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ellenwm's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Addiction, Suicide, and Abandonment
cchaney876's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder
tamzy6's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship
enchanteddroppings's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The first time I read this book was in 2016, a couple years after it was released. I don’t remember how I came across it, but I remember thinking that the plot seemed interesting. As I read it, I remember thinking how different it was to all the other books I’ve ever read. Most books had clear morally black or white characters. This book was purely about morally gray characters. Maybe even dark gray. It felt like the origin story of how a villain came to be. Sure enough, a couple years later, the sequel of the book was released and the series was named “Villains”.
This was the first book by V.E. Schwab I ever read and it’s why I jumped to read her next book, A Darker Shade of Magic, when it was released. That book did not hit the same way Vicious did and it is probably why even though the sequel to “Vicious”, Vengeful, was released in 2018, I didn’t jump to read it.
It took me 5 years to finish reading A Darker Shade of Magic. I initially DNF’d it, but somehow thought I finished it, but I couldn’t remember the story. I then got the audiobook to finish it and the voice narrator didn’t do a good job in my opinion.
The experience with A Darker Shade of Magic left me wondering how could an author be so polarizing? I wondered if I should read Vengeful since I finally bought the book. Most of the reviews on Booktube for A Darker Shade of Magic were on the positive side. I read the graphic novels for A Darker Shade of Magic series and liked them. So I decided to reread A Darker Shade of Magic. This time since I had a better sense of the world and what was going on, it wasn’t as bad as I remembered. I do think I might have rated it higher the second time, if I read it and not listened to the audiobook. The voice actor didn’t do female character voices, attitudes, and dispositions well. The words on the page did not match the emotions and personality the voice actor was giving to the characters.
I decided to finally read the sequel Vengeful, but because it has been so long since I read “Vicious”, I decided to re-read it. I still think it is a great book. However, I remember having a clear side I was on the last time I read the book. This time, I noticed so much more, and I kept changing sides. By the end of the book, I was on no one’s side, lol. If anything, I was on the little girl’s side.
While reading this book, I kept noticing similarities to Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein: The 1818 Text. I was convinced that this was a modern remake or take on the same theme as Frankenstein. Between finishing this book and writing this review, I have since reread Frankenstein: The 1818 Text and still see similarities but in different ways.
Graphic: Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, and Physical abuse
laurasauras's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.5
I'm not exactly sure why I didn't love it, and to be clear I did like it. I think I found the characters to be a little flat. They were interesting, but I couldn't find any hooks in them to see them as people. I know they weren't supposed to be very relatable, but I don't think lacking empathy means that a person can't be empathised with. Thinking back to other books I've enjoyed with characters who are selfish/disregard the importance of others, I think there's just something missing that makes those characters more fun to watch.
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence
peggyluwho's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
devinjai6655's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Alcohol
One character uses God to justify killing people that are similar to him.aggrano's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Self harm, Torture, Stalking, Car accident, and Alcohol
Minor: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship
imskylow's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
madmadmaddymad's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Really liked Victor, despite his sinister-ness. But boy am I’m sick of villains like Eli using “God” as their motivations. He’s my least favorite aspect of this book.
The pace of the story was intense, high stakes, and also non-linear, (which I loved.) I’m definitely invested in picking up the second one!
Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Gun violence
Minor: Confinement, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail