All of Us Villains

"All of Us Villains" follows Isobel Macaslan, Alistair Lowe, Bryony Thorburn and Gavin Grieve, all four of whom are children of one of the seven families controlling the rare "High Magic" existing in Ilvernath. Generations ago, these seven families cast a curse that would bind the usage of High Magic for the next 20 years to the family of the victor of a fight to the death between descendants of these seven families. As if this wasn't cruel enough, the competitors are all teenagers. Isobel, Alistair, Bryony and Gavin are all eligible to be their family's champion, some already officially announced as such, some still waiting, but all of them preparing for the tournament. Each family has their own method of choosing their champion and of preparing them for it, some of them want that place, some of them had it thrust on them. All the while, there is also a cursemaker hinting at the possibility that this curse can be broken like any other, and the media covering the tournament for the first time after a book propulsed the tournament and Ilvernath into public consciousness. These four have to deal with the consequences of their families and their own in preparation for the tournament as well as their own, caught between wanting to win, not wanting to die, and the possibility of saving them all, and breaking the curse once and for all. I really enjoyed the choices of characters and how all of their positions are very different. Their family's place in society, their feelings about the tournament, their relationship with their family, their goal in the tournament, their relationship to the other contestants, their grasp on spellcasting and spellmaking. What made this book so very interesting were these characters and the developments they went through while dealing with the choices of their families, their own choices and interacting with each other. At first, I didn't think the characters would be very likable, but they all have some core of just being a teenager wanting to survive in their reality, which is likable, even when they do horrible things because they think they need to to survive or because they think it is expected of them. The conflict between this core of who they could be if the things were different and this harsh reality and trying to figure out what they have to do to survive was a highlight of this book for me. The characters really made this book for me. The worldbuilding was also very interesting, but the arcs of the characters and finding out what their next choice would be, was what kept me turning the page. I can really recommend this book for fans of slightly darker fantasy.

Also ich muss ja sagen am Anfang fand ich es noch ganz gut , aber dann hab ich es eine ganze Weile nicht gelesen und irgendwie wurde das ganze dann flach. Das einzige was mich noch interessiert hat waren Isobel und Alistair. Aber man muss sagen die Idee an sich ist echt cool.

Die Story fand ich interessant und den Schreibstil erfrischend ( kurze Kapitel mit häufigen Perspektivwechseln). Leider fehlt mir das gewisse Etwas, die düstere Atmosphäre hätte ruhig noch dunkler sein können. Für ein Buch über Villains waren mir die Protas insgesamt zu nett/ sympathisch/ normal. Sogar die Mutter und Großmutter der Loewe Familie. Ob ich den zweiten Band lesen werde muss ich mir nochmal überlegen.