All of Our Demise (All of Us Villains, 2)

All of Our Demise by Amanda Foody & Christine Lynn Herman is the conclusion to the All of Us Villains duology, a dark fantasy about 7 magical families, a cursed tournament, and the teens forced to fight in it. I really enjoyed book one, so I was excited and a little hesitant to read book two. The first book laid the groundwork for the tournament, the characters, and the magical world the authors created. This one gets into the meat of the plot. The climax of book one saw two new players enter the tournament: one raised from the dead and the other a cursemaker who wants to end the tournament for good. With the entry of these new champions, the surviving players divide into two camps: one who wants to end the tournament no matter the cost and the other who wants to win.

Told from the same four POV, the tournament unfolds. I could not predict what would happen next. Everything, and everyone involved, hinged on certain things happening. If they didn’t, their plans wouldn’t work, and they’d have to change tactics. Briony, Isobel, and Finley team up with Reid, the cursemaker, to break the curse that created the tournament, while Gavin teams up with Alistair to keep his recently deceased and now alive brother, well, alive.

Having proven it could be done and her theory was correct in book one, Briony is now on a mission. Her hero-complex is still there, but the shininess of it has worn off. She knows she’s up against people who do not want the tournament to end, and she is willing to fight them. Isobel is at a loss, she’s struggling with who to trust and what to do. Her moral compass has shifted, and the line between good and evil has blurred. Is she the monster now? Reid is an interesting character. We met him in book one, but his addition to the tournament is a wildcard. Can he be trusted or should they keep him locked up?

Gavin is the underdog, no one expects him to win. He is the least powerful, or so everyone thought, but the power Reid cursed him with is out of control and may cost him his life. Alistair, who was grieving most of the first book, is now balancing between hope and despair. His brother is back from the dead, but the magic of the tournament is what is keeping him alive. If the others succeed at breaking the curse, will Hendry die again? Hendry is amazing. I love him. He is everything good and light in Alistair, like a conscience.

I really struggled with the pacing of this book. It is nearly double the size of book one in length, and there are so many details to remember without a lot of movement in the plot itself. I appreciated the chance to see our characters grow and learn, however it pulled away from the tension and overall plight they face.

Overall, All of Our Demise was okay for me. I was intrigued by the tournament and invested enough in the characters that I wanted to see what would happen to them and who would succeed. If you are a fan of dark fantasy and magical worlds, I recommend it.

What I Liked: This second part of the duology was so suspenseful! This is one that will captivate you and keep you turning pages until you know if everyone will survive the end of the curse. With alliances and reasons changing, it is hard to predict which side the characters will continue to be on.
In the last book, Isobel and Alistair were the couple I was rooting for as a romantic interest. However, their equal actions to hurt each other take them each in unexpected directions. Once I wiped away tears of disappointment, I did like how their conflict was resolved.
So many things happened because of Reid McTavish’s interference in the last book. It was satisfying to see him get dragged into the terms of the curse and have a powerful stake in helping it end with them alive.
With the curse being dismantled through traditional and untraditional actions, it starts to act in unpredictable ways. For the first time, the shield keeping the participants confined to the killing grounds is broken and now the townspeople, media, government, and families can all interfere and make it even harder to seek a resolution where our characters might survive.
Final Verdict: This story is sure to be one of the must-read books this year. It has action, suspense, and unpredictability. The characters show a lot of growth as they try and seek the best solution amidst a lot of challenges. It is so interesting to know intellectually that if they worked all together it would go faster and be easier to get a good outcome. Yet, the setting and personal interactions are so well done that it is completely understandable that it doesn’t become the easy solution for our characters to navigate through.