All of Us Villains is a young adult dark fantasy that just hit shelves in November but has already earned several bestseller titles as well as garnered the attention of many Booktokers. Personally, it has become my new favorite book, and that’s high praise because I’ve been sitting on the same favorite book for ages.
In this dystopian but magical world, we meet an interesting cast of teen characters who have found themselves in the spotlight after a tell-all book came out detailing the dark history plaguing both their families and the small town of Ilvernath.
We immediately find out the families are the only ones remaining who can use and access high magick and are cursed to face The Tournament—a fight to the death much like Hunger Games but involving magickt—every generation. The champion will claim the high magick for their family which comes with power and influence. However, the involvement of the media this time complicates matters.
As the story follows all of the teens involved in The Tournament, we get to learn their strengths and weaknesses, both magickly and morally, and realize the title is more than sufficient.
This book had me guessing the whole time who might win, who would betray whom, and what sinister secrets would be coming out about all these families now that they were in the spotlight.
With a splash of a forbidden romance, bloodshed, social and political intrigue, and a unique take on magick, I devoured this book in just three days even with my busy schedule.
This book is perfect for fans of both dystopian and urban fantasy, and even though it is billed as YA, I don’t think those of all ages will find this boring or lacking as the morally gray characters force you to find redemption in them only to be constantly shocked with their decisions even when you think you know what they will do next and how far they will go to win.
You’ll definitely want to get this into your TBR before the second in the duet comes out.
REVIEWED BY: Rae Hendricks (USA Today Bestselling Author)
