gravedetails's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Suicide and Death
paper_bound's review against another edition
- 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
It’s different in a lot of ways from the first book, which I think is why some people don’t like it as much. The best way I can explain the difference is to say Vengeful is much more comic book. I felt like I was reading a novelization of a beloved comic book. And that’s what made it so great.
I loved all of the characters. They are so evil and yet I feel so warmly toward them and want them (well most of them) to succeed in all of their endeavors.
Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death and Suicide
rae_kjise's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Self harm, Physical abuse, Gore, Drug use, Blood, Murder, Violence, Suicide, Death, Cursing, Child abuse, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, and Drug abuse
psliz's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Torture, Blood, Gun violence, Death, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Child abuse, and Infidelity
Minor: Animal death
alexandrabelze's review against another edition
- 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
Spoiler
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.Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
Moderate: Animal death and Stalking
avajhall's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Self harm, Murder, Violence, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Vengeful by V.E. Schwab is book 2 in the Villains duology. I loved this book just as much as the first one! Everyone is so delightfully awful, evil, and morally gray.
This book doesn't focus as much on Victor Vale's pov, but we do still get to see what he's up to, but we get a lot of other pov chapters from some of the other characters, including some randos every now and then. Mostly we get POVs from Victor, Eli, Stell, Sydney, June, and Marcella.
Since last book, Stell has created an organization called EON, ExtraOrdinary Neutralization, designed to hunt and contain EOs. Which brings us to the new EO introduced in this book, Marcella, a wife of a mob boss who has the ability to Ruin anything (metals rusts, wood decays, people shrivel into dust, etc.). She is deliciously wicked, gives no shits, and will not hide. Marcella wants power, and even though she is scary and a little bit (a lot a bit) of a sociopath, you can almost understand where she is coming from as a woman who has been only seen as a beautiful object with no say in anything.
We get a lot more of Eli's backstory in this one, and it becomes quite clear that even before his forced near death experience, he was a psychopath. We also get more Sydney chapters this book, so we see how her ability has affected her in terms of aging (or lack of aging). This book kept me wanting more, and was difficult to put down. I flew through the end, because it was so fast paced.
I loved these books! This definitely satisfies my TBR card prompt for Antagonist: a book your favorite villain would read. Since Victor is my favorite villain right now, I'd have to say he'd enjoy reading this, especially about Eli. I may have to look into borrowing the EO graphic novels now, since I'm not ready to let this world go.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Child abuse, Suicide, Murder, Drug abuse, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content
kaylaclark200's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Death and Torture
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Animal death
thebankofbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Sexism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Animal death, and Suicide
the_othersidewv's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Death, Drug use, Grief, and Racism