Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Vengeful

A worthy sequel to Vicious. Vengeful introduces new characters that are as interesting as the holdovers. There is a bit too much stuffed into the end with abrupt reappearances, sudden departures, and not enough focus on either the denouement or its coda.

In a lesser book by a lesser writer this would tank the whole experience. Instead, Vengeful’s ends is a mild disappointment after an engrossing duology.

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whit_lovesbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

How do I even write about V.E. Schwab books without jumping up and down, screaming, crying? Genuinely, I am amazed EVERY SINGLE TIME I read another of her books. She is just sooo good at what she does, and I will never EVER get tired of it.

Vengeance is the second in the Villains series, continuing 5 years after the events of Vicious. The story itself is a spiderweb of threads that connect just so to weave together a complex story, but it was easy to follow and thrilling to unravel.

I’m so thoroughly impressed at how everything came together and how everything concluded. The writing skills to do all that, as well as expand on and add to the intricate and complex characters?? If I ever meet V.E. Schwab, I fear I will froth at the mouth and pass out (ATLA style).

Spoilers for both Vicious and Vengeance below this:

I do have to say, this installment was darker than the first. In Vicious, Eli and Victor were basically morally black, but it was easy to understand their motives and where they were coming from. I caught myself rooting for Victor. In this story, it didn’t seem quite as easy as that. Victor made desperate choices that made it extremely difficult to root for him (but he was actually a pretty small part of this book, only really being involved at the beginning and the end of the story). We got more of Eli’s backstory, and his motives and feelings made more sense and helped me view his actions from the first book in a different light. In this book, I was almost rooting for ELI. how that happened, I couldn’t tell you. All I can say is…I don’t know how I feel about the ending of this book. It was good, but it wasn’t a full closure to the story. Obviously there is a third one being written now (hella excited about that), but I’m much more concerned about fates of Sydney, Mitch, and Victor. None of them seemed entirely in their right mind.

I’m also not convinced that Eli will stay dead. I’m gonna be so for real right now- I kept hoping and hoping through this whole book that Eli and Victor would find a way to be okay with each other. I know that was wishful thinking, but there was a teensy moment there at the end where I got a little bit of hope…and then it was dashed.

Anyway. All I can say is- cannot wait for the third book. I love you deeply V.E. Schwab.

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aliyachaudhry's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

never needed a book series to be adapted into action movies as much as these

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olive_lol's review against another edition

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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

4.75

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strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

5.0

Why are murderous women so hot?
I loved this book. This Duology is just amazing and everything that I needed right now and forever.

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carmineslamp's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

i have never been more mentally ill about something. i was clawing at my seat. i was making faces in public.

a lot of this book is build up, and by god did i love that. we got a lot of background on eli, which i ADORED (in lvoe with religious imagery) and oh my god, i wanted to crush him in my hands and drink him like a soup. the introduction of marcella was so (vague, animalistic noises).

in love with syndey clarke, in love with victor vale, etc.

they have GOT to stop killing the dog though wtf

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