and for how incredibly messed up these characters are.


So why am I only giving this 3-stars???

The slow-pace. Look, I'm an incredibly fast reader. Give me a good book that's 300 pages, and I'll finish it in 5 hours. But this took me one freaking month! It was too easy to put down and not exciting enough to pick back up. Sure, there were a few action-packed moments, but they ended too soon, and then there would be a massive lull until the next big scene. I truly believe 50-100 pages should have been cut.

The romantic pairings. While I actually really loved the final pairings, they happened out of the blue, were incredibly forced, and honestly, felt unnecessary. I see why these pairs happened for the storyline progression and character development, but this isn't a romantasy, so having these romances didn't fit the vibe of the story or unfold naturally. And then the one pair I actually cared about didn't get the ending they deserved!


Overall, this was a decent conclusion to this duology and I would recommend reading it if you loved the first book (gave it 5-stars). While the ending is bittersweet, the story is wrapped up well and leaves the reader satisfied.



Thank you to Tor and Tor Teen for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review! As always, all opinions are my own.




Favorite Quotes:

"I'm so tired."
"Of the tournament?"
"Of wanting impossible things."

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The Grieves had raised Gavin to die. The Lowes had raised Alistair to kill.

Both of them deserved a better story.

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"If you're ashamed of what you're willing to kill for, then maybe it's time to ask yourself what you're willing to die for."

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After everything he's gone through, one thing remained unchanged: He'd always want what he'd never have.

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Cursed or not, there was no end to the monster story if, all along, the monster had been him.

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This book was rlly long… and surprisingly I moved through it at a really slow pace but not because the story was slow. I enjoyed this book and the plot but I LOVED the characters!

They were so dimensional and complex! You went back and forth between loving and hating them! They had flaws but you were rooting for them! I also enjoyed that there were multiple different love stories between Alistair and Isobel, and then Al and Gavin, and Isobel and Reid. I was mad Alistair and Isobel didn’t work out and they found other people but I loved that you kinda moved to like them together too! I loved the inclusion of Reid, I could’ve guessed he was a big deal but having him as a villain, prisoner, and then partner / lover was a good twist I wasn’t expecting!

I was so into the characters that, despite the end being realistic, I was unsatisfied with the ending! I wanted to know everything about their lives after and naturally we only knew about them what they knew abt themselves! This book was a fantastic example of good character development! I would recommend this series to any fantasy reader!

Some surprising and satisfying character developments, a mostly gripping plot and I do still enjoy the setting of the death tournament..
Altogether an entertaining read and a nice diversion from where I thought the first book plot would predictably go..

It’s hard to differentiate this book from the first of the series. I still love all the different characters and their interaction with each other. They are some reasons why I gave it a 4 star and not a 5 like the first. While I love that some of the characters develop romantic relationships, I got a bit annoyed that they ALL got into pairs. I mean the first one is cute, the second one makes sense because of the LGBT tag but when the last pair came together I was like COME ON! :P Also, an important character dies at the end and I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit confused… it went a little fast and I feel like we didn't really get a good explanation from the other character as to what had happened. I wish they would have clarified that a little more. But overall, amazing read!

A good duology overall. This book was LONG. I think the series might have worked better as a trilogy instead of just two books.

It didn't keep my attention like some of my five-star favorites, but it was an interesting world and interesting characters. It's hard to do "Hunger Games" but not make it feel super derivative of Hunger Games, so props to the author for pulling it off. The Magick elements were really fun and made the book feel so different while still having similar high stakes.