Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

52 reviews

verpissdich's review against another edition

Step down in quality from the first book, which already was not particularly high. Relies excessively on violence, sexuality, and abuse to "hold" reader interest. Lacks nuance: many portions which would be better unwritten are instead very explicitly spelled out for the reader, destroying intrigue.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Self harm, and Suicide

pelb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Here’s the thing, I wanted to love this book. The writing style is great, I love all the characters, and the powers are cool. I loved that we got to see more of Eli’s backstory, I felt like I understood his character a lot better after that. Here’s my main problems: 

1. The focus on new characters 
- there were two new characters introduced, which seemed cool at first. They were good characters with interesting abilities, however, it felt like they were thrown in out of nowhere and then they took over the story. I felt like they could’ve had their own spin off story, rather than being put in this book. Their presence is what killed it for me, because it detracted from the main plot line and caused the downfall of my second problem: 

2. The ending 
- I could’ve overlooked everything else if it wasn’t for the ending. It was extremely rushed and felt unfinished, which was very disappointing after all the buildup. There was no satisfying conclusion I was looking for and I felt confused by the end, wondering why it wasn’t a trilogy, because the story is very clearly not over. Now if she actually comes back and makes a third book, which I’ve heard she might, that would significantly change my opinion of this book, because it was a very enjoyable read. I don’t think she’s going to though, so I am very disappointed. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Medical trauma, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction

theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, and Stalking

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

lizziaha's review against another edition

dark

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

The sheer breadth of this book is very impressive. There are so many moving parts and ve schwab manages to weave them together so intricately. That being said, because there are so many moving parts, there are still some loose threads that I desperately want to pull. I’m not sure if there will ever be another book, but I want one!!!! Part of the reason that these books are so compelling is because they have a very Batman-villainesque feeling to them and there’s not really a hero to hang your hopes on, so you have to decide which of your morals you will set aside as you choose who to root for. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction

idroplungs's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

The majority of the book is not as good as the first. Too many characters being followed and too many moving pieces making it too easy to put down. Stick with it though as the ending is surely worth it since the last 80pages flew by without being able to stop it. Schwab's EOs are an amazing twist on super heroes or super villains, keeping the line blurry is what keeps it interesting.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Self harm and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death and Cursing

amolegere's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

Did not care much for the new characters

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Suicide attempt

franksalot's review

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, Torture, Violence, and Murder

jkneebone's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.0

I loved the first book in this universe, Vicious, but for some reason Vengeful did not quite live up to my expectations. Picking up five years after the events of Vicious, in Vengeful we find Victor, Mitch, and Sydney still on the move, traveling from place to place as they try to figure out what's wrong with Victor (after his reanimation by Sydney, his power is on the fritz). Meanwhile Eli, after being arrested, was given over to a new program called EON which is dedicated to hunting down and capturing EOs. This book also introduces us to several new characters: Marcella, a mob wife-turned-EO after her cheating husband tried to murder her; and June, an EO with the power to assume the form of any human she has touched, who has been keeping up a secret long-distance friendship with Sydney.

There is a lot happening in this book, and though parts of it were really interesting to me - we finally get some Eli POV and find out more about his history! - there was, for me, a bit too much going on, to the point that I found it a bit hard to know what to focus on. Eli and Victor's obsession with each other continues - Eli has visions of Victor's ghost and suspicions that he isn't dead, and once they're confirmed he wants to rectify that himself; Victor is determined to keep Eli from getting out of EON - but we also have Marcella's quest for vengeance against her husband/subsequent desire to take over the entire Merit mob, and the addition of EON as a source of conflict/potential fear for most of the characters. There's just a lot going on! I didn't find Marcella particularly compelling when contrasted with the other characters, and the sort-of role-reversal of Victor and Eli

-not only is Eli imprisoned while Victor roams free, Victor starts trying to find EOs who might be able to help him, and then killing them when they can't help - he's literally using the system Eli perfected to kill EOs, albeit for a different reason -

didn't make a ton of sense to me; it felt like a re-hashing of the first book in some ways.

It was still a quick and engaging read - although definitely not for those with a sensitivity to violence or graphic images, as there was even more gross and gory stuff happening in this book - but for me, lacked the delicious darkness of the first book. The characters were nasty, but the motivations felt muddied - and maybe that was the point, but whatever it was, it just didn't work for me as much as the first book did.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, and Medical content

jo_withabook's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, and Murder

rae_kjise's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Murder