Format: Hardcover, 480 pages
Release Date: August 30th 2022
Publisher: Tor Teen
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Dark Fantasy
The epic conclusion to the blockbuster All of Us Villains duology that's The Hunger Games with magic
“I feel like 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.
All of Our Demise, by authors Amanda Foody, and Christine Lynn Herman, is the final chapter in the All of Us Villains duology. If
you haven't read the first book, please proceed with caution. There may
be some things mentioned in this review that some would consider
spoilers, but I promise there won't be any from me. 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. One person has chosen to change the rules by taking her sisters place.
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 written by an outsider Reid MacTavish, the seven champions are
thrust into worldwide spotlight, granting each of them new information,
new means to win, and most importantly: a choice - accept their fate or
rewrite their story. Ilvernath has never had a tournament like this. Rules that have been maintained for centuries are breaking, and an act by one person, may bring the tournament and all the killing its brought, to a crash end.
While
there were seven champions, two have fallen since the games began. The book also cuts some of the champions out and focuses primarily on Alistair Lowe, Isobel Macaslan, Gavin Grieve, and Briony Thorburn, with
Finley Blair, Hendry Lowe, and Reid MacTavish playing important supporting roles. In this tournament, there are 7
Landmarks, and 7 Relics that fall from the sky throughout the
tournament. Gain one of the relics, and it will give you powers to use
on your rivals. Gain one of the Landmarks which corresponds to your
family, and it becomes your castle.
Briony, Isobel, and Finley have chosen to become a team against the others including Alistair and Gavin. With time running out, the tournament only lasts for 7 weeks, and with their lives hanging in the balance, the champions face scrutiny from their families, from the media, from the government who is willing to kill anyone who may survive, and from spellcasters who would love to get their hands on the high magick that will be released if they are successful in surviving the brutality that is to come over the course of this story.
Alistair has proven that will do the most
shocking things imaginable to win, including saving the only family that matters; his brother. While Alistair's family is the family that wins the most, Gavin's is the weakest. Gavin never thought he would get this far. He is from the weakest families involved, and no Grieve has ever survived the tournament. Gavin
is in trouble with his new magic called life magic. Every time he
performs magic, it draws away his life and he will soon die. The most heartbreaking character: Hendry. He wasn't given any chance to live thanks to his own family.
Briony committed a grave sin at the beginning of the
tournament after learning that there may be a way to permanently end the
tournament. She may be the most unlikable character for what she did, but her end game may save the world. She has convinced Finley and Isobel to trust her, but she will have to make the others involved in this tourney, including Reid MacTavish, Alistair, and Gavin understand that if they don't end the tourney, everyone will die.
Isobel was the first of the champions to be outed, and the person most of the media gravitates towards. She never wanted to be part of this tourney, but she may be the strongest of all the participants. Isobel faces the end of her short life thanks to a curse, and will have to fight hard in order to overcome the terrible losses that happen in this story.
This book is much better than the first book and that's because there is more action, and more twists, and some heartbreaking losses that probably irked me like nothing has in a very long time. Then again, they kind of makes sense in that the ending was likely to happen even without our input.
No comments:
Post a Comment