What a ride! All of Our Demise continues with our tournament setting after mass betrayals and death. This continues to be a dark YA story with morally grey characters at the helm. 

Following the events from the last book, alliances are shook up and priorities have shifted. Hendry is somehow alive, which means Alistair will do everything he can to keep him that way. Isobel is struggling to understand the betrayal she faced from Alistair and deciding what to do next. The remaining champions split into different alliances, one planning to fulfill the goal of the tournament and fighting the other champions to the death, and the others trying to dismantle the tournament from the inside. At the same time, the Blood Veil has fallen, meaning residents and reporters from Ilvernath are more involved than ever. 

I know some people dislike it, but I really appreciated how the second book recapped the first one to an extent. It was very helpful and reestablished me into the world. I love how dark the first book was, and it definitely continued in this one. Our main POVs are still Gavin, Briony, Isobel, and Alistair. Alistair has been cursed and feels like he is becoming the villain the Lowes made him. I loved his POV, and I would say he is the most morally grey of them all. Gavin was a surprise in this one, I didn't find him memorable in the first book, but he was such a fun character to read about. His flaws and the way he learns compassion is just everything. Isobel of course is my favorite at the top with Alistair, and with her own curse is making her re-evaluate her family, alliances, and everything she believed (or didn't believe in) before. Briony, my god, for some reason I could not stand and Finley by extension. They were just very bland and almost overly optimistic? I wish the authors spent more time writing about their decision-making and flaws they had to face in the same way as the others.

To be honest, I kind of wanted Isobel and Alistair back together? But Gavin and Alistair was absolutely perfect and I do think that they fit better than the previous two ever could. Reid McTavish was a curveball, and I do wish he had been further introduced in the first book instead of being behind the scenes so much. The ending was good, and I liked the ambiguousness of it all and how they are all healing. 

If anything, I found this duology to have some of the best tournament setting writing, and I just loved how dark the plot and characters were. It was a great finish!