Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

10 reviews

capsandclauses's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

“Maybe we are broken. But we put ourselves back together. We survived. That’s what makes us so powerful. And as for family—well, blood is always family, but family doesn’t always have to be blood.”

Look I'm going to say it.

This book dragged on a LOT more than the first book.

Vengeful is the not-really-needed sequel to Vicious, which was published years before. We follow the continuation of the events of the last book, which left superpowered 'villain' Victor Vale on the run with his found family of a resurrected dog, resurrecting little girl and loveable brute and superpowered 'hero' Eli Ever locked up in room without a key. Now, years later, new powered villains are emerging, and the government is determined to track each and every one of them down.

I loved reading more about the characters from the first book. The found family is what drew me into this series and I loved seeing them grapple with their own humanity, and the costs of their crimes. However, I couldn't get myself to be invested in the new characters June and Marcella, and their stories ended up occupying what felt like a majority of the text.

This book continued to have the vicious (ha!) violence of the first book, and I do love an antihero. Unfortunately, the pacing and new characters of this just meant that it didn't quite come together how I'd hope.

“Perhaps she was glass. But glass is only brittle until it breaks. Then it’s sharp.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death and Suicide attempt

cowardlyteaman's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Minor: Stalking

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

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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

megb64's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry

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

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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

kt2e56's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

Vengeful is to Vicious what Part II was to the first Godfather. Just so phenomenal from start to finish. It brought back characters we were already glued to in the first book but also gave us some brand new ones that actually wind up stealing the show a bit, including Marcella Morgan who is a “Good for Her” baddie for the ages. This was a satisfying conclusion to Victor and Eli’s story but honestly, Schwab is so talented that I’d absolutely read more about this world and these characters if she were to bring them out again to play some more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

thebankofbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

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 

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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

theroach's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual assault and Religious bigotry

acrea17's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

While not as good as Vicious, Vengeful holds up as a decent sequel! This installment toes the line even more with our morally grey characters (Victor, Eli, and even Sydney) and gives a little more insight into the world of EOs and expands upon the idea of tracking EOs down for personal and possible governmental gain. We explore EON, where our old friend Stell captures, analyzes, and possibly neutralizes EOs as a way to both understand them and ensure they are not a threat to society. This part of the book takes on a dystopian quality and has A Brave New World vibes. I absolutely adore this series and was overjoyed when V.E. Scwab announced there would be a third installment in the next few years (along with the upcoming graphic novels!!) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death