Reviews

When Villains Rise by Rebecca Schaeffer

metamorphesque's review

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This book let me downnnnn, man. 
  • the characters are never challenged. They never lose, they never face defeat :///
  • there's no character development, the only character development is actually from Fabricio who is the evil fucking guy in this story
    • Nita doesn't change. Kovit doesn't change. His sister's character was pointless with respect to the story too like ?? 
  • the series should've just been one book ughhhhh 
  • first book in the series was good because of the new and interesting concept/premise aka cryptid creatures walking among humans
  • second book was Okayyyyy because it expanded the world a bit, we were given Adair and some loose ends were semi-tied up
  • BUT THIS BOOK MANNN, I expected some development but yeah, a third in and I realised am not going to get that lol
    • THIS ENTIRE SERIES HAPPENS OVER THE COURSE OF LESS THAN ONE (1) MONTH GENUINELY HOW 

ekaterin4's review against another edition

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5.0

Call me basic, but this was the selling point for me. When I read the line, “But not even bones, only ashes remained when Nita rose,” after the climax — absolute COOLEST part of the damn series. When I read this line, I knew this series had earned it's five stars in my books. -2020

swampbooks's review

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3.0

I really appreciate how much this series discusses abusive family relationships. They aren’t always physical; emotional and mental cages are just as strong and difficult to break free from.

It was kinda corny how often they referred to themselves as evil though.

I think the reason I didn’t like the second and third books as much as the first is the lack of action. Book 1 had a lot and it added a nice thrill to the plot, which the sequels lacked. Those were mainly about scheming and murdering people who got in the way. Didn’t really have the same heart-racing element, but still a good series overall.

bluewe's review

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

2.5

pageswithrachel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.0

booksarebae's review against another edition

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challenging 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

4.5

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itputsthebookupontheshelf's review against another edition

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4.0

I've been a huge fan of this series from the start. This book has sat at the top of my most anticipated of 2020 since the release of the last book Only Ashes Remain.

I did not love this book, but I think it was because I listened to it on audio and did not care for the narrator. Did I enjoy it, yes. Was it a good book, yes. Did I get the answers I was looking for, yes. Also, the series itself is dark and messy, and though we get that with this final book, I felt it was missing something.

I felt the book could have either been longer, or we really needed another book. So much happens in the book, yet I kept feeling like it was going so slow. I guess it was just that most of the action happens in the second half of the book whereas in OAR, it was action packed from start to finish.

We have all of our key players with Nita, Kovit, Fabricio and Nita's mother. We also get glimpses of Adair, more background on Zebra-stripes and how INHUP started. So many things fell in place and there were so many twists. It was also great watching our characters work through emotions and come together to get shit done.

As I write this review, I am realizing how much I really did enjoy this book. Taking the time to actually think about what I read in this context makes me feel like I just wanted MORE, I'm not ready for this series to be over! 4.5 ⭐

Rebecca is an outstanding writer with a fabulously creative mind. PLEASE write another book for this series, even if it's just a novela! That being said, Ican't wait to see what else Schaeffer comes out with.

Thank you the Netgalley and HMH Teen for copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

duke_elligos's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

greenghost's review

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

hollyr1999's review

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

This is probably my favorite of the series.