All of Our Demise

by Amanda Foody & C.L. Herman

4 out of 5

Synopsis

The incredible conclusion to the tournament that started in All of Us Villains.

I should warn you: this is going to be absolutely brutal . . .

For the first time in this ancient, bloodstained story, the tournament is breaking. The boundaries between the city of Ilvernath and the arena have fallen. Reporters swarm the historic battlegrounds. A dead boy now lives again. And a new champion has entered the fray, one who seeks to break the curse for good... no matter how many lives are sacrificed in the process.

As the curse teeters closer and closer to collapse, the surviving champions each face a choice: dismantle the tournament piece by piece, or fight to the death as this story always intended.

Long-held alliances will be severed. Hearts will break. Lives will end. Because a tale as wicked as this one was never destined for happily ever after.

Review

The surviving champions have to come together, if they are going to destroy the High Magic curse, before it destroys them all.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Like the first installment, this book is narrated by four of our champions - Alistair, Isobel, Gavin and Briony.

It follows on from the the shocking ending of the first book, All of Us Villains. Each of our champions has their own problems, caused by their own actions.

Once again, they split into two teams - one that doesn't want to destroy the curse - Alistair, who is afraid he might lose his brother; and Gavin, who sees this as his only chance to win High Magic for his family.

The other team does want to destroy the curse, to save future generations from this horror. Briony and Finley trying to be heroes; and Isobel trying to be a survivor.

I enjoyed this book - I thought most of it was a lot stronger than the first in the series. It had resolved some of the issues I had with All of Us Villains.

The changes between chapters and characters was a lot smoother; and having logical, group objectives, made the plot feel more focused.

I really liked the addition of Reid McTavish - another villain coming to terms with what he's done to the champions, and what he's still willing to do.

We got an overall deeper look at all of our characters, and watch as they all realise that none of them are heroes or villains. At heart, they're all scared teens, trying to work out what the right thing to do is, and if they'll survive.

I thought that the ending went off the boil a bit. All of the plotlines were so strong throughout, and I felt it got to a point and the writing wavered. As if everything had been agreed and achieved, that the characters were just going through the motions.

Overall, I have enjoyed this duology, and I look forward to reading more by the authors.

Goodreads

Amazon