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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.
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
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: Torture, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Blood, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Self harm, Animal death, and Medical content
gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Again, I am a sucker for a good friends to enemies story with villains. You completely understand and sympathize with these characters, even though you don’t condone their actions well, this was not necessarily some thing that was needed for any sort of closure from the last book, I think that it was a welcome romp.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Animal death and Toxic friendship
ten_telegrams's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Violence, Blood, Death, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Torture
moooniereads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Animal death and Suicide attempt
lucyyvonne54's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Death, Torture, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Violence, Animal death, and Gun violence
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
psliz's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
3.5
underdeveloped. would've been better if the two main storylines were split into their own books
Content Warnings
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
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
i have so many issues with this book idek where to start. i actually enjoyed the first one and got so excited for this one (especially after reading marcella’s intro chapters), but this was just disappointing. victoria tried to fit WAY too many storylines and new characters into this book. and it doesn’t help her case that her storytelling was, at times, extremely messy. on top of that, the structure of these books did not help that issue at all. i also could not vibe with june’s character. which is disappointing bc her power is cool. anyways i’m about to go off in the spoiler <3
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.
Content Warnings
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
songbiirds's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Torture, Murder, Death, and Medical content
emtees's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I was so excited to read this book after finishing Vicious and it did not disappoint. I have some minor criticisms but overall it was a really fun read.
The story picks up five years after the events of Vicious. In the aftermath of the showdown with Eli Ever, the odd little family of sociopath Victor Vale, his gentle hacker friend Mitch, and their surrogate daughter Sydney have stayed together, but they have their share of problems. Sydney’s powers mean that she is aging very slowly, stuck in the body of a preteen while her mind matures, and she is becoming frustrated with the protection and restrictions her guardians impose. Meanwhile, after being resurrected with Sydney’s powers, Victor’s own powers have gone “wrong.” He seems to be stronger than ever, now able to control people’s bodies as well as their pain levels, but there is a trade off - every few weeks, he re-experiences the events of his original death by electrocution, and each episode comes closer to killing him. Desperate for a cure, Victor drags his companions around the country on a quest to find an EO who can heal him, killing all those who fail to cover his tracks. And former Detective Stell is now the founder of EON, a secret government organization that tracks down, contains and in some cases kills EOs, with the help of their secret weapon, an imprisoned Eli. There is also a new EO causing trouble - Marcella Riggins, a former mob wife who uses her powers to take over the organized crime of Merit and then sets out to expose EOs to the world and let them take their rightful place in the spotlight. All these plot lines converge on a single night in Merit for an explosive final chapter.
First, the minor criticisms. Like Vicious, this book cuts back and forth in time, and uses those cuts to propel the story forward, creating a false sense of momentum even at times when the actual plot is quite slow. (I called this book medium paced because there is no option for “fast and slow, at the same time.”). But while Vicious had two timelines, Vengeful has a lot more. There is the main timeline, the month leading up to the super powered fight. There are separate sets of flashbacks to cover the last five years in the lives of Victor, Eli and Sydney. There are flashbacks to Marcella’s backstory, and to fill in the gaps in Eli’s. Victor’s flunky, Dominic Rusher, gets his own set, as does June, a new character who is part of Marcella’s entourage but has a connection to Sydney. It’s a lot of jumping around and it makes the book feel unfocused. It doesn’t help that all these flashbacks aren’t equally interesting, or important. It was good to finally get some insight into Eli, and I enjoyed seeing the last five years for Victor and Sydney set side-by-side, seeing the ways they were keeping things from each other despite sharing a home. But Marcella ultimately ended up feeling like more of a plot device than a character, and there was nothing revealed in her flashbacks that I couldn’t have figured out from the way she was in the present, and some of the other scenes felt like they could have been explained in a few lines rather than getting entire chapters. I wouldn’t have minded seeing this book tightened up a bit.
But those are minor quibbles because this book was fun and just as compulsive a read as the last one. I didn’t want to put it down. Considering how far apart the characters seemed at the beginning, Schwab brought them all together in a clever way, the multiple threads of the plot all winding together with interesting revelations. I also liked a lot of the character moments, whether it was Victor’s slow acceptance of responsibility towards his new family and for creating Eli, or Sydney’s conflicted feelings about Victor, Mitch, June and her late sister, Serena. The character work is done with a very light hand in these books but Schwab still has interesting things to say about heroes and villains and where the line between them is.
Unlike Vicious, which I felt ended on a final note but with options open for a sequel, it is clear that Vengeful is set up to continue these stories. I hope Schwab decides to do so because as much as I’m not sure they’re good people, I still really want these characters to get a happy ending.
The story picks up five years after the events of Vicious. In the aftermath of the showdown with Eli Ever, the odd little family of sociopath Victor Vale, his gentle hacker friend Mitch, and their surrogate daughter Sydney have stayed together, but they have their share of problems. Sydney’s powers mean that she is aging very slowly, stuck in the body of a preteen while her mind matures, and she is becoming frustrated with the protection and restrictions her guardians impose. Meanwhile, after being resurrected with Sydney’s powers, Victor’s own powers have gone “wrong.” He seems to be stronger than ever, now able to control people’s bodies as well as their pain levels, but there is a trade off - every few weeks, he re-experiences the events of his original death by electrocution, and each episode comes closer to killing him. Desperate for a cure, Victor drags his companions around the country on a quest to find an EO who can heal him, killing all those who fail to cover his tracks. And former Detective Stell is now the founder of EON, a secret government organization that tracks down, contains and in some cases kills EOs, with the help of their secret weapon, an imprisoned Eli. There is also a new EO causing trouble - Marcella Riggins, a former mob wife who uses her powers to take over the organized crime of Merit and then sets out to expose EOs to the world and let them take their rightful place in the spotlight. All these plot lines converge on a single night in Merit for an explosive final chapter.
First, the minor criticisms. Like Vicious, this book cuts back and forth in time, and uses those cuts to propel the story forward, creating a false sense of momentum even at times when the actual plot is quite slow. (I called this book medium paced because there is no option for “fast and slow, at the same time.”). But while Vicious had two timelines, Vengeful has a lot more. There is the main timeline, the month leading up to the super powered fight. There are separate sets of flashbacks to cover the last five years in the lives of Victor, Eli and Sydney. There are flashbacks to Marcella’s backstory, and to fill in the gaps in Eli’s. Victor’s flunky, Dominic Rusher, gets his own set, as does June, a new character who is part of Marcella’s entourage but has a connection to Sydney. It’s a lot of jumping around and it makes the book feel unfocused. It doesn’t help that all these flashbacks aren’t equally interesting, or important. It was good to finally get some insight into Eli, and I enjoyed seeing the last five years for Victor and Sydney set side-by-side, seeing the ways they were keeping things from each other despite sharing a home. But Marcella ultimately ended up feeling like more of a plot device than a character, and there was nothing revealed in her flashbacks that I couldn’t have figured out from the way she was in the present, and some of the other scenes felt like they could have been explained in a few lines rather than getting entire chapters. I wouldn’t have minded seeing this book tightened up a bit.
But those are minor quibbles because this book was fun and just as compulsive a read as the last one. I didn’t want to put it down. Considering how far apart the characters seemed at the beginning, Schwab brought them all together in a clever way, the multiple threads of the plot all winding together with interesting revelations. I also liked a lot of the character moments, whether it was Victor’s slow acceptance of responsibility towards his new family and for creating Eli, or Sydney’s conflicted feelings about Victor, Mitch, June and her late sister, Serena. The character work is done with a very light hand in these books but Schwab still has interesting things to say about heroes and villains and where the line between them is.
Unlike Vicious, which I felt ended on a final note but with options open for a sequel, it is clear that Vengeful is set up to continue these stories. I hope Schwab decides to do so because as much as I’m not sure they’re good people, I still really want these characters to get a happy ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Child abuse
There are minor hints of child abuse and other forms of abuse in character backstories. Several relationships are toxic and the relationships between characters who have hurt each other or done bad things in the past is a major theme. One main character is a victim of violent domestic abuse.lizgriffinwords's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
It’s been days since I finished this book and I still don’t know how to adequately sum it up. The Villians Verse is closely tied with Darker Shades for my favorite of Schwab’s universes. The tension grips the reader relentlessly, and though there are many POVs and timeline shifts, I never felt lost. Learning Eli’s backstory brings so much sympathy to his character, his faith and guilt and implied neurodivergence all ring so true.
CW: death, murder, violence (including gun violence)
CW: death, murder, violence (including gun violence)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Gun violence
Moderate: Torture, Suicide attempt, and Medical trauma
Minor: Domestic abuse