Published: August 30, 2022
Publisher: Tor Teen
Series: All of Us Villains #2
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 480 (Hardcover)
My Rating: 4.0/5.0
Synopsis:
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 was 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.
I know I’ve had a ton of Most Anticipated Sequels this year, but All of Our Demise was near the top of that list. I ADORED All of Us Villains last year, especially with it having such a dramatic ending and so many morally questionable characters. Of course, as soon as I finished what I was reading, I started on this because the anticipation was unbearable. Much to my chagrin, I realized I had forgotten so many things… Fortunately the book did a decent job of getting me back up to speed throughout the first few chapters. If you have the opportunity, I would recommend reading these books back to back so you don’t lose momentum.
We pick back up with half of our characters trying to shatter the curse, whilst Alistair tries to keep it in place so his undead brother won’t disappear when it’s broken. He remains my favorite character, with Isobel coming in at a close second. They are both filled with such angst and so many conflicting emotions about the tournament, about their actions, and about each other. I’m not a big fan of Briony or her boyfriend. Briony has a serious hero complex and her boyfriend (who’s name I’ve forgotten) is pretty unmemorable. Now… Gavin Grieve on the other hand is a character that has really grown on me since the first book. He’s gone to tremendous lengths to ensure his own survival and is about as cutthroat as they get. Plus, he slowly earns the grudging admiration of even Alistair!
The tournament dynamic has also changed since the wards came down and anyone in Ilvernath can enter the tournament grounds. Contestants can now access their families, make deals for new curses and spells, and even give interviews to the press to sway popular opinion. It seems like the authors thought of and addressed almost every “what if” situation! I did not care for the secret government involvement in the tournament though, even though it totally makes sense that any government would try to get their hands on such a vast quantity of power by any means necessary. It just didn’t jive with the rest of the story and felt so out of place during the few times it was actually brought up.
Overall, this was a good ending to the duology, though it couldn’t possibly beat the addictive, thrilling nature of the first book. I was on such an emotional high after the end of the first book because it was just so cool and I had to recommend it to everyone!! All of Our Demise was not the same degree of mind blowing, perhaps because the characters and plot were now familiar, but it was an excellent, entertaining read with a satisfying conclusion.
Powder & Page 
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