Reviews with content warning for Murder - All Of Our Demise

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

All Of Our Demise by C.L. Herman, Amanda Foody

37 reviews

snootle's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I finished this duology because I was curious how it would end, but overall I struggled to enjoy this book and the first one.

I liked the trials and challenges they faced recreating the relics,

but the constant changing of each character's feelings and objectives made it difficult to connect with them. Moments that should've been tense and time-sensitive were filled with drawn out, emotional dialogue which made it seem like they were rarely in actual danger.

My biggest problem with this duology is how it relies on telling rather than showing. It tells you that every character is a villain/monster/bad person, but overall there is little to show this outside of a handful of events. We have to rely on reading their every thought. Everything is spelled out, even to the point where obvious, simple story beats are explained at length, leaving no opportunity for thought or speculation from the reader.

I enjoyed the world building, setup/involvement of the champions' families and some of the magic, but unfortunately this series fell really flat for me.

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guessgreenleaf's review against another edition

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dark hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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quinn24's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This was fun, definitely not my usual kind of read, I did feel like a few things fell kinda flat, but it was fun. I liked Alistair, Hendry,and Gavin, but I found myself being kinda bored with the others though I am almost always like that when a book has switching POVs. Alistair is absolutely my favourite.

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micaelacccc's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I was only here for Alistair and Gavin and they did not disappoint. I love them so much.

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jessy4550's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

“The Grieves had raised Gavin to die. The Lowes had raised Alistair to kill. Both of them deserved a better story.”

➽ I think I liked this sequel even better than the first book! All of Our Demise is the conclusion to the duology and though I wasn't sure about the direction the series was taking, I ended up liking it! It took me a bit to get back into the story, but then I got really invested. The story follows our champions now that the Veil has been dropping and the Tournament is slowly falling apart. That means outside forces - such as the families, the spellmakers and the press - are getting involved and have a much bigger influence than before.

➽ Isobel, Briony and Finley are working together to break the Tournament's spell in a controlled way, as otherwise they are all going to die. Unfortunately, not everyone cares about that and lots of people see only the high magic they could gain, no matter how it happens. I liked Isobel much more in this book, as she continues struggling with the media attention and the fallout of her casting a deathly hex on Alistair. Her own family's curse is making her feel like she's fading away. I still don't love Briony as she was very self-righteous in the beginning, but I liked that her past actions were addressed and she had to confront the cost of the plan! Her relationship with Finley was sadly bland and uninteresting to me, I didn't really care about their dynamic. To me, Isobel's love-hate relationship with Reid was much more intriguing. Reid wrote the book about the Tournament and was a famous spellmaker who tried to play them. Now he's forced to work with them to undo the curse, but there's obviously a lot of bad blood between them. I wasn't sure about him at first, but Isobel had much better chemistry with him - compared to Alistair in the first book - and their animosity felt more intense and intriguing to me!

➽ Gavin and Alistair end up teaming up against the others and I loved it!! Alistair's not interested in breaking the Tournament, as his brother Hendry - who died - is part of it now and could be lost again. After killing their whole family, Alistair is only out to finish what he started and gain the high magic by winning the Tournament. Since everyone else is now involved and the others are trying to find another way, he needs a new ally. Gavin's the only one who isn't taken with Briony's plan, especially since he's still dealing with the aftermath of using his life magic to cast spells. I've been saying from the very beginning that Gavin and Alistair would have made a better couple than Alistair and Isobel ... and I was right!! I couldn't believe it at first, but there is a romantic dynamic between Gavin and Alistair!! I loved it so much: the pairing of the underdog and the vicious favorite; the forced team up and great tension!! Alistair and Gavin both have reason to distrust each other, but can't help but get to know each other beyond what their families intended for them. Their complicated feelings for each other were so well-written! They both deal with the expectations and legacy of their respective families and mirrored each other so well.

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