All of Us Villains (All of Us Villains, #1)

by Amanda Foody

The Lowes shaped cruelty into a crown, and oh, they wear it well. A Tradition of Tragedy: The True Story of the Town that Sends its Children to Die

What a start

Alistair Lowe played a perfect villain. Not because he was instinctively cruel or openly proud, but because, sometimes, he liked to. Many of the stories whispered by the children of Ilvernath came from him.

Alistair was thinking about death. More specifically, about causing it.

I love him

“If dying were that bad, no one would do it,” Hendry joked,

The Lowes did not tell their children monster stories so that they could slay them. The Lowes told them so their children would become monsters themselves.

The Relics—weapons powered by high magick—fall at random throughout the tournament’s three-month duration. They are the Cloak, the Hammer, the Mirror, the Sword, the Medallion, the Shoes, and the Crown.

The same lesson they were always trying to teach him. Monsters couldn’t harm you if you were a monster, too.

“The Lamb’s Sacrifice is invincible, and an invincible curse demands an unthinkable price. This is how we always win.”

Noooooooo

High magick fell from the stars, and when we found it, we did what humans always do. We decided it was ours to claim.

We’re raised to call them champions, but I would argue there’s a better word: sacrifices.

Imagine what it takes to turn a desperate child away.

One of my earliest memories is of watching my family put money on our own champion dying first. They were correct.

Which Grieve wrote this?

He’d always known Alistair was dangerous. But he’d never had the chance to see how sad he was.

When high magick was plentiful, and the world was ruled by grand, violent gestures, this tournament must not have seemed so horrifying.

Do not judge the champions too harshly. Survival could make villains of any of us.

A friend who’d betrayed her when she needed her most. Or the boy she cared about, who hadn’t wanted to be the villain in this story.

“You wrote the book,” she hissed. “It wasn’t a Grieve. It was you. Why?” Reid’s expression