Reviews tagging 'Death'

Vengeful - Die Rache ist mein by V.E. Schwab

159 reviews

bashsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

If you have seen and enjoyed NBC's Hannibal, Vengeful is for you! 

I knew that Schwab was a fan (as they posted something about rewatching Hannibal as she's writing the third Villains book), but the influence was much more direct in this one than Vicious - especially in the Eli and Stell storyline, which has a lot in common with Will and Hannibal's stints in high-security prisons, helping to catch other killers. And of course, the climatic scene harkens to the defeat of the Red Dragon.

Do not think that this book is just Hannibal with a superhero veneer, though. There are a lot of subplots woven together, and most of them are unique. For example, I love June and her entire character. I love poor Sydney's struggles. I'm intrigued by the shady-orgness of EON. I'm curious as to how the next book will go, given how we left off with plot twists at the end of this one - and I hope Schwab doesn't take too much longer to give it to us!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, and Vomit

flora_arns's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

literally inhaled this. someone give mitch a joint and a hug this man has been CARRYING the team for two books now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, and Medical content

Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, and Death of parent

s_kit4's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

honestly better than the first one but didn't knock my socks off the way vicious did. i guess i'm a sucker for novelty. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, and Blood

gwyllion's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

katelyn_stark's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury

fierygecko's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

The more I read V.E. Schwab’s work, the more I like it. I love that the themes that both the characters and the readers are presented with in Vicious are shown in this book, too. Vengeful felt like a true continuation of Vicious, even though the first book ended in such a way that it could have stood alone. While this book felt less dramatic to me I thought that having more characters with spotlight was really interesting and that kept me hooked. I do wish Dominic Rusher had more “screen time” but that’s just because I really like him. If I could highlight every other line in this book without the action losing all meaning, I would.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

capsandclauses's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

“Maybe we are broken. But we put ourselves back together. We survived. That’s what makes us so powerful. And as for family—well, blood is always family, but family doesn’t always have to be blood.”

Look I'm going to say it.

This book dragged on a LOT more than the first book.

Vengeful is the not-really-needed sequel to Vicious, which was published years before. We follow the continuation of the events of the last book, which left superpowered 'villain' Victor Vale on the run with his found family of a resurrected dog, resurrecting little girl and loveable brute and superpowered 'hero' Eli Ever locked up in room without a key. Now, years later, new powered villains are emerging, and the government is determined to track each and every one of them down.

I loved reading more about the characters from the first book. The found family is what drew me into this series and I loved seeing them grapple with their own humanity, and the costs of their crimes. However, I couldn't get myself to be invested in the new characters June and Marcella, and their stories ended up occupying what felt like a majority of the text.

This book continued to have the vicious (ha!) violence of the first book, and I do love an antihero. Unfortunately, the pacing and new characters of this just meant that it didn't quite come together how I'd hope.

“Perhaps she was glass. But glass is only brittle until it breaks. Then it’s sharp.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death and Suicide attempt

beansprout344's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

katbotelho's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

4.25

marcella is crazy and i liked reading her chapters but i do wish there was more victor in this book bc i felt like he took a bit of seat,, also funny how

the first book ended with victor dead and this one ended with eli dead but no way hes dead for good right ? like ms schwab is writing a third book

either way i sat

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Torture, Violence, and Blood

eleasofia's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

just like the first book, the only thing it was "missing" for me is that i didn't get crazy obsessed with it. that's the only thing separating it from a true 5-star-read for me. i think i might have even loved the sequel a little more than the first book. i enjoyed eli's pov a lot and the revelations about his past and his character and motives. even though i didn't particularly like some of the newly introduced characters, i still loved their designs. the writing was beautiful, funny, clever. the storyline was intriguing. the pacing was good. the order of the chapters made it even more interesting. i liked the ending and i'm curious what will happen next. once the third book is out, i will most definitely immediately read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Blood, and Murder