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xcampuskiddo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Stalking
alexandrabelze's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
i have so many issues with this book idek where to start. i actually enjoyed the first one and got so excited for this one (especially after reading marcella’s intro chapters), but this was just disappointing. victoria tried to fit WAY too many storylines and new characters into this book. and it doesn’t help her case that her storytelling was, at times, extremely messy. on top of that, the structure of these books did not help that issue at all. i also could not vibe with june’s character. which is disappointing bc her power is cool. anyways i’m about to go off in the spoiler <3
first of all, i expected that when sydney found out that victor was the one who killed serena it would be more dramatic? maybe a little tense? but instead i was let down and we moved on almost immediately. like hello??? next, and i hate to say this, i think dol should have stayed dead this time. i’m glad victoria kept him for a majority of the story, but it would’ve felt more complete to add him to the final deaths. and it would’ve built up sydney’s character. speaking of building her character, WHY did we go through ALL of that with the dead birds just for sydney to decide in ONE PARAGRAPH that she did not want to revive serena?? i honestly would’ve preferred she tried it and failed. finally, eli’s death was boring. i was expecting an insane emotional battle between him and victor that ended in something so dramatic and lowkey sensual, but instead he just…died. like that was next level disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death and Stalking
mpbookreviews's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
sunrae_booknook's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
I loved this book so much. I usually am not a fan of book two but this was better than the first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
nebulasaurus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
bookthief404's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.0
Incredible.
Once again Schwab doesn't disappoint.
I love the set up of starting from an unknown point and only giving the reader snippets from '3 weeks ago' to 'yesterday afternoon'. I loved putting the pieces together of what the separate characters were doing and seeing it all come together. The anticipation as the time got shorter leading to the climax was really fun to watch unravel.
The ending was satisfying yet not at all. I like how open-ended Shwab left it. We sympathise with Victor already so we are relieved when he 'wins' (if you can call it that), and yet there isn't really a happy-family happy ending as we were led to hope for.
This is the kind of thing I love. I wish Sydney and Mitch and even June all the best until I meet them again.
Once again Schwab doesn't disappoint.
I love the set up of starting from an unknown point and only giving the reader snippets from '3 weeks ago' to 'yesterday afternoon'. I loved putting the pieces together of what the separate characters were doing and seeing it all come together. The anticipation as the time got shorter leading to the climax was really fun to watch unravel.
This is the kind of thing I love. I wish Sydney and Mitch and even June all the best until I meet them again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
sarah_cameron's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was perfect from start to end! It kept me constantly on the edge of my seat and was such a great follow up to the first book. Can’t recommend highly enough
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Police brutality, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Vomit, Stalking, and Car accident
solouncapitulomas's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
5.0
“Tell me, is it blasphemy, or simply arrogance, taking credit for God’s work?”
This was, like the first book, a perfect mix of X-Men, The Umbrella Academy and some of The Gifted perhaps. A perfect plot twist on the typical "superhero" story, feels like reading a comic or watching a movie about people with powers, characters that not only can be morally gray but usually cross the line to the dark side, no morals or qualms at all.
Took my long enough but finally finished this book, must admit that I didn't want it to end so I avoided the ending a lot. I knew we are getting a third book but my heart cannot resist more waiting for book announcement like with the second book of ninth house. I just want to end a series for once, that is all.
Okay, enough sobbing, time to talk about this wonderful book:
I was very excited to pick this sequel, not only because I liked the first book but also for the reason that I wanted to explore V.E. Schwab recent writing, the first book is from 2013 and her first adult novel, this is from 2018. More recent and, as I suspected, with a better writing than the first one and an amazing plot.
I really want to get this "out of the way" so regarding Eli's past, I must admit it hurt a little to read, he was just a child and I felt bad for that kid suffering so much, losing his mom, killing his abuser. Spending sm time hearing people saying he was "weird" and when he finally found a loving family, lost that too. I was so happy to finally see his pov on his first meeting with Victor (my fav character btw) and even tho what he did was still bad and I am not a Eli Ever apologist, he was fucking broken and I kinda respect that? still mad about how he killed a possible Magneto, more of a Polaris honestly, but I love those too and it hurt we didn't get to see so many powers he got rid of. I didn't even got to know about the NDE or the last thoughts they had before dying, that's just rude Eliot.
Moving on, the found family trope had me on leash, per usual, Sidney, Mitch, Dol and Victor are the weirdest family of them all and if Dol dies once again, I swear to god, I will throw a fit. Let that dog rest, I beg you, Victoria.
I want to take some time to address some of the characters we recently met, just the ones that stuck with me:
1. Marcella was our introduction, and when she said I will ruin you I just knew her power was going to be good, Marcus deserved it all, he had it coming! But also se was really unstable and she did remind me of Eli a lot sometimes. I love the throwback when she went to the party with her sucky husband and he said "let them men talk" but she called them boys, proving that her attitude was there already. The EO condition only gave her the power to get what she wanted, tho it went up to her head way too quickly. She went cray cray but I enjoyed her antics regardless of it all.
2. June, how to define her? we don't know much about her past, yet, but hopefully we'll get more insight in the next book (Victorious) but we do know she is a kind of Mystique, Laila from The Gilded Wolves and Tessa Gray from TID, that how I memorized her power (making things harder for my brain since 1999). Even tho her shapeshifting may shine as her "better" ability, she also can read memories, it's deeper than a single imitation, that is why I also add the Tessa Gray in, if you've read TID you'll know (if not, go read it rn). Her last scene made me feel like reading Evelyn Hugo marriage to Mick Riva all over again, women are just amazing and manipulation has no limits when you learned to wield yourself like a weapon.
3. Dr. Thomas Haverty, freaking creepy man, does not deserve the doctor on his name, truly hated him and it had me cringing how he treated every the EOs and kept saying it was for "the greater good" when we all know deep down he wanted the praise and to satisfy his ego. The audacity of some baffles me.
Next topic, now that I mention the creepy doctor I wanted to add that I'm so glad that neither Eli nor Victor finished their careers as doctor, those two do not belong in the medical field, had to be said. Eli for obvious reasons but Victor has a view of medicine that even though I get it sometimes feels kinda "disconnected" from the human side of medicine, the sensible part. He is so detached of it all it sometimes scares me but I know that's the whole point of he being morally gray. He's not a good guy and I know it. Also I don't feel like he would understand the side of the medicine that deals with mental health, mainly because of the relationship he has with his parents and their line of work.
I wanted to add that I added lots of notes across the book (funny ones) and I hope to someday go back to ti and laugh at it, most of them are vine jokes but that's my humor.
I'm kinda sad about Dominic's death, he really got his act together and helped Victor until the end, obviously he wanted to keep the pain away but he was nice to Syd so I liked him and he will be missed.
About Eli's death, I was not surprised, I got spoiled bc I was googling him the other day (rookie mistake) but I didn't know how he died and it only made me more curious knowing he could actually die. It felt kinda right, Sydney getting her revenge without meaning to, she was only defending Victor. Oh and thank god she didn't bring Serena back, we do not need the siren back. No thanks.
Cannot wait for the next book, even if I have the bad feeling it will cost Victor his life; he is still dying after all, the remedy is only temporary and will eventually run out. He should try and find and permanent alternative but I don't think he would, now that Eli is dead I don't think he cares anymore. Next book he will wreak havoc and destroy EON, killed Stell already and that's just the beginning. I can feel it.
I need the last book right now and we don't even have a cover (or a date) I will die.
I will leave this with a few quotes I enjoyed:
“Perhaps she was glass.
But glass is only brittle until it breaks.
Then it’s sharp.”
“It was like the break after a storm. A stretch of peace before bad weather built again. It was only a matter of time—which was why every silent second mattered.”
“I saw became I think I saw became I couldn’t have seen became I didn’t see. Eyes were fickle. Minds were weak.”
“Everyone thought of magnets as having pull, attraction, but turn them around and they repelled. You could spend ages trying to force them together, and you’d get there, almost, but in the end they’d slide off.”
“People looked at her and assumed a whole lot. That a pretty face meant an empty head, that a girl like her was only after an easy life, that she would be satisfied with luxury, instead of power—as if you couldn’t want both.”
“Once is chance, twice, coincidence. Collect a third, and you have a pattern.”
“Normal is overrated. Spoken like someone who didn’t have to work so hard at it. Who hadn’t needed normal to survive.”
“Doubt was a slow, insidious force, wearing away at solid things. ”
“Knowledge may be power, but money buys both.”
“You look like Snow White killed the queen and stole the mirror.”
“Every object had a shatter point, a limitation to its tensile strength.
Apply enough force, and it would break.”
Pd: Just thought I should add that both Eli and Dominic’s bodies staying frozen and the fact that we know they were not cremated may or may not be end in both of them resurrected. I saw this but hadn’t mentioned it thinking I was “exaggerating” but I saw some people on tumblr talking about it and maybe it is not so crazy a theory?
I was listening to Burning Pile by Mother Mother & The Fear by The Score while writing this review
'kay, I'm out
Bye
This was, like the first book, a perfect mix of X-Men, The Umbrella Academy and some of The Gifted perhaps. A perfect plot twist on the typical "superhero" story, feels like reading a comic or watching a movie about people with powers, characters that not only can be morally gray but usually cross the line to the dark side, no morals or qualms at all.
Took my long enough but finally finished this book, must admit that I didn't want it to end so I avoided the ending a lot. I knew we are getting a third book but my heart cannot resist more waiting for book announcement like with the second book of ninth house. I just want to end a series for once, that is all.
Okay, enough sobbing, time to talk about this wonderful book:
I was very excited to pick this sequel, not only because I liked the first book but also for the reason that I wanted to explore V.E. Schwab recent writing, the first book is from 2013 and her first adult novel, this is from 2018. More recent and, as I suspected, with a better writing than the first one and an amazing plot.
I really want to get this "out of the way" so regarding Eli's past, I must admit it hurt a little to read, he was just a child and I felt bad for that kid suffering so much, losing his mom, killing his abuser. Spending sm time hearing people saying he was "weird" and when he finally found a loving family, lost that too. I was so happy to finally see his pov on his first meeting with Victor (my fav character btw) and even tho what he did was still bad and I am not a Eli Ever apologist, he was fucking broken and I kinda respect that? still mad about how he killed a possible Magneto, more of a Polaris honestly, but I love those too and it hurt we didn't get to see so many powers he got rid of. I didn't even got to know about the NDE or the last thoughts they had before dying, that's just rude Eliot.
Moving on, the found family trope had me on leash, per usual, Sidney, Mitch, Dol and Victor are the weirdest family of them all and if Dol dies once again, I swear to god, I will throw a fit. Let that dog rest, I beg you, Victoria.
I want to take some time to address some of the characters we recently met, just the ones that stuck with me:
1. Marcella was our introduction, and when she said I will ruin you I just knew her power was going to be good, Marcus deserved it all, he had it coming! But also se was really unstable and she did remind me of Eli a lot sometimes. I love the throwback when she went to the party with her sucky husband and he said "let them men talk" but she called them boys, proving that her attitude was there already. The EO condition only gave her the power to get what she wanted, tho it went up to her head way too quickly. She went cray cray but I enjoyed her antics regardless of it all.
2. June, how to define her? we don't know much about her past, yet, but hopefully we'll get more insight in the next book (Victorious) but we do know she is a kind of Mystique, Laila from The Gilded Wolves and Tessa Gray from TID, that how I memorized her power (making things harder for my brain since 1999). Even tho her shapeshifting may shine as her "better" ability, she also can read memories, it's deeper than a single imitation, that is why I also add the Tessa Gray in, if you've read TID you'll know (if not, go read it rn). Her last scene made me feel like reading Evelyn Hugo marriage to Mick Riva all over again, women are just amazing and manipulation has no limits when you learned to wield yourself like a weapon.
3. Dr. Thomas Haverty, freaking creepy man, does not deserve the doctor on his name, truly hated him and it had me cringing how he treated every the EOs and kept saying it was for "the greater good" when we all know deep down he wanted the praise and to satisfy his ego. The audacity of some baffles me.
Next topic, now that I mention the creepy doctor I wanted to add that I'm so glad that neither Eli nor Victor finished their careers as doctor, those two do not belong in the medical field, had to be said. Eli for obvious reasons but Victor has a view of medicine that even though I get it sometimes feels kinda "disconnected" from the human side of medicine, the sensible part. He is so detached of it all it sometimes scares me but I know that's the whole point of he being morally gray. He's not a good guy and I know it. Also I don't feel like he would understand the side of the medicine that deals with mental health, mainly because of the relationship he has with his parents and their line of work.
I wanted to add that I added lots of notes across the book (funny ones) and I hope to someday go back to ti and laugh at it, most of them are vine jokes but that's my humor.
I'm kinda sad about Dominic's death, he really got his act together and helped Victor until the end, obviously he wanted to keep the pain away but he was nice to Syd so I liked him and he will be missed.
About Eli's death, I was not surprised, I got spoiled bc I was googling him the other day (rookie mistake) but I didn't know how he died and it only made me more curious knowing he could actually die. It felt kinda right, Sydney getting her revenge without meaning to, she was only defending Victor. Oh and thank god she didn't bring Serena back, we do not need the siren back. No thanks.
Cannot wait for the next book, even if I have the bad feeling it will cost Victor his life; he is still dying after all, the remedy is only temporary and will eventually run out. He should try and find and permanent alternative but I don't think he would, now that Eli is dead I don't think he cares anymore. Next book he will wreak havoc and destroy EON, killed Stell already and that's just the beginning. I can feel it.
I need the last book right now and we don't even have a cover (or a date) I will die.
I will leave this with a few quotes I enjoyed:
“Perhaps she was glass.
But glass is only brittle until it breaks.
Then it’s sharp.”
“It was like the break after a storm. A stretch of peace before bad weather built again. It was only a matter of time—which was why every silent second mattered.”
“I saw became I think I saw became I couldn’t have seen became I didn’t see. Eyes were fickle. Minds were weak.”
“Everyone thought of magnets as having pull, attraction, but turn them around and they repelled. You could spend ages trying to force them together, and you’d get there, almost, but in the end they’d slide off.”
“People looked at her and assumed a whole lot. That a pretty face meant an empty head, that a girl like her was only after an easy life, that she would be satisfied with luxury, instead of power—as if you couldn’t want both.”
“Once is chance, twice, coincidence. Collect a third, and you have a pattern.”
“Normal is overrated. Spoken like someone who didn’t have to work so hard at it. Who hadn’t needed normal to survive.”
“Doubt was a slow, insidious force, wearing away at solid things. ”
“Knowledge may be power, but money buys both.”
“You look like Snow White killed the queen and stole the mirror.”
“Every object had a shatter point, a limitation to its tensile strength.
Apply enough force, and it would break.”
Pd: Just thought I should add that both Eli and Dominic’s bodies staying frozen and the fact that we know they were not cremated may or may not be end in both of them resurrected. I saw this but hadn’t mentioned it thinking I was “exaggerating” but I saw some people on tumblr talking about it and maybe it is not so crazy a theory?
I was listening to Burning Pile by Mother Mother & The Fear by The Score while writing this review
'kay, I'm out
Bye
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Blood, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
rottendollparts's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Cursing and Domestic abuse
Minor: Animal death, Rape, and Self harm
karinahull's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Blew through this one just like I did with Vicious. Even though she's the main villain, I really loved Marcella's character . I felt like her motivations were very clear and as a woman reading this, honestly pretty relatable at times. I also enjoyed getting some more insight into Eli and other major characters. Fast read, fun plot, interesting characters, and well written, what more do you need?
The ending felt almost unfinished! Is there another book coming out??
The ending felt almost unfinished! Is there another book coming out??
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Blood, and Medical content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Torture