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All of Us Villains #1
by Amanda Foody, Christine Herman
Book Reviewed by:The blockbuster co-writing debut of Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman, All of Us Villains begins a dark tale of ambition and magick...
You Fell in Love with the Victors of the Hunger Games.
Now Prepare to Meet the Villains of the Blood Veil.
The Blood Moon rises. The Blood Veil falls. The Tournament begins.
Every generation, at the coming of the Blood Moon, seven families in the remote city of Ilvernath each name a champion to compete in a tournament to the death.
The prize? Exclusive control over a secret wellspring of high magick, the most powerful resource in the world―one thought long depleted.
This year, thanks to a salacious tell-all book, the seven champions are thrust into the worldwide spotlight, granting each of them new information, new means to win, and most importantly, a choice: accept their fate or rewrite their story.
But this is a story that must be penned in blood.
Notwithstanding the centrality of magick, spells and curses, All of Us Villains is foremost a teenage drama backed by heavy character development. It is a tale of constantly shifting alliances, ineluctable betrayal and inconvenient secrets that hold potential sway in the tournament's outcome. Readers should not expect the atmospheric charm of Hogwarts or the romanticism of Isengard. Thematically, the narrative embodies to a large extent a retelling of the classic plot of the tragic hero, in this case subverted to fit the titular villains. These champions of the story are groomed by their families from birth to become unremorseful agents of death. The disconnect between the characters' free will and fate inevitably leads to conflicts of personal identity, which the book explores at length...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by David Bahia).
Of all the commanding aspects of All of Us Villains, the concept of "magick" arguably stands as the story's most significant. The residents of Ilvernath treat its existence much as they would electricity and running water, and in many ways are just as reliant on its practical applications as we in the real world are on our smartphones. An examination into the impact of magick on the roles of the central characters reveals parallels in its symbolism to an array of other stories in history and the present.
In All of Us Villains, "magick" is divided into two subsets: "common (low) magick" and "high magick."
Common magick is described in its "raw" form as a white, glittering substance that can be harvested from the deceased. An ...
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Positively wicked in all the right ways. This series is my new obsession, and I cannot wait to devour the next one. With its innovative magic system, a twisted cast of characters you somehow can't help but love, and a plot that will leave you on the edge of your seat, All of Us Villains is addicting from start to finish. I'm obsessed.
