Every twenty years in the small city of Ilvernath the Blood Veil descends marking the start of a new tournament between Ilvernath’s seven founding families. During the course of the tournament, six champions will be killed leaving the lone victor to win control of the region’s high magick–a coveted resource worldwide–until the next tournament.
In previous generations, no one knew about the tournament except the seven families and the spell-and-cursemakers who supply the champions with their arsenals; no one knew that the families were trapped in a seemingly unbreakable curse.
This time things are different thanks to the anonymous publication of “A Tradition of Tragedy: The True Story of the Town that Sends Its Children to Die”–a book that shares all of Ilvernath’s dirty secrets about both the tournament and its participating families.
Now, with the tournament about to start again, the town is filled with paparazzi and spellchasers eager to witness the carnage. All of the champions will face more than they bargained for as the tournament begins to change around them leaving the fate of the champions–and high magick–in question in All of Us Villains (2021) by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman.
All of Us Villains is the first book in a duology and Foody and Herman’s first writing collaboration. While the characters have diverse sexual identities, most characters (including all POV characters) are white.
The book alternates close third person point of view between self-declared villain Alistair Lowe, reluctant tournament favorite Isobel Macaslan, underdog Gavin Grieve whose family has never won the tournament, and Briony Thorburn whose self-declared chosen one status is threatened by government involvement in this year’s tournament.
An intricate magic system anchors this modern world where common magick exists alongside modern technology allowing people to buy spells for anything from flashlight alternatives to beauty boosts. The carefully developed magic system underscores how much readers don’t know about Ilvernath’s place in the larger world–something that may be explored further in book two.
All of Us Villains is a fast-paced, morally grey story of ambition and survival with a true cliffhanger ending that will leave fans eager for the sequel.
Possible Pairings: Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake, The Luminaries by Susan Dennard, The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst, An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard, A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
*A more condensed version of this review appeared as a review in an issue of School Library Journal*
Miss Print 